Sharing Scripture — January 22, 2022

The world lost a great entertainer last week when Bob Saget suddenly passed away. Musician John Mayer and comedian Jeffrey Ross lost more than that—they lost a dear friend that they called a brother.

They had the opportunity to honor his memory in a practical way when they discovered that Saget’s car was still in the parking lot at LAX, Los Angeles, California’s international airport. They picked up the car to deliver to Saget’s wife, and on the return trip—driving their buddy’s Prius down California’s 405 Freeway—they expressed their grief and shared their memories of Bob in an emotional Instagram video.

“I’ve just never known a human being on this earth who could give that much love—individually and completely—to that many people, in a way that made each person feel like he was a main character in their life and they were a main character in his life,” Mayer recalled while driving. Ross videoed their tributes, adding that, “(Bob) ended the most benign conversations with ‘I love you.’”

The friendship between Saget, Mayer and Ross is a good example of Proverbs 17:17, which says, “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” The greatest example of a faithful brother, of course, is Jesus’ kinship relationship with us. Hebrews 2:11 tells us that Jesus is not ashamed to be called our brother.

The scriptures contain several references to the duties of family members to one another. One such duty is to perform the obligation of a kinsman-redeemer. The kinsman-redeemer had two main responsibilities: to marry the childless widow of his deceased brother and raise children in the brother’s name, and to redeem family property that had changed ownership. According to Leviticus 25:25-27, when a family member could not pay a debt and lost their family’s inheritance, the nearest relative was to step in and “redeem” it. Simply put, they saved the family farm by buying it back.

We all owe a debt we can never repay. If left to our own resources, we will lose our inheritance. Jesus, as our loving brother, stepped in to save our lost inheritance by redeeming us with the blood of the Lamb of God. Jesus is our faithful brother who loves at all times and will never let us down.

Applying: If one of your family members was in deep financial trouble, could you bail them out? Would you? What kind of stipulations would you put on the bailout for receiving your help?