I Will Do It

Read Ruth 3:12–18

DON’T BE AFRAID

Yesterday, the spotlight of our passage fell on Ruth’s stunning kindness to
her mother-in-law, Naomi. Today, our narrator now highlights the wonder
of Boaz’s response to Ruth’s request.
Imagine Ruth’s heart beating rapidly in the darkness, waiting for Boaz’s
response. She had crept to this man’s side in the middle of the night. There
were no witnesses. No one would know what happened. Boaz could have
done anything. People would say Ruth just had herself to blame.
But what does Boaz say? ‘And now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do
for you all you ask’ (2:11). Boaz is willing to do the one thing Ruth hoped,
dreamed, longed for him to do. And we see his tenderness of heart
exemplified in the way he addresses her as ‘daughter’.
We breathe a sigh of relief. Boaz is ready to be the redeemer of this
troubled family.

THE TWIST

But there’s a ‘but’! Suddenly, we’re given exasperating new information. Boaz
explains that Naomi already has a closer male relative than himself (v. 12).
As such, they must wait to see if this other man will ‘do his duty’ (v. 13) and
choose to redeem Naomi.
We draw a deep breath. It was all going so well!
Yet even this moment showcases Boaz’s integrity. Rather than abuse or
shame Ruth, he honours her (helping her go home without being seen, v.
14), as well as honouring his own unnamed relative. Of course, in doing
both of these, Boaz also honours God.
And all the while, Boaz again provides for Ruth and Naomi, filling Ruth’s
shawl with barley. Naomi, who once felt ‘empty’ (1:21), now ends another
chapter without being ‘empty-handed’ (v. 17; see also 2:18). Boaz truly is a
‘man of standing’ (2:1).

LET ME GO THERE

In R.S. Thomas’s short Advent poem The Coming, the Welsh writer imagines
the Father holding our world in his hands and inviting the Son to look at
humanity in all our mess and brokenness. The poem closes with these
precious words: ‘The Son watched them. Let me go there, he said.’ It’s a
moving depiction of all that we celebrate at Christmas: the eternal Son of
God willingly stepping into our world in order to save us.
But Thomas could have written a very similar poem about Boaz as he
looks upon Ruth and Naomi. Let me go there ‘… I will do it’ (v. 13). Again,
we find ourselves looking through Boaz and seeing Jesus. We have a gentle,
tender Redeemer who again and again in the gospels says, to the least and
the lowly, ‘Don’t be afraid’ (see, for example, Matthew 10:31; 14:27; 17:7;
Mark 5:36; 6:50; Luke 5:10; 8:50; 12:7; John 6:20).
Jesus will do it. He has done it.

REFLECTION

As you face the broken realities of our world and your own life, how does it feel
to know that Jesus looked at them and said, ‘I will do it’? How does that help
you not to be ‘afraid’ at the darkness and hopelessness of our lives? Give thanks,
rejoicing in this willing Redeemer.

Listen to ‘Maker, Made a Child’ by Emu Music.