5.15.24
On the one hand, we’ve seen that blood represents the harsh side of our brokenness: guilt, shame, stain. And it reveals the depth of just how messed up we really are. But on the other hand, blood also reveals the power of God’s solution. Because blood also represents the positive side of life. Because there’s no life without blood. And when someone spills their blood for another, it’s moving and powerful.
Whether that sacrifice comes from the military or Harry Potter’s mother or some of the greatest stories of sacrifice out there, everybody knows the power of the sacrifice of blood. The voluntary shedding of blood for another has incredible redemptive power. Anyone who has ever been the direct recipient of that kind of sacrifice has been changed deeply from the inside out. They will never be the same again.
And that’s exactly what the author here is reminding us that Jesus did for us. His sacrifice was more than a gesture of love - it was more than a symbolic death. But it was the real shedding of the blood of the Creator of the universe - for you and me. If we could grasp the profound reality of this sacrifice, it would move and transform our hearts in deep ways.
In fact, one of the things that it would reveal is the power of God’s rescue of us. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who struggled deeply and ended up sacrificing his life standing against the Nazi regime, gives us one of the best descriptions of what God is doing for us here. Because he talked about the power of forgiveness. And what he said was that any real forgiveness is costly. Any time an offense occurs, there’s automatically a debt that has to be paid. Either you make the person who offended you pay by getting even or seeking justice…or you make the payment yourself by forgiving them. But the payment of forgiveness is just as costly as exacting it on another person. But the problem with making another person pay through revenge comes with its own cost. Not only is that other person forced to suffer, but the evil they did against you now passes into you and begins to consume you itself.
What all this means is an answer to the question: Why can’t God just forgive us? Why does he need a blood sacrifice? And here’s our answer: there is a real debt that needs to be paid. And that debt simply can’t vanish into the mist any more than the harsh words or actions of another person against us can vanish with just a wish. That debt must be paid! But rather than making us pay it, he steps in and pays it himself. And that payment is costly! It’s the very life-blood of the one who created life and blood in the first place! In fact, it’s SO costly that only the life-blood of the perpetrator can pay for the crime that’s been committed. That’s what we deserve. And that’s what he voluntarily steps in to pay on our behalf.
Taking on the payment of forgiveness is the only way we can confront people, not for your sake (vengeance), but for their sake (redemption). And this is the only way God could justly make payment for our crimes and yet pour out his love upon us. Forgiveness doesn’t mean that God says, “Oh, forget it…it’s no big deal.” Rather, forgiveness means the greatest price has been paid for our rescue. And so we see the power of God’s solution for our rebellion.
