Athletic Redemption

The word "redemption" is sprinkled throughout the secular media’s descriptions of Sunday’s stunning comeback of the New York Giants in the NFC championship game.

After dropping the first two season games to Dallas and Green Bay, the Giants were mostly written off as an inferior football team. The early losses brought harsh criticisms of coach Tom Coughlin and young quarterback Eli Manning. Pundits predicted a downward slide and suggested tha the replacement of coach and quarterback might be the best options.

And then, something happened—perhaps precipitated or at least fostered by a warmer relationship between coach and players. The Giants went on to a 10-6 season earning them a wildcard spot in the playoffs, and they established a league record of 10 consecutive road game wins. In the playoffs, they beat Dallas, and then yesterday, in minus 4 degree weather with a wind chill of minus 24, young Manning bested seasoned Brett Favre. New York upended favored Green Bay in overtime 23-20, and the Giants are headed to the Super Bowl.

The overtime win uniquely redeemed the team generally, and it personally redeemed Coach Coughlin, quarterback Manning and especially place kicker Lawrence Tynes. In regulation play, he missed two field goals, one a presumed game-winner with 4 seconds on the clock. The miss sent the game into overtime. Green Bay won the coin toss and received the kickoff. But Giants defender Corey Webster intercepted a Favre pass to set up another potential game-winning field goal. The doubly failed Tynes ran onto the field and booted a 47-yarder to put the Giants into the Super Bowl, where they will play the 18-0 perfect Patriots whom the Giants almost beat in the regular season. "I screwed it up twice," Tynes said. "Thank God we got another opportunity."

Redemption is a great athletic theme, but it’s a mere sports concept and pales when compared with Biblical redemption. In Scripture, redemption means "bought with a purchase price." In the case of personal salvation, the cost was the priceless shed blood and broken body of Jesus Christ who bought us out of the slave market of sin and judgment. "Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Peter 1:18-20).

The looser meaning of redemption is sometimes applied to a "second chance"—a kind of "comeback" drama. Young John Mark is a featured example of a "comeback kid" rescued from failed obscurity. During an early missionary journey of Paul and his party, special assistant John Mark lost heart and returned home. He wanted to join the missionary team again, "but Paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work" (Acts 15:38), and Mark went with Barnabas instead.

Mark had a great change of heart that resulted in renewed usability. While Paul languished in prison, persecuted for his Christian zeal, and awaiting execution, he called for John Mark. "Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry" (2 Tim 4:11 – emphasis mine). Many Bible scholars believe Mark was also the author of the second Gospel, the Book of Mark.

From failure to faithful. From dropout to restoration. That’s going from being a spiritual pigmy to a true Biblical giant. Our Lord is the God of personal redemption and, for the pathetic failure, the Lord of the second chance.

Dave Virkler