Why is the shedding of blood necessary for forgiveness? Did God just make a decision that blood was required for atonement, or is there some inherent truth that demands blood as an antidote for sin? The fact that sin is not a trifling matter is indicated by some of the words and phrases that are associated with salvation: redemption, atonement, sanctification, ransom, justification, righteousness, born again. The variety of words indicates a deep and obscure nature of one’s escape from the results of sin.
But blood seems to be an integral part of the salvation of humans from sin. Under the Old Covenant, the sacrifice of animals was prescribed in great detail, and animals were to be sacrificed many times a year. And not just any animal would suffice. It had to be the best available and was sometimes described as one “without blemish.” Additionally, the high priest of the Hebrews was to offer a special sacrifice in the section of the temple known as the Most Holy Place. The high priest was the only person who could enter this room and he could only enter once a year “and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.” (Heb. 9:7)
If we continue to read in the ninth and tenth chapters of the book of Hebrews, we observe that the annual offering by the high priest is a shadow of the sacrificial offering of the New Covenant. “Day after day every priest performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” Thus, in the New Covenant, the sacrifice of the blood of the Lamb of God is sufficient to atone for the sins of all, once for all time.
Now I propose an analogy based on a recent experience I have endured. Less than two years ago I was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). Leukemia is a disease of the blood. We know that “life is in the blood.” (Lev. 17:11) With leukemia, cancerous cells in the bone marrow prevent a healthy production of blood. Because a sufficient amount of healthy blood cannot be produced, without medical intervention, the end result is death. For our analogy, think of cancer as “sin.” It is something not created to be in the body, is harmful to the body, and leads to death.
The main symptom I experienced as a result of the leukemia was severe anemia. My body did not have enough healthy blood. So I needed for people to donate blood for me. I was given blood transfusions to help keep my body working until the cancer could be brought under control. Think of the blood donations as sacrifices. Of course, donating blood does not cost one his life, but it does require giving some time, and having a rather large needle stuck in your arm for several minutes. In the course of my treatment, I needed blood transfusions time after time, never leading to a cure for the cancer. The blood also had to be from healthy people, not the weak and frail.
What was proposed as a way to bring the cancer in my body under control was multiple repeated rounds of chemotherapy. Think of chemotherapy in our analogy as human efforts to control the sin in our lives: perhaps like meditation, therapy, psychological analysis, self-mutilation, incarceration, or even religion. In my case, the chemotherapy brought me into remission, but it did not seem to be able to cure the cancer. In the case of the sin in my life, I may have the sin under control for a while, but the result of my sin is death. In both my physical life and my spiritual life, I need a cure; a once-for-all infusion of healing blood.
For the treatment of AML, there is now a wonderful treatment called a bone marrow stem cell transplant. My brother’s bone marrow was a match for mine and he was willing to “sacrifice” some of his blood for me. So along with enduring medical tests and having to take shots of powerful medicines for me, he went in to the hospital on two consecutive days, sat almost without moving for over four hours each day with large needles in both arms, and gave 5.3 million stem cells for me. But I also had a role to play in this treatment. In essence, I had to agree to die in order to receive his blood. The chemotherapy that would be given me would weaken or kill much of the bone marrow stem cells in my body. Enough would be killed that if I did not receive the new stem cells, I would die. The purpose of the new stem cells is to come into my body, see my stem cells as foreign and kill them. My cells would resist, but they would be so weakened by the chemotherapy that they could not stand up against the new healthy stem cells. So in theory, all the cancer in my body would be killed, and I would be cured.
Of course, the stem cell transplant procedure is risky. So I made a decision. I decided to believe that the process would cure me. From the time that I decided to allow my blood to die and until the transplant, I merely allowed the nurses to give me the chemotherapy, and at the appropriate time, to give me my brother’s stem cells. In the analogy, think of the receiving of the stem cells as being baptized. This is how I accepted the life-giving blood given by my brother. How ridiculous would it have been for me to say that I believe that I can be cured by a stem cell transplant, and then not let the nurses give me the blood. The analogy is so strong here that it is common for the nurses to sing “happy birthday” to the recipients when the stem cells are infused. They think of a person as being born again, with new DNA in their blood system. The day of infusion is called day 0 and the “age” of the recipient of the transplant, and therefore the appropriate treatment, is measured from that day.
When I transfer my thoughts to the sin in my life, and in your life, I know that ALL of us are dying because of sin. For Jesus to give enough blood for all of us to be cured, it took all of His blood. He had to give his life for us all to be cured, that is, be saved. In my mind, it is a human miracle that I now have my brother’s blood keeping me healthy, and that I am free from cancer. But that miracle is nothing when compared to the miracle of new birth in Christ, free from the power of sin.
May God be praised by our words and by our deeds every day that we live sin free because of the sacrificial blood of Jesus. And may we never take salvation lightly.
