Battle Cries from the Cross: Blood!
// April 9th, 2009 // No Comments » // Uncategorized
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“You’ve bled with Wallace…Now bleed with me” – Robert the Bruce, Braveheart
Our culture has an obsession with blood. Watch any Quentin Tarantino film, any of the recent graphic novel flicks, or glance at any of the horror/torture movie trailers that come out every five seconds, and you’ll see a pattern…Lots of blood. Another cultural phenomenon: blood lust and UFC fighting. Some men obsess over Ultimate Fighting because they love violence and the sight of someone bleeding. Something is up, the human heart is simultaneously repulsed and drawn to blood. Why?
I found it interesting that in its definition of Blood, wikipedia states this: “Blood is a specialized bodily fluid that delivers necessary substances to the body’s cells – such as nutrients and oxygen – and transports waste products away from those same cells.” I believe the human heart is drawn to blood because God’s plan of salvation came through His own Blood. For some time, I have struggled in understanding the significance of the blood of Jesus Christ, grasping it’s meaning. I think it has something to do with the fact that we in the Western world have no concept of the sacrificial system. In the rest of the world, however, it is much different. I recently read an article describing a planned animal sacrifice in Jerusalem and the accompanying GRAPHIC video. Leviticus 17:11 says “the life of a creature is in the blood.” On the cross, Jesus gave us the “necessary substances” of his life, and he “transported our waste away”, our sin and defilement, through his blood. You can read the article here and watch the video here (but be forewarned it is GRAPHIC). I pray that it helps you understand the significance and saving power of the blood of Jesus to a greater degree this Easter.
We read passages that talk about the “life being in the blood,” but those are just words that we don’t really consider. We “know” that the wages of sin are high, but we don’t get the life lesson that the ancient Israelites received every year. The point of sacrifice was simply this: you deserve to die because of your sin.
“…Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:2
“Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” 1 Corinthians 5:7
“Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” Romans 5:9
“To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” Revelation 1:5-6
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Blood of the Old Covenant
Blood is an unpleasant subject to many because it brings to mind suffering and death. Curiously, the Bible is a book literally filled with blood. On 362 occasions the Old Testament speaks of blood, most often referring to sacrifices and death by violence. The New Testament also speaks of blood 92 times, most commonly in reference to violent death. Much of the Bible’s teaching about blood is in relation to the hundreds of appearances of related issues such as the Temple, priesthood, fire, and smoke.
The shedding of blood and animal sacrifice likely began with God, after the sin of our first parents, Adam and Eve, as God covered their nakedness and shame with the skin of an animal (Genesis 3:21). Other sacrifices were offered by Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Job (Gen. 4:1-5; 8:20; 22:3, 13; 26:25; 33:20; 35:7; Job 1:5). Perhaps the most insightful sacrifice was done by Abraham in place of Isaac, where it was promised that one day, through Jesus, God would provide the ultimate sacrifice (Gen. 22:14).
Blood was again shed in Exodus at the Passover (Ex. 12:1-30), which was commemorated each year with the Feast of Passover. Later, sacrifices were only conducted by priests at the temple (Deut. 12:5-14) according to strict protocol (Leviticus 1-7).
Israel practiced some eleven public sacrifices that were both animal (cattle, sheep, goats, doves, pigeons) and non-animal (wheat, barley, olive oil, wine, frankincense). In total there were four kinds of sacrifices: burnt, peace, sin, and guilt. In addition to the morning and evening daily sacrifices, there was the Day of Atonement, when the High Priest would enter the Most Holy Place to make atonement for the sins of the whole nation (Lev. 23:27; 25:9).
The process of animal sacrifice was an incredibly personal confession of sin. First, an unblemished animal was chosen, symbolizing perfection. Second, the worshipper would draw near the animal that was to be substituted in place of the worshipper. Third, the worshipper would lay hands on the animal to identify with it, confessing their sins in repentance over the animal. Fourth, the animal was then killed and its blood shed as the penalty for sin.
Nonetheless, the Old Testament practice of sacrificial atonement was declared by God to be insufficient for the remission of sin (Psalm 40:6; 51:16; Hosea 6:6; Micah 6:6-8; Hebrews 10:4). This is because those sacrifices were only preparatory in anticipation of the death of Jesus (Jeremiah 31:34b; Heb. 8:3-13). Additionally, the Old Covenant practice of sacrifice was often undertaken by people who did not truly love God in their hearts and instead had only an outward faith (Proverbs 7 especially verse 14; Proverbs 15:8; Psalm 51:17; Hosea 6:6; 1 Samuel 15:21-22).
Blood of the New Covenant
Because the bloodshed of animals in the Old Covenant was insufficient, Jesus was sent to shed His blood as our God-man who atones for our sin and bring us into the New Covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Heb. 7:22). Therefore, Jesus is our Great High Priest who is in every way superior to all the priests of the Old Covenant (Heb. 2:17; 4:14-15). He laid down his life as the Lamb of God who takes away our sins (John 1:29). He is our Passover Lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7), who has saved us from sin and death by His blood (1 Peter 1:18-19) that was shed once to forgive all sin (Heb. 9:26; 10:10).
Today, there is no longer a Temple, priesthood, or sacrificial system since the Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. But in the New Covenant our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19) and Christians are a priesthood of believers (1 Pet. 2:9). As Christians, we do not offer animal sacrifices but do celebrate the sacrifice of Jesus in communion (1 Cor. 10:14-22). And we do offer our lives (Romans 12:1-2), good deeds (Heb. 13:16), money (Philippians 4:18), and worshipful singing (Heb. 13:15) as living sacrifices to Jesus.
HT: MHC
