Theology of Blood

I followed my uncle down the trail.  It was just one foot after the other as the dry dirt was crushed under every footfall.  My dad and brother were right behind, and I could hear their steps kicking up the dust a few paces back on that path down near Uvalde, TX.  I always loved the hill country.  As I gazed across the uneven landscape toward the horizon, I would feel at home.  This was something new, though, because my uncle carried a shotgun today.

I had never gone hunting before.  I was old enough to have the basic concept down, but I really did not know what to expect.  Bob stopped in a clearing up ahead.  He set down the ammo case and began loading the weapon.  We didn't say a word.  Dad had told us to stay quiet, and I knew I didn't want to mess anything up.  The anticipation of the unknown made it feel like the ages of the earth were passing, though I'm sure it was only a few minutes.  Then, in an instant, he raised the weapon and fired two quick rounds into the sky, and I saw a dark form fall to the ground.  I remember marking the spot where the bird had fallen in my head, and I went after it.  My uncle said not to worry about it, he was just sighting the weapon, but I went anyway.  I vividly remember seeing the little sparrow lying on the rock where it fell, and I remember picking it up.  The pellets of buckshot had riddled its small body, and it looked at me while gasping for breath.  It died soon afterward.  I put it down on the rocks, and as I drew my hand back, I remember the blood.

"For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life" (Leviticus 17:11).

Under the Law, the Israelites were required to pour out the blood of animals on the altar of God.  There was no pleasure in it.  It was not just a ritual.  There was a reason that blood had to be spilled.

Mankind is a strange creature.  He can be strong, courageous, and valiant.  He can be kind and care for those around him, but he is also corrupt.  He lies and cheats.  He has evil thoughts of murder and lust.  He will steal if he can to get what he wants at times.  If you have trouble believing this, I have a question for you:  do you lock your doors at night?  Think about yourself even.  Have you ever lied?  Have you ever lusted?  Have you ever stolen anything?  Have you ever hated anyone?

Jesus said:

"You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’  But I say to you thateveryone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire" (Matthew 5:21-22).

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.'  But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matthew 5:27-28).

If you're honest about it, by your own admission, you are a liar.  You're an adulterer.  You're a thief.  You are a murderer.  Maybe you're all of the above.  I am.  I'm pretty messed up, and because I did those things I was under the wrath and condemnation of God...  just as you are under it now.  I don't say this to put you down.  I say it so you will see why the blood is so important.

The Israelites lusted and murdered and lied and stole also, and those evil things caused a separation between them and God just like it has with you today.  It caused a debt, a blood debt, because there is only one way to pay for doing wrong: "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23a).  Sin is a severe thing.  It is not causal.  It is not ok because "everyone does it."  It is a personal slap in the face to the One who created you and loves you.  When an Israelite did evil, it had to be paid for.  He paid for it in the blood of his animal on the altar.  It showed his faith and trust in God for the fixing of that separation that was between them.  Ultimately, though, "it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins" (Hebrews 10:4) because, "God made man in his own image" (Genesis 9:6b).  What that payment did was show how serious it is when we do evil as well as allow the person to show their faith in the true payment that was to come.

On the morning of the 3rd of April 33AD, Roman soldiers moved through the streets of Jerusalem.  With them a man struggled along as blood trickled from multiple cuts and lacerations.  His face was so bloodied and bruised that He no longer looked human, "His appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and His form beyond that of the children of mankind" (Isaiah 52:14).  On His back, scrapping and splintering into His wounds, was a cross, the instrument of His execution, to be used when they reached the place, given in Scripture as κρανίου τόπος or Calvary.

The metallic ring and sickening sound of punctured flesh resonated in the ears of those who were present as they drove the nails through His hands and feet.  The smell of blood came on the breeze as it coursed over the hill outside the city, and the people looked up at the crucified Christ.  Darkness came over the land, and Jesus cried, "'It is finished,' and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit" (John 19:30).

God exists outside time, so He is not confined within it or limited by it.  The effect of the death of Jesus was a cascade that moved back through and forward in time itself, echoing through and shaking the very foundations of existence!  It changed everything!  It moved back through the centuries to the Israelite sacrificing His lamb on the altar, back to Abraham when he sacrificed the ram on the altar in place of Isaac, back to the very beginning when God Himself sacrificed the first animal to make clothing of its skin to cover Adam and Eve after the first sin at the very dawn of creation, and it has moved forward in time to you in this very moment as you read these words.

Jesus paid the blood debt for the wrong you have done, and the reparation of the separation between you and God that exists even now is ready to be had.  Do you believe it?  You can have it now.  It is given to you!  In that you will know Him, and in knowing Him you will truly live, bought by His blood...  and alive again in His resurrection as you look forward to everlasting life!

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God.  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.'  And He who was seated on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new'" (Revelation 21:1-5a).

I Am Judas' Kiss

"While he was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus said to him, 'Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?'" (Luke 22:47-48).


Through history Judas has been vilified as the worst of the worst.  How could someone who walked with the Christ suddenly turn on Him and betray Him into the hands of those who would murder Him for no reason other than preaching the forgiveness and grace of God?  If that wasn't bad enough, why would Judas choose a kiss, the universal sign of love and affection, to initiate a betrayal?  I have wondered that, too.  Just what was going through his head when he decided to hand Jesus over to the wicked?


The truth is that Judas has completely earned the reputation he has been given in history.  He is a self-serving and wicked person who is a natural infiltrator, "But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, "Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?" He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it" (John 12:4-6).  Judas would have made a great spy.  He completely fooled almost everyone he was with for years.  His only mistake was that he was attempting to pull the wool over the eyes of God, and the Son was never fooled, "Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap" (Galatians 6:7).  Continue to the end of the story and you see that Judas certainly reaped what he sowed, "Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, 'I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.'  They said, 'What is that to us? See to it yourself.'  And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself" (Matthew 27:3-5).  The question of whether or not Judas repented and was saved is not the issue.  He certainly realized what he had done to some degree, but whether that was a true salvation experience will not be known in this world.  The point is that Judas was a wicked and vile person.  The point is that we are, too.

In order to bring the light of Christ into this world, we must have a proper view of ourselves.  Before we came to Jesus and were washed clean is the person the we are by ourselves.  Some of you were saved very young, so it is hard to remember who that person was, but the aspects of the "old man" still come through from time to time, so work from there.  That is you.  Is that person anything to be proud of?  Looking at myself, I can certainly say a resounding, "No" to that.  I was as wicked and self-serving as Judas was, and if you look honestly at yourself, you have to come to the same conclusion.  We all do.  So, is there any reason at all for us to look down on any other person for what they do?  

What about the murderer?  "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.'  But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire" (Matthew 5:21-22).


What about the adulterer?  "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.'  But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matthew 5:27-28).


If you have hated anyone, even if they are the most rotten person to ever exist, you are guilty.  If you have ever lusted over another person, you are guilty.  **BEGINNING OF SOAPBOX**  By the way, it is not ok to talk about how good looking someone is to others (especially married people doing this).  It may seem perfectly innocent, but all it is doing is inviting lust in yourself and others.  This is true of both guys any girls.  There is no exception.  If there is something wonderful about them, that is certainly worth praise, but do not invite lusting eyes to feast on the physical.  **END OF SOAPBOX**


"For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it" (James 2:10).  We are as wicked and guilty as Judas.  The good news is that we are redeemed by the blood of Christ.  We need to remember that when we see the unsaved sin because we did it too before Jesus got a hold of us.  So, maintain purity, but interact with the unsaved like Jesus did, not the Pharisee that prayed, "God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector" (Luke 18:11).  Love them.  Care for them.  Reach out to them, and show them the same redeeming power in Jesus that was once shown to you.  Jesus was willing to "get His hands dirty."  We should be, too.