RETURNED!

It’s called Adele Bloch-Bauer I. Painted by Gustav Klimt in 1907, it hung in the Vienna home of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, Adele’s husband and wealthy industrialist. With the Anschluss of Austria by the Nazis in 1938, this and other paintings from Jewish collectors like the Bloch-Bauers were confiscated (read: “stolen”). After the war, this particular piece fell into the hands of the Austrian government; they refused to part with it. After a long drawn out legal battle in the US and Austria (Republic of Austria v. Altmann), it was ruled that Maria Altmann, the niece of Ferdinand and Adele, and other surviving family members, were the rightful owners. It was returned to Ms. Altmann in Los Angeles in Jan 2006.

Later that year, Ronald Lauder, the cosmetics magnate, reportedly paid $135 million for Adele Bloch Bauer I, making it the most expensive painting ever, beating Picasso’s Boy with a Pipe ($104 million, 2004). It remains in Lauder’s Neue Gallerie in New York. “This is our Mona Lisa,” he proudly comments.

This story bookended the documentary, The Rape of Europa, that I got to see over the weekend with friends. Highlighting the unimaginable and unconscionable theft of priceless art during WWII, the return of this particular objet d'art to its rightful owners gave one a sense of vindication and justice. Returned!

And so also we. Returned to our rightful Owner!

And [Christ] Himself
bore our sins in His body
on the cross,
so that we might die to sin
and live to righteousness ….
For you were continually
straying like sheep,
but now you have returned
to the Shepherd
and Guardian of your souls.
1 Peter 2:24–25

Returned, by grace, to our rightful Owner—our Creator, from whose fold we had wandered. Transferred, in His mercy, from the kingdom of darkness into His kingdom of light.

… the Father … has qualified us
to share in the inheritance
of the saints in Light.
For He rescued us
from the domain of darkness,
and transferred us to the
kingdom of His beloved Son,
in whom we have redemption ….
Colossians 1:12–14

Redeemed. From slavery to sin—helpless, hapless, and hopeless. But now, the believer in Jesus Christ is redeemed and returned. We’ve been rescued from the sentence of eternal death; we’ve received the gift of eternal life.

For the wages of sin is death,
but the free gift of God
is eternal life
in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23

Redeemed. Returned.

… our great God and Savior,
Christ Jesus, … gave Himself
for us to redeem us
from every lawless deed,
and to purify for Himself
a people
for His own possession ….
Titus 2:13–14

And what a costly redemption it was—$135 million is nothing compared to the price that was paid on the cross for you and me.

… you were not redeemed
with perishable things
like silver or gold
from your futile way of life
inherited from your forefathers,
but with precious blood,
as of a lamb unblemished
and spotless,
the blood of Christ.
1 Peter 1:18–19

Returned, praise God!

Worthy are You …
for You were slain,
and purchased for God
with Your blood
persons from every tribe
and tongue and
people and nation.
Revelation 5:9

And such a magnificent redemption and return lays upon us a responsibility before our God and Savior.

For you have been bought
with a price:
therefore glorify God
in your body.
1 Corinthians 6:20

Let us live worthy of the redemption that has been wrought for us.

Blessed be
the Lord God of Israel,
for He has visited us
and accomplished
redemption for His people.
Luke 1:68

Amen!