Oh, The Blood

Hebrews 9:11–28 ESV

11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. 15 Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. 16 For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. 18 Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. 19 For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” 21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. 22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. 23 Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Mark last week talked about the symbolic worship and how we need to be careful we are offering our true worship to God and not just going through the motions. The jews were guilty of this. They were very preoccupied with the rituals of their worship instead of the heart of their worship. The leaders, priests were focused on the lowliness of the sinner and their own “righteousness” they forgot about the what the sacrifice meant and what is stood for.

Let’s take a really brief look at the sacrifices the Old Covenant required.

The Old Covenant Sacrifices

Some of these verses are going to be laced with the new covenant as well, but it does help paint a picture for us.

Hebrews 9:12–13 ESV

12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh,

Side bar, the ashes of the heifer they are talking about here is a sacrifice made for sins which would be committed in the future. The person who committed the sin would have to send someone who was unclean to get the ashes from this burnt offering which was done outside the temple. The person would come and get the ashes, mix them in water, sprinkle them on the person and their tent. At the end of seven day, the person would be purified. This burnt offering was available to anyone at any time, but the had to take advantage of it.

Hebrews 9:18–22 ESV

18 Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. 19 For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” 21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. 22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

The Old Covenant Sacrifices

Here the scripture talks about the sacrifices which were made to consecrate the temple and the items which were used in it. It also speaks a little to the sacrifices which were offered on behalf of man for sin.

If you read Leviticus, you will find the rituals and sacrifices the priests had to make. Almost all of them met with the death of an animal and shedding of blood. While the high priest only went into the Holy of Holies once a year, there were other sacrifices made throughout the year, and like I said, almost all of them dealt with the shedding of blood.

In order for a man to be cleansed, there had to be a death. There had to be shedding of blood. We don’t like to think of this. We don’t want to picture the slaughtering of animals who were killed to pay the price for sin. We don’t want to see the gore which was a part of the rituals to take care of someone’s sin. If I lived during that time and was of the Jewish faith, the covering of my sin. Something had to die. What we want to look at as an innocent animal. It was supposed to be an animal without blemish. An animal who would’ve been a prized possession for any farmer to have.

These aren’t easy pictures to look at, but neither is the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross for us.

The New Covenant Sacrifice

Isn’t it nice to see the s gone off the word sacrifice. Let’s look a the scripture in this passage that talks about the sacrifice Christ made for us. Some of these will be a repeat of what you heard before, but the are important for where we are going.

Hebrews 9:11–12 ESV

11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.

His own blood is what He took with Him into the heavenly Holy of Holies to offer the sacrifice for our sins.

Hebrews 9:14–17 ESV

14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. 15 Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. 16 For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive.

Jumping on to verses 23-26

Hebrews 9:23–26 ESV

23 Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

The New Covenant Sacrifice

Even with the New Covenant, there had to be a blood sacrifice. There had to be a death. The difference with this death, was Jesus new exactly what He was doing and what He was offering for us.

Think about this. When animals are killed, they really have no idea what is going on. They can’t conceive what is happening. Their brain isn’t capable of reasoning out what is about to happen until it is done. Typically as well, the animal being offered for sacrifice wasn’t tortured. The animal was brought in for the sacrifice, and the deed was done.

What we are getting ready to go through isn’t a pretty picture, but there wasn’t anything pretty about the sacrifice Jesus made for us.

He was emotionally humiliated in front of crowds of people. Think as He was drug before Pilate and Herod and the way Herod in particular made fun of him. A person in power and who had great influence. Jesus knew exactly what was happening.

As he was brought out in front of the crowds and Pilate asked the crowds who they would rather be crucified, Barabbas or Jesus. The crowd who a few days earlier were screaming “Hosanna, blessed be the name of the Lord!,” were now screaming “Crucify Him!” Jesus knew exactly what was going on.

As He was beaten and whipped with what was known as the Cat of Nine Tails. He was tortured beyond anything we could imagine today. His body now physically and emotionally bruised. Not only did He grasp what was going on, because He was part of the Trinity, He knew exactly where this was going to lead.

In your heads right now, you’re thinking, “Rick, stop. I’ve heard enough. I don’t want to hear anymore.” But, we need to look at this and realize the price He paid. Too many times, we gloss over it and don’t concentrate on what Christ really offered for us and what He went through to be able to do it.

After being physically and emotionally beaten, as was tradition, we was made to carry His own cross to the place where He would be crucified. His body had paid such a toll from what had happened previously, He needed help to carry the cross along the way.

He was then placed on the cross with nails through His hands and feet. He hung there in humility. Like I’ve said before, this was one of the most horrible forms of execution which was saved for the worst of criminals. Yet Jesus, who was without blemish, was hung. He hung there while the guards were gambling over his clothing.

Towards the end of this torture, the ultimate happened. He took upon Himself the sins which had been committed, which were being committed, and those that would be committed in the future. Then, He screams out,

Mark 15:34 ESV

34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

For the first time in His life, from the beginning of time, Jesus was alone. His Father, who couldn’t look on sin had to turn His back on His Son. Imagine the anguish Jesus felt. But all along, He knew it was coming to this.

And then.......He died.

At this point, the most horrific and most unjust execution which has or ever will take place was transformed into the most beautiful gift that has been offered to man in history. The veil in the earthly Holy of Holies was turn from top to bottom. The sacrifice for all of mankind had been paid once and for all.

Hebrews 9:27–28 ESV

27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

The Price Has Been Paid Once and for All

For those who have accepted the gift Christ offered us on the cross, Christ paid the debt for our sin. For all our sin. Christ has entered the heavenly holy places and stood before His Father to offer His own blood as a sacrifice for our sins. And once again, Jesus knew exactly what He is doing and comprehended the entire picture. Christ knew without the cross and enduring the physical and emotional beatings He took, He knew He would have to take the sins of mankind on HImself and for the first time have his Father turn His back on Him. He knew without all of this, mankind was doomed. He loved so much, He laid down His life for us.

John 15:13 ESV

13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

It was because He comprehended the whole thing and knew what the outcome would be for mankind that He went through all of this for us.

When it comes time for our judgement, our life will be laid out on display for all to see, but those whose names are in the Book of Life, Jesus will look at His Father and say, “I have paid the debt for their sin.” God will then look at us and say, “Welcome my child.” How awesome is that going to be.

Do you know you are going to hear those words?