MORE THAN SHED BLOOD
Indeed, according to the Law, it might almost be said, everything is cleansed by blood and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Heb. 9:22, N.E.B.
There is a fountain filled with blood,
Drawn from Emmanuel's veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains.
----William Cowper
Dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of Christian hymns exalt the shed blood of Jesus Christ as the key to salvation. It is a constant theme in Christian literature, the central metaphor of many a sermon.
The blood of Christ, flowing from his hands and feet, His torn back and pierced brow, as He hung on the cross, is a symbol of a larger reality. Jesus' shed blood is a poetic metaphor, a graphic way of saying that He died for me, for shed blood leads to death.
Yet it is worth remembering that when the Roman soldier thrust the spear into Jesus' side (as recorded in John 19:34), there came out a flow of water and blood, indicating that He had already died of other causes. The blood had already separated into serum and platelets. Though blood is a symbol of Jesus' death, to know that His death was not caused by the loss of blood is important. The blood on Jesus' body revealed the cruelty of sinners against their Savior, but it did not reveal what had caused His death.
For you see, the death that Jesus died in my place was the second death--that death that is caused by separation from the Life-giver. This is the consequence of sin that He bore in my place. The cross of Christ--or more accurately, the death of Christ on the cross--saves me from the second death, not necessarily from the first.
Jesus did not die because of the Roman soldier's spear. He did not die because of the nails in His hands and feet. He did not die because of the extreme agony of the cross, which was intended to be a slow torture leading to death after several days. He did not die from a loss of blood. Jesus died when His Father withdrew His life-giving presence from Him, thus verifying for all the universe just how deadly it is to separate from God.
Indeed, according to the Law, it might almost be said, everything is cleansed by blood and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Heb. 9:22, N.E.B.
There is a fountain filled with blood,
Drawn from Emmanuel's veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains.
----William Cowper
Dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of Christian hymns exalt the shed blood of Jesus Christ as the key to salvation. It is a constant theme in Christian literature, the central metaphor of many a sermon.
The blood of Christ, flowing from his hands and feet, His torn back and pierced brow, as He hung on the cross, is a symbol of a larger reality. Jesus' shed blood is a poetic metaphor, a graphic way of saying that He died for me, for shed blood leads to death.
Yet it is worth remembering that when the Roman soldier thrust the spear into Jesus' side (as recorded in John 19:34), there came out a flow of water and blood, indicating that He had already died of other causes. The blood had already separated into serum and platelets. Though blood is a symbol of Jesus' death, to know that His death was not caused by the loss of blood is important. The blood on Jesus' body revealed the cruelty of sinners against their Savior, but it did not reveal what had caused His death.
For you see, the death that Jesus died in my place was the second death--that death that is caused by separation from the Life-giver. This is the consequence of sin that He bore in my place. The cross of Christ--or more accurately, the death of Christ on the cross--saves me from the second death, not necessarily from the first.
Jesus did not die because of the Roman soldier's spear. He did not die because of the nails in His hands and feet. He did not die because of the extreme agony of the cross, which was intended to be a slow torture leading to death after several days. He did not die from a loss of blood. Jesus died when His Father withdrew His life-giving presence from Him, thus verifying for all the universe just how deadly it is to separate from God.
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