The Wounded Redeemer

Twenty yards out the back door of our house lay three small, blue-speckled eggs. Nestled alone amidst rock and rubble the eggs rest in the elements on the ground. We never would have noticed them had it not been for the mother who persevered through last week’s storms roosted on her gravelly nest. She persisted through the rains and standing water.

Each day our kids checked to see if she had stayed. She had. Then one day, the eggs were alone. About ten yards away, the mother poked around with a watchful eye. Leah and Levi wanted to see the eggs. Each time they approached the stony bed, mother bird began limping about with a cock-eyed wing in the air. She squawked and hollered, creating a diversion from her nest of babies.

This bird is called a “killdeer.” They are known for their protective behavior. When a predator approaches her nest, the bird performs a “broken-wing dance” to divert attention away from the babies. Luring the danger toward herself she risks the possibility of escape in order to save her children. The killdeer expresses the concept of a wounded redeemer.
Amazing!

In Scripture there is a model of redemption associated with a scapegoat. As described in Leviticus 16, the priest shall place both hands on the ascribed animal, confess over it all the iniquities and transgressions of the people, and then send it away into the wilderness. The animal, then, carries the infirmities of the community away from the camp. Deliverance comes by removal.

How should I think about this? A model of redemption is being acted out in my backyard by a wild bird! Granted, the eggs themselves have not procured any guilt on themselves…perhaps, though, they demonstrate for us the innocence of the newly redeemed.

The wounded Redeemer is very near to us.

This is Holy Week. This is the time in which we consider the efficacious suffering of our Lord. Hear the Prophet Isaiah:

“Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases…. he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. (53:4-5)”
Then, “the righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. (53:11)”

The Wounded Redeemer opens broken wings for you.
- Tob Adams