“A bloody nuisance”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Wednesday, January 26, 2022

Hebrews 9:15-28 (Forward, p. 89) CEV p. 1265

How would you ever preach on such ‘delicate’ subjects as the necessity of the shedding of blood for the forgiveness of sins? Or, if that isn’t bad enough, preaching about the Jewish practice of the repeated sacrifice of sheep and goats in the Temple in Jerusalem to some queasy or unsympathetic audience? Think about it: just try preaching on these topics to the grannies and maiden aunts of the local church women’s group or to the zealous adherents of some animal rights lobby. This may sound remote, but in order to prepare ourselves for such eventualities, years ago. at seminary, we had a course on preaching, one that focused on preaching to just those kinds of ‘difficult’ or unreceptive audiences.

And, this is no idle prospect, for the Bible often dwells on such ‘touchy’ or ‘inconvenient’ subjects. For instance, much to the discomfort of many modern folks in the West, the Bible talks a great deal about blood, and so too does today’s passage. So, what does today’s passage have to say on this rather dicey subject?

a) Firstly, it says that no covenant between God and humankind could take effect without the shedding of blood, without a blood sacrifice;

b) Likewise, it tells us that sins cannot be forgiven without the shedding of blood;

c) It goes on to say that the offering of the blood of sheep and goats in the Jerusalem Temple was only an interim, stop-gap measure. It was only a shadow, a facsimile, the real thing:

-it did not fully atone for our sin

-it had to be repeated over and over again

-it had a human facilitator, the High Priest, who, because of his own sin, had to first sacrifice for himself, and do so over and over again, and thus could not therefore offer a pure and unblemished, once for all time, sacrifice to God.

All of this was fully understood, and accepted, by the Jewish audience to which the Book of Hebrews was addressed. It was part lock-stock-and-barrel of the ancient Jewish way of thinking and worshipping. Now, it is not at all our way of thinking. So, how are we to ‘put’ all this, explain all this, to a modern audience that is not on the least on this ‘wavelength’?

Even in modern times, we have discovered something of the mystery and power of blood as a healing and restorative force: that is why blood transfusions and blood products of various sorts are a mainstay of modern medical practice and why they constituted such an enormous advance in medical treatment. We know this, absolutely, on the positive side of blood, why blood is so very important.

On the negative side—that is, with the loss of blood, whether from an exterior wound or from an internal hemorrhage—we also know just how vital blood is to every living being. So, from this perspective, it is easy to see why the ancients viewed blood as being the essence of life and therefore sacred.

Now, here is where we have to venture into the worldview of our Jewish forebearers. As far as they were concerned, sin resulted in a diminishment of our own true selves, a loss of who are truly meant to be. It constituted a break with God, in the relationship with God. It was a rejection of God’s love, a spurning of God, who was the author and sustainer of life. In essence, we, by this choice, went over to ‘the other side.’ Or, put in other terms, sin resulted in a break with the life-giver and therefore resulted eventually in death, both physical and spiritual. We choose death rather than life, just as have we all. Blood, to the ancient Hebrew people, was a symbol of that death.

So, by their thinking, we deserve death as the outcome and consequence of our actions and choices. After all, that is exactly what we chose.

However, sin is something that is rather habitual to all of us, part of our daily lives, and so we are constantly infringing on that relationship with God and severing it. We are constantly inviting that separation, partaking, even if in just small way, in that physical and spiritual death. And so, it continues as unbroken, endless cycle. The ancient Hebrew people were commanded to undertake a short-term and partial remedy in the offering, the sacrifice, of what was most precious to them, the best of their flocks and herds, but that could only suffice for ‘accidental’ sin—as opposed to intentional sin, sin with a high-hand. But, sadly, our sin is often quite intentional, and so there was no atonement, no sacrifice that sufficed for that!

So, sin, and therefore death, somehow needed to be ‘undone’, but how?

The only way that can happen is by the offering of a life, but a life that does not have to ‘pay’ for, atone for, its own sin. This something expressed so well in C.S. Lewis’ classic, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. When a faultless and innocent victim willingly and freely takes the place of an offender and accepts the payment upon himself, then the curse of sin and death are taken away and broken forever. Death is emptied of its power. And that’s what Jesus has done for us. Jesus, as the sinless lamb of God, has offered Himself freely, once and for All, to do away with sin. And, now because of that, we have the forgiveness of all our sins. Our salvation, our forgiveness, has come at great cost—through Jesus’ death on the Cross, that is, through the shedding of His blood, the most precious thing on the whole earth. It may seem like a ‘bloody shame, a bloody nuisance’ but that’s the fact of it. That is just how far He was willing to go for us. So, all the more reason to love and obey Him. Amen.

Forward notes: “And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him” (verses 27-28).

“I grew up listening to stories about the second coming of Jesus. I used to lie in bed terrified that Jesus would come while I was in the shower or asleep or while I was up late, chatting with instant messaging. Dial-up internet made the weight of this second coming much more terrifying. What if I was mid-sentence, and Jesus came and the internet was out for good?

“I still struggle with waiting patiently as I work through my anger or wait to hear from the graduate school admissions office. I know when it comes to waiting on Jesus that I am not good at waiting. I want to see him in everything at this very moment. It doesn’t work that way. Christ is in my every day, but I must seek his face.

“Jesus who died on the cross to atone for our sins will come a second time to those who are waiting. How can we be good stewards of our time spent awaiting his return?”

MOVING FORWARD: “How can you learn to wait well rather than anticipate with fear?”