5.13.24

This week the author of Hebrews is talking to us in chapters 9 & 10 about the necessity of a blood sacrifice to atone for our sins. A lot of modern people struggle with the whole idea of a God who demands blood sacrifices. It seems primitive and overly harsh. And especially in a day where grace and forgiveness are the more popular messages, the whole concept of blood sacrifice seems regressive and old fashioned.

And yet, the author is trying to get us to see that the only basis for grace and forgiveness is the blood sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf. God’s forgiveness isn’t simply an, “Oh well, I’ll forgive you this time…”. But it has a cost - theres a price to be paid. And in the Old Testament, it was done through various animal sacrifices. And yet, one of the main points of the book of Hebrews is how the old system required a continual flow of blood - the sacrifices could never stop - because the sin never did. The animal sacrifices could point to the need of blood sacrifice to atone for our sins, but they were unable to actually take the guilt and stain away. But Jesus came as the perfect sacrifice. And as a result, he was able to atone - once and for all - for the breadth and depth of our sins. And so he is able to sit down and cease from his work of sacrificing for our sins. It is finished!

But here’s why blood sacrifice is so essential to the process. We all know that blood signifies several things. First of all, if blood is gushing from a person, that’s usually a bad sign. It means that something is broken - maybe even mortally wounded. We often use the phrase, “You’ve got blood on your hands” to picture the guilt and stain that our sins have caused. And so the whole idea of the spilling of blood signifies the depth of the problem that we have. Blood isn’t a simple liquid to clean up. It stains. Permanently. And even the idea of “having blood on your hands” shows us that life’s problems are more radical than we think. Education can’t fix our problems. Social reform hasn’t been able to eliminate our deep struggles. We need something more than that - because there's something more deeply flawed with us.

Secondly, blood points to guilt. It’s a reminder that the world is broken and it’s our fault. Several times in Scripture we hear the phrase, “His blood cries out from the ground to me.” And the guilt of the mess we have made of our lives - our relationships - and our world - stem from our own personal rebellion against the Creator and his design for us.

Thirdly, blood stains. Like Lady MacBeth, we all sense a “damn spot” that no amount of effort can ever wash away. Our lives are filled with telling people we’re sorry - of repenting to God. And we have to continue this process over and over again. Because a guilty stained conscience just won’t go away. That’s what the author says in verse 14 - that we have a guilty conscience that needs to be cleansed.

And so we have a problem. And it’s a struggle that’s deeper than we can fix on our own. And that’s one of the reasons why blood sacrifice is so essential to this process. We are far worse than a bit flawed. Our struggles are deeper than turning over a new leaf can produce. We need an outside rescue - and only the perfect blood sacrifice can atone for the mess that we have made.