The blood of Jesus

Every culture and religion appears to recognize the spiritual power inherent in blood. Traditional religionists when they have a “client” with a small spiritual problem will ask him to sacrifice a chicken. When the problem is bigger, they may demand a goat, then a cow, then seven cows, and some allege that the sacrifice may even rise to require human blood in certain contexts. In some cultures for instance, the death of Kings is accompanied by burying some of his chiefs, citizens or strangers along with him. Of course, the physical always mirrors the spiritual, so medical doctors will confirm that when a life is drained of blood, it dies. Whenever there is a serious medical emergency, a blood transfusion may be one of the actions a doctor will take to restore life when it appears to be slipping away.

In the Old Testament, the Jews demonstrated a strong understanding of the power inherent in the blood as a means of sacrifice and atonement. Apostle Paul recounts this history very brilliantly in the ninth chapter of Hebrews. Paul writes about the old testament meaning and significance of the blood (referring to the first covenant) and contrasts the physical sanctuary of the Jews (he calls it ‘worldly’ or ‘earthly’) with the sanctuary in the hearts of the new testament Christian built by the coming of Christ who built a “greater and more perfect tabernacle” not with human hands, but through his own divine spirit. But first, Paul graphically depicts the layout and purpose of the old sanctuary of Jewish worship so we can understand the reason why Christ’s blood was shed.

He describes the outer sanctuary, behind a first veil, called the holy place which had a lamp stand, a table and the sacred bread. Then there was a second veil behind which was a tabernacle called the Holy of Holies. This had a golden altar of incense, the Ark of the Covenant given to Moses, which contained a golden jar which held the manna, the rod of Aaron, and two stone slabs of the covenant bearing the Ten Commandments. There was the mercy seat and the two cherubims which were the symbols of glory. The priests enter regularly into the outer sanctuary, but only the High Priest enters into the Holy of Holies and even he does so only once a year, and “never without taking a sacrifice of blood with him, which he offers for himself and for the errors and sins” of the people. The blood is that of one goat while the priest symbolically transferred the sins of the people to a second scapegoat which was sent into the wilderness.

This Old Testament practice was an imperfect foretaste of the perfect sacrifice that was to come. The annual ritual of taking the “blood of goats and bulls” had to be repeated every year. The High Priest who went into the Holy of Holies, was himself human and subject to sin, and needed himself to be purified. It was possible even for the High Priest, if his atonement did not please God to die right there. He would have to be pulled out in this tragic eventuality and I suspect the succeeding High Priest would have been filled with mortal dread as he entered to perfect the people’s sacrifice! But for the mercy of God!!!

So there was need for a better and perfect covenant. Against this background, it is easy to appreciate why that sacrifice had to be offered by the son of God, who was himself sinless, so he would not require atonement for himself-“But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect sacrifice…” One can then understand why his blood had to be shed, because “Almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission”. And there was need for an eternal sacrifice, not one that would be repeated every year, and who better than Christ who “through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God…”

By Christ’s death, his new testament came into force (for a will and testament as the lawyers will tell you comes into force only after the death of the testator), and he has become the mediator, negotiator, intercessor for the redemption of our transgressions. Unlike the high priest of old, he is not entered into a physical holy of holies, but a heavenly one to intercede with God for us. “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many, and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” (Hebrews 9: 28)

Opeyemi Agbaje