The Ransom That Emptied a Kingdom

In 1192, King Richard I of England was captured on his return from the Crusades by Duke Leopold of Austria. Emperor Henry VI set the ransom at 150,000 marks of silver — roughly thirty-five tons, more than twice England's annual revenue.

To free their king, an entire nation was stripped bare. Churches surrendered their silver plate. Cistercian monks gave their whole year's wool harvest. Every subject, from baron to peasant, was taxed a quarter of their movable wealth. It took nearly two years, but England paid the price, and Richard walked free.

Yet within seven years, Richard was dead from a crossbow wound at a minor siege in France. The king purchased with all that silver perished like any other man.

Peter understood this arithmetic of redemption. He wrote to scattered believers who knew what things cost — the price of grain, the weight of a denarius, the going rate for a slave. And he told them plainly: you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your empty way of life, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless — the blood of Christ.

England emptied its treasury to ransom one mortal king. The Almighty emptied heaven to ransom you — not with wealth that tarnishes, but with a sacrifice chosen before the foundation of the world, whose power to redeem will never fade or perish.