History’s Greatest Romantic Comedy

I, like most men I know, enjoy movies with some action and movement. Fire… explosions… suspense… these are the elements that get us excited. None of those “chick flicks,” right? My wife will sit and cry over all the sad and happy parts and I’m there strictly for the comic relief. But I will honestly admit, I’m a sucker for a good romantic comedy – a love story with a happy ending. We all are – we’re suckers for it (whether we’ll admit it or not).

In a conversation the other day, I was telling my seven-year-old the story of Romeo and Juliet. I’m not sure how we got onto the subject, but she kept wanting to know more. About two thirds of the way through, I realized I was going to have to try to explain how it ended – they both die! For some reason, during the Elizabethan era, we thought that was romantic!

Romeo and Juliet was a romantic tragedy, but our culture is addicted to happy endings, so we will accept nothing other than a romantic comedy in which everyone lives “happily ever after.”

That’s the story of Ruth and Boaz. Here it is in short (based on Ruth 3-4): Ruth finds Boaz overseeing the threshing of his wheat crop and uses an ancient cultural tradition of the time to essentially propose marriage to him. He takes her up on the offer, protects her reputation, and goes out of his way to buy the land that she will forfeit without a husband. He further marries her and they have kids. And they live happily ever after.

That, however, is not history’s greatest romantic comedy. Yes, it’s romantic they way Ruth and Boaz get together – the prince sweeping the poor and destitute girl off her feet and coming to her rescue. And yes, it’s a comedy in that the ending is certainly happy. But history’s greatest romantic comedy is the story of how Jesus came to be the ultimate Redeemer of humankind to Himself.

You see, the story of Boaz and Ruth, though literal and historical, is but a picture of the relationship God has with us and the love He feels toward us. Let me point out just a few of the beautiful truths portrayed by Ruth’s story…

We, Like Ruth, Are Helpless Without a Savior

Naomi owned land, left behind by her deceased husband Elimelech, but couldn’t give it to Ruth, an unmarried Moabitess. Ruth needed a Jewish husband, in the family, in order to dwell permanently in the land of Israel. Boaz came to her rescue, just as Jesus comes to ours.

We are hopeless and destitute in our sin. We can want to go to heaven, just as Ruth wanted to live in Israel, but we have no rights there. We don’t belong as we are. By our very nature we are outcast and unfit.

God, Like Boaz, Wants to Redeem Us

Boaz had an intense desire to protect Ruth, to provide for her, to be her forever husband. But there was a problem – a barrier. In their case, it was a closer relative who could claim the land and ignore Ruth.

Jesus, like Boaz, Paid the Price of Our Eternal Redemption

God doesn’t just love us in our sin, He sent His Son to rescue us from our sin forever! Boaz bought an inheritance for Ruth with money (and a shoe), but Jesus bought our eternal inheritance with His blood – His death on the cross and His resurrection! That’s history’s greatest romantic comedy – the happiest ending of all is when a sinner is washed in the blood of Jesus Christ and saved forever.

We, Like Ruth, Need to Act in Faith

Ruth did something unthinkable in the story. She shamelessly approached Boaz in the night and risked everything, laying at His feet, to demonstrate her humility and to propose marriage. We, like Ruth, need to fall before Jesus, humbly asking Him to save us. And like Boaz, He will, because He loves us. He died and rose again to prove it!

Our culture has the impression that “happily ever after” means falling in love, having kids, and getting rich. But God has a much bigger “happily ever after” in store for anyone who is willing to place their trust solely in His Son, Jesus Christ, as Savior. Eternal life awaits all who will claim Him by repenting of sin and receiving Him as Savior once and for all.