Hebrews as Muse -- Washed in the Blood -- Hebrews 9
It’s a normal thing in life that when you stop to think about it, doesn’t feel very normal - a hunter in deer season kills his prize buck, then must do the dirty work, gutting and carrying the carcass to where the blood will be allowed to drain before it is skinned, and the meat processed. My dad was a quail hunter and although he hunted a lot, often got his limit, and loved to eat quail, the cleaning part would turn him off, making a meal soon after distasteful. Normal, but it didn’t feel normal.
Critics of Christianity often talk about this odd thing, that doesn’t seem normal to them: the shedding of Jesus’ blood on the cross being praised, as gross and distasteful as the image tends to be. I can name numerous people who become sickened at the sight of any blood, regardless of their Christian beliefs.
Yet I think we inherently know what the Bible declares: that our life is in our bloodstream. When the Law of Moses was being given, with its requirements for sacrifice, we find these words, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement” (Leviticus 17:11). Blood gets to the essence of life.
Hebrews 9 begins with a tour of the tabernacle. As you entered you were in the Holy Place with the lampstand and the table with bread of the presence. Prayers went up to God here. Behind it was a large thick curtain, and behind the curtain was the Holy of Holies. Only the high priest was allowed back there, and only once a year. The Ark of the Covenant was placed in the middle. Inside it was a golden urn holding manna, Aaron’s staff, and the tablets of stone with the ten commandments. On the top of the Ark were statues of cherubim (angels) overshadowing the mercy seat (the top of the Ark). All sides were trimmed in gold. A highly valuable piece of furniture. And we find these words, “Into this section only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people.” On this valuable Ark, with all its imagery, he would pour blood!
What should come to mind with this? That God is to be valued. He is perfect, and we are not. Only with a distasteful and ugly sacrifice can we make amends to be in his presence. Sin is a serious thing, and so is covering it. But wait, only the high priest was allowed in the Holy of Holies. So, another thing comes to mind. We are separated from God, and we need a mediator to bridge the gap. Someone greater than the Jewish High Priest.
“But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and perfect tabernacle (not made with hands) he entered once for all into the Most Holy Place, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing our eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:11, 12). Yes, shedding blood is a distasteful, ugly thing. And the sacrifices of the Old Testament, certainly the sacrifice of Jesus, is a distasteful, ugly thing. That’s the point! Sin is to be taken seriously, and God’s reaction to sin is to be taken seriously: we need a way to remove the effects of sin. It takes something serious. It takes Jesus (God in the flesh) being sacrificed for us! Shedding his blood as he lives through Jesus. “Therefore, he is a mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance” (Heb. 9:15).
We need this, because “Just as it is appointed for man to die once, after that comes judgment” (9:27).
As the hymn goes, “Would you be free from the burden of sin? There’s power in the blood, power in the blood. Would you o’er evil a victory win? There’s wonderful power in the blood. There is power, power, wonder-working power, in the blood of the lamb. Power, power, wonder working power, in the precious blood of the lamb.”
Cross Point: Judgment, yes, but “Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him” (Heb. 9:28). May our lives reflect this. May we be washed in the blood of the lamb, and may we give evidence in how we speak, live, and obey.
Critics of Christianity often talk about this odd thing, that doesn’t seem normal to them: the shedding of Jesus’ blood on the cross being praised, as gross and distasteful as the image tends to be. I can name numerous people who become sickened at the sight of any blood, regardless of their Christian beliefs.
Yet I think we inherently know what the Bible declares: that our life is in our bloodstream. When the Law of Moses was being given, with its requirements for sacrifice, we find these words, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement” (Leviticus 17:11). Blood gets to the essence of life.
Hebrews 9 begins with a tour of the tabernacle. As you entered you were in the Holy Place with the lampstand and the table with bread of the presence. Prayers went up to God here. Behind it was a large thick curtain, and behind the curtain was the Holy of Holies. Only the high priest was allowed back there, and only once a year. The Ark of the Covenant was placed in the middle. Inside it was a golden urn holding manna, Aaron’s staff, and the tablets of stone with the ten commandments. On the top of the Ark were statues of cherubim (angels) overshadowing the mercy seat (the top of the Ark). All sides were trimmed in gold. A highly valuable piece of furniture. And we find these words, “Into this section only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people.” On this valuable Ark, with all its imagery, he would pour blood!
What should come to mind with this? That God is to be valued. He is perfect, and we are not. Only with a distasteful and ugly sacrifice can we make amends to be in his presence. Sin is a serious thing, and so is covering it. But wait, only the high priest was allowed in the Holy of Holies. So, another thing comes to mind. We are separated from God, and we need a mediator to bridge the gap. Someone greater than the Jewish High Priest.
“But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and perfect tabernacle (not made with hands) he entered once for all into the Most Holy Place, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing our eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:11, 12). Yes, shedding blood is a distasteful, ugly thing. And the sacrifices of the Old Testament, certainly the sacrifice of Jesus, is a distasteful, ugly thing. That’s the point! Sin is to be taken seriously, and God’s reaction to sin is to be taken seriously: we need a way to remove the effects of sin. It takes something serious. It takes Jesus (God in the flesh) being sacrificed for us! Shedding his blood as he lives through Jesus. “Therefore, he is a mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance” (Heb. 9:15).
We need this, because “Just as it is appointed for man to die once, after that comes judgment” (9:27).
As the hymn goes, “Would you be free from the burden of sin? There’s power in the blood, power in the blood. Would you o’er evil a victory win? There’s wonderful power in the blood. There is power, power, wonder-working power, in the blood of the lamb. Power, power, wonder working power, in the precious blood of the lamb.”
Cross Point: Judgment, yes, but “Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him” (Heb. 9:28). May our lives reflect this. May we be washed in the blood of the lamb, and may we give evidence in how we speak, live, and obey.