The Blood

1Peter 1:18-19 - ...knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

All throughout the Bible blood is important. It goes along with sacrifice. In the Old Testament there were sacrifices, some included blood...the killing of an animal. There was a reason for that. It showed us what was to come--Jesus and the blood He shed for us. 1Colossians 1:14 - in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

I've mentioned before about the lambs of these sacrifices. They had to be spotless. When they were brought to the priests to be sacrificed the owner cut the animal's throat.  This lamb (or animal) was usually raised from birth. It was tended carefully, maybe even given a name. I'm guessing the first time a person brought their lamb for sacrifice it was a difficult thing for this person to do. Perhaps this person was even a child. Imagine raising a pet and then having to kill it. A difficult experience no doubt.

Here's what we see. The owner brings the lamb. He holds the lamb's head back and takes the knife and cuts its throat. The blood spurts and pours out. His hands are then covered in blood...the blood of the lamb, the blood of what he held dear. Death comes in his arms.

The act of sacrifice was done as an atonement for sins. It was a physical act done repeatedly throughout a person's life. The sacrifice was not permanent. With Jesus' death the act no longer was necessary. Only faith in Jesus and His death on the cross...and His resurrection.  1Peter 3:18 - For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit...  For the just and unjust...that's everyone.

This act of sacrifice is one which helps us view Christ's own death. His blood was on all our hands. When He was sent to the cross it was neither the Jews nor the Romans who killed Him but all of us. Yes, His blood was on my hands...and yours too. But the good news is Jesus died so all could receive forgiveness. He was that sacrificial Lamb who came to save the world.

How one Person and His sacrifice can withstand the test of time, more than 2,000 years, is a miracle in itself. It will not be squelched. One day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Jesus is Lord.

As Easter approaches think on this blood thing. It's something some don't like to hear about. Jesus may have been the spotless, unblemished Lamb of God, but when He took on the sins of the world, He truly was unrecognizable on His way to the cross, not like the portraits we see of Him with a trickling of blood here and there. It was poured out for us, like the blood of those sacrificial lambs before Him.

Matthew 26:28 - For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.