Hebrews 9:13-14 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

This all seems very esoteric to us, but to the 1^st Century Jews to whom it was written, it was absolutely earth-shaking. It states, in very clear, logical terms, that the rituals of the Old Covenant, expressed to and through Moses, were completely supplanted by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. We don’t think in terms of blood sacrifices, but the idea is foundational to the whole Bible. Indeed, the character that means Biblical forgiveness, used in Chinese and Japanese, has the radical for “red” on the left, indicating the blood of a sacrifice, and the right hand is “document,” meaning a document of blood. Nothing could be more Biblical! Jesus shed His blood so that we could be forgiven and cleansed of our sins. That’s why He is called the Lamb of God repeatedly. As has been said, Christianity is indeed a bloody religion, and the attempts to cover that over are of the devil. That’s not at all to say that blood has any part in it today, other than the cup of the New Covenant that we receive in Communion. (Incidentally, wine is sometimes referred to as “the blood of the grape.”) However, we must never forget the sacrifice that Jesus made for us, both its finality and its efficacy. Because it was so perfect, there is no further need, indeed possibility, for blood sacrifice. Today, we are to rejoice that, as the hymn says, “Jesus paid it all.” That said, we must never forget how great that payment was, and respond accordingly.

I probably have as much trouble grasping this as anyone, and I’ve studied it! Tomorrow I’ll be preaching on Consider Jesus, talking about how little we really think about Him and all He has done for us, and this is certainly part of that. I regularly talk with Japanese about the two different characters, read the same, for forgiveness, pointing out that the common one essentially means permission, while the one I’ve just described means blood sacrifice. I too need to grasp, on the deepest level, that my sins are so repulsive to God that they required the ultimate sacrifice of the blood, the life, of the Son of God. That understanding, properly grasped, will mean total commitment of all that I have and am to Him. After the message tomorrow we’ll be singing the chorus that lays that out clearly. I need to communicate that message by the power of the Holy Spirit, so that we may all be fully committed to the King of kings, the Lord of lords.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for enlarging on the message You’ve already given me for tomorrow. Your Gospel indeed encompasses everything! Every opportunity You give me to speak, may I express what You want said at that time to those people, not overwhelming them with more than they can absorb, but giving them the living bread, the water of life, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!