Ruth 4:1-5: in context

Boaz goes to the town gate to settle the matter of Ruth and Naomi's redemption. There is a nearer kinsman with the first right to redeem Naomi's land, and Boaz lays the matter before him. The nearer kinsman is willing to redeem the land, until Boaz tells him that redeeming it means also taking Ruth the Moabitess as wife, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance. At that, as the story goes on, the nearer kinsman draws back, unwilling to take on the full cost. But Boaz is willing; he takes the cost and responsibility of redemption upon himself.

Boaz acts as a kinsman-redeemer, and his willingness stands in contrast to the nearer kinsman's refusal. The nearer kinsman would redeem the land, which promised gain, but drew back when he learned that redemption meant also taking Ruth and the full cost that came with it; he was unwilling to take on the burden. Boaz was different. He took upon himself the cost and responsibility of redeeming Naomi's land and Ruth, doing what the nearer kinsman would not, at cost to himself. He was a redeemer willing to bear the burden of redemption for those who could not redeem themselves. This is a picture that points beyond itself to Christ, our kinsman-redeemer. Ruth and Naomi could not redeem themselves; they needed a redeemer willing to take their cause and their cost upon himself. And Boaz did. In the same way, we could not redeem ourselves from our sin and its debt; we needed a redeemer. And Christ became our kinsman-redeemer, taking our cause and our cost upon himself, at the cost of his own life. God sent his Son, Paul says, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law. Christ, unlike the nearer kinsman who drew back at the cost, took the full cost of our redemption upon himself, giving himself to redeem us and make us his own. This is a wonder to rest in. We could not redeem ourselves; we needed a redeemer willing to bear the cost. And Christ became that redeemer, taking our debt upon himself, paying what we could not, redeeming us at the cost of his own life. He gave himself for us, Paul says, to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for himself a people of his own. Like Boaz redeeming Ruth, Christ redeemed us, taking our cause and cost upon himself and making us his own. This calls us to rest in and rejoice in Christ our kinsman-redeemer. Boaz took the cost of redemption upon himself for Ruth and Naomi, who could not redeem themselves, a picture of the greater Redeemer. And Christ has done this for us: taking our cost upon himself, redeeming us from our sin and its debt, making us his own at the cost of his own life. We rest not in our own ability to redeem ourselves, which we do not have, but in Christ our kinsman-redeemer, who took our cause and our cost upon himself, and gave himself to redeem us and make us his own, as Boaz redeemed Ruth.

Do I try to redeem myself from my sin and its debt, which I cannot do, or feel that no one will take on my cause and my cost, and can Boaz, who took upon himself the cost of redeeming Ruth and Naomi when the nearer kinsman drew back, point me to Christ, my kinsman-redeemer, who took my cause and my cost upon himself, redeeming me from my sin at the cost of his own life and making me his own, so that I rest not in my own ability but in the Redeemer who gave himself for me?