Sermon Tone Analysis
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Scripture Reading
Introduction
When a person reads the Bible for the first time, he does not get very far without encountering blood.
The very first offspring of Adam and Eve, is guilty of murder.
The announcement of his birth is separated by only six verses in the record in Genesis, before the Bible plainly declares, “that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.”
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When the LORD questioned Cain about Abel, you remember his infamous words, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” ()
The LORD said:
Gen 4:
Even prior to this, although the word “blood” is not mentioned, it is clearly alluded to when the LORD made garments of skin for Adam and Eve, and clothed them ().
In fact, the Bible mentions blood, bloodshed, bloodguilt etc. 457x.
That is, at an average, an occurrence every 2 1/2 chapters.
People sometimes reject the Bible, saying, “It is a bloody religion!”
Some go further, and in their disgust of the mention of blood, call Christianity “barbaric.”
Christianity is neither violent, as implied by bloody religion, nor is it barbaric.
However, there is no Christianity without blood, and blood is foundational to its theology.
The verse for our consideration this morning is the 22nd verse of chapter 9.
Notice, “without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”
Therefore, I would like to preach to you on the topic, “Forgiveness Demands Blood.”
Explanation
In the NASB, the words “one may” and “say” are in italics, indicating that they are not in the original Greek text, but supplied by the translators for understanding.
The ESV translates, “almost everything is purified”
The KJV and NKJV use, “almost all things”
The literal translation of this verse is:
“And almost/nearly by blood all things are cleansed according to the law, and without shedding of blood not becoming/happening/taking place forgiveness.”
There are 2 parts to this verse:
1st:
General principle (indicated by almost/nearly, which indicates that there are some exceptions)
Deals with cleansing
2nd:
Universal absolute (indicated by a flat negation)
Deals with forgiveness
Some commentators say that the “almost” applies to both parts of the sentence, but I don’t think it does, because there are two separate “and’s”
Let’s briefly consider the general principle before looking at the universal absolute
The statement is: “almost all things are cleansed by blood according to the law”
The qualifier “according to the law” immediately tells us the context for this cleansing.
This is clearly speaking of the ritual sanctification which required the sprinkling of blood
The immediate preceding context demonstrates this truth:
In v.21, where it records that Moses sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with blood, we must note that at the time that the Sinaitic Covenant was made, the tabernacle was not yet constructed.
Moses had just come down from the mountain with the 10 Commandments, and the people made a covenant with the LORD.
This verse obviously is forward looking.
What is important is that even the tabernacle and the vessels had to be sprinkled with blood.
Why sanctify the furniture?
Why sanctify the furniture prescribed by the LORD Himself?
Perhaps this gives us a glimpse into the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man!
Anything man touches is tainted with sin.
Illustration (mechanic)
Mechanic who has a lot of grease on his hands from working on the engine.
Doesn’t matter how clean and pure and white the towel is, as soon as he touches it, the cloth is stained.
So also, everything man touches is stained.
So the law required that everything be cleansed by blood.
But you don’t normally associate blood with cleansing!
We tend to think of water as the universal cleanser.
My wife has some strategies which she claims gets rid of any stains on clothes (for the most part)
When it comes to physical washing, there is nothing better than water, running water!
Illustration (Niagara Falls)
This past week I was in Toronto, and after my work I took a bus to go see the Niagara Falls.
I had already seen it from the US side, but never from the Canadian side.
The Horseshoe Falls are really spectacular.
A massive volume of 600,000 gallons of water comes crashing down the 167 foot drop every second.
If you had a stain on your white shirt, and the fabric of the shirt could withstand the deluge, I assure you, the stain would be gone!
The Bible itself speaks in numerous places of washings, ceremonial washings.
However, how do you cleanse your conscience?
How do you remove stains that are upon your soul?
Listen to the writer of Hebrews again...
But the writer acknowledges that there are exceptions, so he says, “almost all things”
Here’s why: there were provisions in the law for cleansing, apart from blood.
For instance, Eleazar’s instruction to the men of war...
We still have not answered a fundamental question...
Why blood for cleansing?
For that we must move to the second part of the sentence, to the Universal Absolute...
Universal Absolute
Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission or forgiveness.
We should note a couple of things before we ask the big question, Why?
This is speaking of an event
the phrase “there is no forgiveness”
It is not just an abstract statement or axiom.
The idea here is more of an event rather than an axiom.
You can understand this text to say, “No forgiveness takes place without shedding of blood.”
Since the subject is understood, let’s state it with the subject performing the action:
The statement is then saying,
God does not forgive without the shedding of blood!
This is speaking of a release
Normally, the original Greek word used here for forgiveness is followed by our sins.
There is a clear omission here - the phrase stops at forgiveness
The immediate context and the way Hebrews uses this term without a qualifier demands a more comprehensive interpretation: including both cleansing and forgiveness.
The blood removes the condemnation of sin
The blood removes the consequence of sin and someday
The blood clears the conscience of sin
The blood will remove the consciousness of sin - the very presence of sin
Why the blood?
Now note, First of all, this is so, because God has declared it as such.
This is no minor point
Nor is it a cop-out
If you are a believer, you acknowledge that it is God who makes the rules, and not us!
It should be sufficient for us that God said it, even if it does not somehow fit into our finite mold of understanding.
Now faith is very reasonable, and God wants us to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.
That is why the LORD reasons with Judah and Jerusalem...
There is a clear explanation why God demands blood for forgiveness.
Secondly, it is because of the sin-death-life principle
Sin-death principle
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