INTRODUCTION
BLOOD FOR BLOOD
THE GUILT OF INNOCENT BLOOD
When an innocent victim is found murdered, the community is faced
with the possibility of great wrath from God because of the unexpiated
blood (v 6-8). The pre-condition is that someone must accept responsibility
in order to avert the divine wrath.
By doing certain things that are themselves parabolic we might
indeed see that the wages of sin is death, and that the gift of
God is life. But is that gift unconditional? What is required
before God forgives?
OUR "PROPITIATION" FROM GOD
PURIFICATION BY BLOOD
Just as innocent blood shed cursed the land until the blood of
the guilty was shed (Nu 35:33), so the rejection of the blood
of the Son of God brings curses upon the generations of humankind
until there is either an acceptance, through repentance and faith,
of the only sacrifice that removes guilt, or the wrath of God
to its full measure-and its result, the final death:
THE VENGEANCE OF GOD
The Day of Atonement is one of the two Holy Days of God during
which the blood of Jesus Christ is the subject of special emphasis.
I would like to consider this subject in my message today.
God the great Life-giver, is also the great Defender of human
life, a principle ingrained in His covenant with Noah:
Ge 9:6 Whoever sheds man's blood [wantonly, carelessly,
premeditatedly], by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image
of God He made man.
God elaborates on this in the Book of Leviticus, explaining why
blood must be shed for the blood of man:
Lev 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and
I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your
souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.
Shed blood is sacred; both the innocent blood of a human being
made in the image of God, as well as that of any substitutionary
animal sacrifice, which epitomized the life of the sacrificial
victim.
Human blood that is spilt without cause demands vindication.
In ancient Israel, even a domestic animal that had taken a human
life was to be stoned to death in the upholding of this principle
(Ex 21:28-32)! Shed innocent blood polluted the land and in turn required
the shedding of blood as the means of forgiveness-to atone for,
to cover, to remove the guilt, in order to avert wrath and death.
This is the fullest and truest sense of meaning of the word 'atonement',
as we shall see:
Nu 35:33 So you shall not pollute the land where you are;
for blood defiles the land, and no atonement [perhaps 'restoration'?]
can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it, except
by the blood of him who shed it.
The guilt of bloodshed has to be immediately addressed. Like
the blood of righteous Abel, it cries out to God for vengeance
and justice and curses all who are stained by it (Gen 4:10-11).
This is why the martyrs of God are justified in demanding vengeance:
Dt 19:10,13 lest innocent blood be shed in the midst of
your land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance,
and thus guilt of bloodshed be upon you.
13 Your eye shall not pity him [the murderer who has shed innocent
blood], but you shall put away the guilt of innocent blood from
Israel, that it may go well with you.
Rev 6:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, "How
long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood
on those who dwell on the earth?"
God, who is perfectly just, who demands that all sin be dealt
with and that all evil be accounted for, also demands justice-according
to His definition-for all innocent blood shed.
Let us now go to the Book of Deuteronomy to see this principle
further validated, by means of a parable, in the Law of God.
Dt 21:1-9 If anyone is found slain, lying in the field
in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess,
and it is not known who killed him, 2 then your elders and your
judges shall go out and measure the distance from the slain man
to the surrounding cities. 3 And it shall be that the elders
of the city nearest to the slain man will take a heifer which
has not been worked and which has not pulled with a yoke. 4 The
elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with
flowing water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and they shall
break the heifer's neck there in the valley. 5 Then the priests,
the sons of Levi, shall come near, for the LORD your God has chosen
them to minister to Him and to bless in the name of the LORD;
by their word every controversy and every assault shall be settled.
6 And all the elders of that city nearest to the slain man shall
wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the
valley. 7 Then they shall answer and say, 'Our hands have not
shed this blood, nor have our eyes seen it. 8 'Provide atonement
[Heb: expiation: the means of pardon, covering, reconciliation],
O LORD, for Your people Israel, whom You have redeemed, and do
not lay innocent blood to the charge of Your people Israel.' And
atonement shall be provided on their behalf for the blood. 9
So you shall put away the guilt of innocent blood from
among you when you do what is right in the sight of the LORD.
It is worth noting that the word "expiation" comes from
a sixteenth-century word from Latin which gives the sense of removing
guilt "through piety". This definition is inadequate,
as we shall see, as are the definitions our language has for other
words used in translating "atonement". They need therefore
to be qualified.
The community represents the world. The innocent man is Christ,
and we are all guilty of His blood:
1Pe 1:18-19 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible
things, like silver [the symbol of redemption] or gold [the symbol
of purification], from your aimless conduct received by tradition
from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ,
as of a [n innocent] lamb without blemish and without spot.
Humanity is collectively responsible for the shed blood of Jesus
Christ, who has tasted death for us all (Heb 2:9). Like the elders
of Israel, like the Church of God, the whole world must announce
to God that it does not want to have this innocent blood held
against it. But how?
Let us notice something of first importance about the blood of
Jesus Christ:
Ro 3:25 (NRSV) whom God put forward as a sacrifice of
atonement [that is, the means of forgiveness; the word
is sometimes translated here as "propitiation", from
the Latin 'propitiare', meaning "to appease". However,
we cannot, by doing God a favour, appease Him!] by his blood,
effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness,
because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins
previously committed.
The NIV footnote for the words "sacrifice of atonement"
reads: "as the One who would turn aside His wrath".
Christ is the "means or place of forgiveness", represented
by the Mercy Seat, on which and before which the blood was sprinkled;
He is the sacrifice that averts the divine wrath of God against
sin. Unlike the innocent blood of Abel, which cried out to God
for justice and retribution, His innocent blood offers us forgiveness
and reconciliation-if we accept it in godly faith:
Heb 12:24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and
to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that
of Abel.
The innocent blood of the Incarnate Son of God, like the innocent
blood of the substitutionary animal sacrifices which typified
His supreme sacrifice, is God's means of redeeming us from the
wages of sin. "The LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us
all." (Isa 53:6).
The writer of the Book of Hebrews, alluding to the blood of Christ,
tells us:
Heb 9:22 And according to the law almost all things are
purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is
no remission
There is no forgiveness-universally-unless blood is shed. Someone
has to pay!
Now let us notice verse 23:
Heb 9:23 Therefore it was necessary that the copies of
the things in the heavens should be purified with these [ritualistic
and parabolic sacrifices], but the heavenly things themselves
with better sacrifices than these.
This purification is all-pervasive: the spiritual altar in the
heavens, which is not pure, we are told by Job (Job 15:15), must
also be cleansed..
Col 1:20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself,
by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made
peace through the blood of His cross.
Therefore, by accepting the blood of Christ:
We need to rethink how the shed blood of the innocent Son
of God cleanses our consciences.
Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far
off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Heb 9:14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who
through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God,
cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Do we know what it means to eat and drink of the Life of the
Son of God?
Jn 6:53-57 Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly,
I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink
His blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats My flesh
and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up
at the last day. 55 For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood
is drink indeed. 56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood
abides in Me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent Me,
and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live
because of Me."
REJECTING THE ATONEMENT: JUDAS AND THE PHARISEES
Ac 20:28 Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all
the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers,
to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own
blood ["the blood of His own", with "Son"
or "Servant" being understood, is a better translation].
Mt 26:28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which
is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Ro 5:9 Much more then, having now been justified by His
blood [or "made righteous" by His blood-how?], we shall
be saved from wrath through Him.
Eph 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the
forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.
As we have noted, the shed blood of His elect Son is precious
to God (1 Pet 1:19). If it is rejected, God is insulted, and
the curse of innocent blood shed but not expiated unleashes His
wrath and vengeance:
Heb 10:29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose,
will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot,
counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a
common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?
Judas Iscariot probably understood the Old Testament symbolism
of innocent blood shed requiring vindication by blood, but He
rejected the life being offered by the Son of God:
Mt 27:3-9 Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had
been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces
of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 saying, "I
have sinned by betraying innocent blood." And they said,
"What is that to us? You see to it!" 5 Then he threw
down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went
and hanged himself. 6 But the chief priests took the silver pieces
and said, "It is not lawful to put them into the treasury,
because they are the price of blood." 7 And they consulted
together and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers
in. 8 Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood
to this day.9 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah
the prophet, saying, "And they took the thirty pieces of
silver, the value of Him who was priced, whom they of the children
of Israel priced."
The thirty pieces of silver which Judas was willing to accept
as his price for betraying his Master was apparently, referring
back to Ex 21:23, the standard price for a slave. Jesus Christ,
the precious Lamb of God, the "Slave" or "Servant"
of His Father (Isa 52:13), was treated like a human slave-yet
His blood is precious and without price!
The commentaries seem to agree, from the Greek word translated
"temple" above, that Judas, in his desperation, appeared
to have hurled the coins into the sacred court of the priests;
some of the money could have even reached the temple porch. The
perverse religious protocol of the priests, more in accord with
Talmudic traditions, forced them to regard the coins as 'holy'
because they had landed in the sacred area, but they could not
be put into one of the regular accounts. The innocent blood of
the Son of God counted for nothing to them, but His ransom price
was suddenly 'holy'! The reality, however, is that His ransom
is holy. The irony is that the Jewish priests had no comprehension
of that
Mt 23:29-36 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments
of the righteous, 30 and say, 'If we had lived in the days of
our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the
blood of the prophets.' 31 Therefore you are witnesses against
yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt [so that
the wrath of God may fully descend upon you!]. 33 Serpents,
brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?
34 Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:
some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will
scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, 35
that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth,
from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son
of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
36 Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon
this generation.
Luke amplifies this:
Lk 11:50-51 that the blood of all the prophets which was
shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this
generation." 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah
who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you,
it shall be required of this generation.
This prophecy of Christ will continue to be fulfilled! Unless
the Son of God is accepted as Redeemer (Jesus), and as Messiah
(Christ), there can be no forgiveness or salvation.
To curse God by willfully rejecting the shed blood of His Son
leaves the wrath of God as the only alternative-the exacting of
the penalty of death for guilt in the murder of the innocent Son
of God!
Mt 27:25 And all the people answered and said, "His
[referring to Christ's] blood be on us and on our children."
The guilt of bloodshed was not accepted by the generation of Christ's
day. The accountability for unrequited innocent blood was therefore
imputed to, borne by, and passed onto subsequent generations until
there is a righteous acceptance of guilt:
Isa 22:14 Then it was revealed in my hearing by the LORD
of hosts, "Surely for this iniquity there will be no atonement
[or, more appropriately, no forgiveness, no removal of the
penalty of sin] for you, even to your death," says the
Lord GOD of hosts."
This is the nature of the wrath of God to come. His vengeance
upon the godless age that rejects Him and the blood sacrifice
of His Son is depicted also as a symbol of blood:
Ac 2:19-20 I will show wonders in heaven above and signs
in the earth beneath: blood and fire and vapor of smoke. 20 The
sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before
the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.
And God will repay blood with blood:
Rev 16:6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets,
and You have given them blood to drink. For it is their just due.
So the type of prayer uttered by Nehemiah and Jeremiah has its
place:
Neh 4:5 Do not cover their iniquity, and do not let their
sin be blotted out from before You; for they have provoked You
to anger before the builders (Compare Job 14:17).
CONCLUSION
Jer 18:23 Yet, LORD, You know all their counsel which
is against me, to slay me. Provide no atonement [no means
of removal of sin] for their iniquity, nor blot out their
sin from Your sight; but let them be overthrown before You. Deal
thus with them in the time of Your anger.
The precious blood of the Son of God has not been shed in vain.
Its acceptance means reconciliation to God and deliverance from
His wrath, its rejection brings curses and the vengeance of God.