Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of Christ stirred many hearts and created a new awareness of the power and wonder of Jesus’ blood. It gave a fresh look at the very element that has brought about our salvation—literally the only element. But it is still true that few understand how Christ’s blood relates to the message of salvation, peace and purpose in life. It is one of the greatest of human tragedies that so many lack knowledge and understanding concerning the importance of His blood.
Easter’s message of the resurrection is preceded by the crucifixion, which was bathed in blood. It’s easy to miss the fullness and power of Easter and focus only on the beauty of celebrating the resurrection.
The cup of the Communion table is also a reminder of blood. Jesus said, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission [forgiveness] of sins” (Matt. 26:28).
Throughout the centuries, undoubtedly many have partaken of the Communion elements without understanding what the bread and the cup really represent. An examination of the Scriptures reveals a number of things about Jesus’ blood:
1. His blood is necessary for reconciliation with God. “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Eph. 2:13). The Scriptures teach that Jesus’s blood is literally there to re-establish (reconcile) our relationship with God.
2. Jesus’ blood compensates for all the wrong a person has ever done. “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7). At first the cross seemed a tragedy, but in the end it resulted in the ultimate good—the forgiveness of sins. Redemption carries the idea of “buying back” humanity, as well as deliverance from enslavement to sin. This buying back could not be accomplished with money or any other physical thing because the price was higher than anything on earth could buy. Blood was the only price, as is understood in the breaking of any blood covenant.
3. Jesus’ blood keeps a person free from sin. “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Few things in life are as troubling as the constant reminder and condemnation resulting from sin.
4. Jesus’ blood is for sanctification. “Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate” (Heb. 13:12). Sanctification means “to be set apart,” and the application of Jesus’ blood sets a person apart as God’s very own.
5. Christ’s blood provides for bold access into God’s presence. “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus” (Heb. 10:19). Blaise Pascal, the French mathematician, physicist and philosopher, spoke of a “God-shaped vacuum” in every human being that only God Himself can fill.
6. Jesus’ blood brings justification to the guilty. “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24). One of the common tactics of the enemy of man’s soul involves accusation. Scripture actually refers to Satan as the accuser of God’s people (Rev. 12:10). One of his ploys begins with, “And you call yourself a Christian.” The statement hurts, and the enemy knows how to guide it into the human mind with pinpoint accuracy.
The problem with such accusations is that more often than not, they are true. At this point, God’s teaching concerning forgiveness through Jesus’ blood gives a person the ability to resist the enemy’s accusations. Once sin is dealt with through Christ, in a very real sense, it is as if it never happened. It is gone forever, never to be acknowledged again.
7. Jesus’ blood takes care of a defiled conscience. “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?” (Heb. 9:14). It is easy to pursue religious activities in order to appease God or our own conscience or to pay Him back for the wrongs we have done—or even to earn the right to enter into His holy heaven. All of this is worthless in light of what the Bible says about justification. We are already justified by His blood: “Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38-39).
8. Jesus’ blood brings peace to troubled hearts. At Jesus’s birth, the heavenly host promised peace to men. The Scriptures declare that genuine and lasting peace is only available through Jesus’ blood: “Having made peace through the blood of His cross” (Col. 1:20).
This is by no means the entire list. But I hope you would agree it is magnificent enough to dwell on it occasionally.