Jesus Purchased My Freedom

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. —Isaiah 61:1

S.D. Gordon, a pastor in Boston, tells a story about meeting a young boy about 10 years old on the street a rusty cage filled with small birds he had trapped. Curious, he asked the boy what he was going to do with the birds, which he had obviously trapped.

“I’m going to play with them… have some fun with them,” the boy responded.

“But after that, what?” Gordon persisted.

“Oh, I have some cats at home, and they like birds. I’ll give them to my cats,” said the boy.

Compassion tugged at the preacher’s heart, and he asked the boy what he would take for the birds. Surprised, the boy blurted: “Mister, you don’t want to buy these birds. They’re ugly… just field birds. They don’t sing, or anything. They’ll only cause a mess. They’re worthless birds.” Nevertheless, the preacher persisted and finally struck a bargain with the boy and purchased the cage of bird. At first opportunity he set the captive birds free.

S.D. Gordon’s purchase of the birds to set them free is a wonderful illustration of how Christ paid the price to set us free: One day Satan boasted how he trapped the human race in the cage of sin. “What are you going to do with them?” Jesus asked.

“I’m going to play with them, tease and provoke them… make them marry and divorce… fight and kill one another. I’ll even teach them to throw bombs at each other,” Satan replied.

“And when you get tired of playing with them, what will you do with them?” Jesus asked. “I’ll land them in the lake of fire! They are no good anyway… they’re worthless!”

Jesus then asked, “What it would take to buy them?” Satan said, “You gotta be kidding! You can’t be serious! These creatures will hate and spit on You. They’d beat Your face and hammer nails into Your hands and feet. They’re rotten and depraved!”

“How much?” Jesus persisted.

“Ok,” Satan said, “It will cost You every drop of Your blood.”

Jesus paid the price, took the cage, and set the captives free! Praise God, I was one of those worthless birds Jesus set free!