Grace, mercy and
peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
I’d like to preach
today on the topic of the power of the blood of Jesus. And so to begin, I’d
like to quote from 1 John 1:7:
But
if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one
another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
Prayer: Dear Lord
Jesus, breathe out upon us all your Holy Spirit, to me that I may preach well,
and to all of us that we may hear well. Amen.
Today on this Good
Friday, I’d like to meditate on the power of Jesus’ blood. Jesus’ blood is
right at the heart of our Christian faith—without Jesus and his blood shed for
us, there is no Christian faith. Our whole faith and our whole life as
Christians has got a red tinge to it. Our mission as Christians also has a red
tinge to it—the Holy Spirit calls people from all nations to come and meet
Jesus Christ, and to be saved by his blood.
There is a tendency
for us today to shy away from this aspect of the Christian faith, because as a
society we think it’s a bit distasteful. There are some people who can’t stand
the sight of blood. But without Jesus and the sacrifice of his blood, there’s
no Christianity. Our whole faith is marked by a kind of seriousness because
Jesus has shed his blood for us. Today, we remember our Good Shepherd who has
laid down his life for the sheep.
Something we have
to realise is that Jesus didn’t always have flesh and blood. Jesus is the
eternal Son of God. He existed together with the Father and the Holy Spirit
right from before the beginning of the world. Jesus didn’t first exist as a
tiny baby in his mother’s womb. He created his mother Mary before that
happened. But before that he created, Mary’s mother, and her father, and he
grandparents, and right back to the first people who ever lived. In fact, he
created the ground and the earth for people to dwell in. He created the sky for
people to gaze up into, the universe, the planets, the stars, the sun, the
moon. But also, he created heaven—he created the angels, the archangels, the
angelic creatures.
So at Christmas
time we celebrate the fact that the Son of God entered into the world and took
on something new: he took on human flesh and human blood. Before that, he was
like the Father and the Holy Spirit who still have no flesh and blood but are
eternal spiritual beings. Jesus is both things at the same time: he is truly
God. And he took on something new: he took on human flesh so that he is also
completely truly human. He is a real man, with real flesh and real blood. God
the Father is his true Father, and the Virgin Mary is his true mother.
If we read about
the birth of Jesus at Christmas time, we read that Good Friday was right there
in mind. The angel says to Joseph: [Mary] will bear a son, and you shall
call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. Jesus is
has the name Immanuel, which means God with us. He is our God,
and he is with us. He walked on this earth not just as a human, but as our God.
But he did this all for a particular purpose: to save his people from their
sins.
If you can imagine
Jesus’ body—it is God’s body, not because God had a body in the first place,
but because in the person of our true Lord and God, Jesus, he is united to a
human body. It’s like a piece of iron put in a furnace. The iron is like the
human body, and the fire is Jesus’ divine nature. But when you put the iron in
the furnace it burns red hot, so that the fire and the iron are both there
together. Because the fire is there, the iron burns. And because it is iron, it
burns in one place. The same goes with Jesus—his human body is like iron that
is perfectly caught on fire by God. He is God and man in one person.
So if we can
imagine his blood—if his body is like iron which is glowing red hot, his blood
is like silver or gold that has been boiled and made into liquid so that it can
be poured into a mould. The silver or the gold glows red hot so that the
silversmith can pour it out and make it into a shape.
In Acts 20, St Paul
says that this is God’s blood. Of course, by nature, God doesn’t have blood,
but Jesus is God, and he has taken on himself human flesh and blood.
So what an amazing
thing it is, this holy blood of Jesus. When Jesus was in the Garden of
Gethsemane, praying to the Father and submitting and uniting himself to the
Father’s will, we see this blood congeal on Jesus’ forehead and fall in heavy
droplets to the ground. Jesus body is stained with blood, like a grape being
crushed to make wine. We read in Isaiah: It was the will of God to crush
him. In Genesis we read that he has washed his garments in wine and his
[clothing] in the blood of grapes. Jesus body is like clothing he has put
on, to cover his divinity. But now in the Garden of Gethsemane, his body
becomes stained with his bloody sweat. Remember this blood is united to all of
Jesus’ power as true God, like molten silver.
We go forward to
Good Friday, and we see Jesus whipped and beaten and scourged with whips. It
was common for whips in those days to have pieces of bone and nails in them. And
so when Jesus was whipped, it exposed his flesh beneath the skin, making red
stripes on his back. Isaiah says: He was wounded for our transgressions; he
was crushed for our iniquities; upon his was the chastisement that brought us
peace, and with his stripes we are healed.
We see a crown of
thorns pressed onto his head. And we read in Isaiah: He had no form or
majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.
And lastly, we see
him wounded on the cross with his five wounds: a nail through each hand and
through his two feet. And even after Jesus had already died, the soldier
pierces his side with a spear, so that blood and water flow out. And John
quotes from the prophet Zechariah: They will look on him whom they have
pierced.
So was this all for
nothing? Did Jesus just shed his blood for no reason?
No—it is all for
you.
Firstly, the blood
of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.
Secondly, this
blood is the payment, the ransom, with which Jesus perfectly pays for our sin.
Thirdly, this blood
reconciles us to God.
And fourth, this
blood is our righteousness and for us it is eternal life.
First, the blood of
Jesus has the power to cleanse from sin. St John writes: The
blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. Not anyone’s blood does
this—only Jesus’ blood does this because he is true God. This is powerful,
life-giving, cleansing blood. If Jesus were not truly human, he wouldn’t have
any blood. If he were not true God, he wouldn’t be able to use his blood to
cleanse us.
And so our
wonderful good Shepherd uses his blood to cleanse us from sin. When we die, we
will be perfectly clean from all sin, in that Jesus’ blood will perfectly wipe
away every last remnant of sin. In the meantime, we still have sin, we still
fight with it, we still struggle with it. Only Christians struggle against
sin—unbelievers don’t struggle with it. They make excuses and cover it up. But
there’s only one thing that can cover sin and that is Christ’s blood.
For the devil, he
also wants Christ’s blood, but to hunt him down like a bloodhound. The devil
won’t rest until he lick up Jesus’ blood off the ground. But for us, as
Christians, one drop of Jesus’ blood annoys the living daylights out of the
devil. He can’t stand us wanting and desiring forgiveness. He can’t stand a
person being disappointed at themselves, and looking to Jesus for help. He
can’t stand to hear the sound of Peter going out and weeping bitterly when
Jesus’ face turns and looks at him, reminding him of his sin. It’s like the
devil says, “Enough of your crying around here. I don’t want to listen to that
rubbish. If you want to cry over your sin, then go and cry in heaven. I don’t
want to hear you in hell.” And so the devil is exposed, and he is defeated. But
then how would we go to heaven with all of our sin? The blood of the Jesus is
the thing that cleanses it. One drop is enough for our entire lifetime. Jesus
could easily prick his finger to cleanse us with his blood, and yet he is
pierced with nails and a spear and thorns, because he wants to show his love
for us, and show to us that this is his perfect sacrifice. And so, when our
wounds of our hearts and our souls are exposed, here is the medicine for your
sin: the precious, healing, cleansing blood of Christ.
Secondly, the blood
of Jesus is the ransom, with which our sins were perfectly paid for.
Jesus shed his
blood as a price to pay for our sin. This is what we call his “atonement”.
Atonement means that Jesus was paying a price to make sure that every single
sin was paid for. Remember this blood is perfectly united to Jesus’ divinity,
so that it’s like a fiery, liquid gold. And it’s almost like this blood is then
poured out to make coins, like a heavenly currency, which then pays for every single
sin that every person who has ever lived has ever committed.
St Peter says: You
were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from yoru forefathers, not with
perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of
Christ. Do you notice how St Peter here calls Christ’s blood precious?
It’s valuable. It’s expensive. It’s precious. In fact, it’s a priceless
currency. Christ makes this payment so that when the devil shows you the bill
for your sins, and chokes you to cough up the payment, what are you going to
say? Your sins have cost Christ his life. Your sin is the thing which nailed
Christ to the cross. Your sinful nature is the very thing that wanted this
Jesus to be silenced and done away with, and it wouldn’t stop and it wouldn’t rest
until that holy blood dropped to the ground. So what are you going to say?
This very same
blood is the payment which has paid for everything and has cancelled your debt.
St Paul says in Colossians: The record of debt that stood against us, God
set aside, nailing it to the cross. And so, when this blood drops down to
the ground, and falls onto your head, the bill that you hold in your hand is
stamped with a stamp, which says: PAID. PAID IN FULL. Paid in blood.
The third thing is
that Christ’s blood is shed so that we are reconciled with God.
Our sin makes us
enemies of God. And through Christ’s blood shed on the cross, we are reconciled
back to God. In Ephesians, we read that we are brought near by the blood of
Christ. In Colossians, we read that in Christ all the fullness of God
was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things,
whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
Remember at
Christmas time, the angels came down and said: Glory to God in the highest
and peace on earth. The angels are looking forward to that time when this
little baby body will die and make peace on earth: peace between us and God.
You see, God the
Father is nothing like us. We are created in his image, but God the Father doesn’t
have flesh and blood. Neither does the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit doesn’t
have flesh and blood. But Jesus has taken on himself flesh and blood. He is
exactly like us in every way, except without sin. And Jesus is exactly like God
the Father and the Holy Spirit—he is equal to them in every way and shares
their nature. Jesus also shares our human nature.
So when we are
joined to Jesus, and when we are connected to his flesh and his blood, we are
connected to God the Father, and we receive the Holy Spirit. Jesus reconciled
us to God and God to us.
But how does this
reconciliation happen? How can we be connected to God and we be connected to
him, if he is pure and we are sinful? It can only happen in one way: God has to
forgive us our sins. And he forgives our sins through Christ’s blood. Christ’s
blood is sprinkled on us through baptism, and we receive this blood in the
Lord’s Supper. And when this blood is sprinkled on us, God doesn’t act upon our
sin, because he already acted upon it when that very same blood was shed. And
so we read in Ephesians: We have redemption through his blood, the
forgiveness of sins. That’s the wonderful gift that Jesus have given us
through his blood: the forgiveness of sins.
Lastly, the blood
of Christ is our righteousness. It is our clothes for eternal life.
Let’s go back to
the picture of Christ’s blood perfectly united to Christ’s divine nature. This
blood is like liquid silver or gold, glowing like fire. It is powerful blood
and comes with all of God’s cleansing power. It is blood that makes a perfect
complete payment for sin. It is blood that reconciles us to God and unites us
to God.
But can you imagine
Jesus when he was being transfigured on the mountain with Elijah and Moses
standing next to him? We read that his face and his clothes shone white with
bright light. This is also what his blood is like, so that when we are washed
in Christ’s blood, our clothes don’t come out red, but they come out white.
So we read about
the great multitude in heaven. And it says: They have washed their robes and
made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Isaiah says: Though your sins
are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red like
crimson, they shall become like wool.
So Christ’s blood
is the clothes we wear to enter heaven. When Jesus became a baby, he took our
clothes and died like a sinner. But now he gives us his clothes as a heavenly
wedding garment, and so we can enter heaven just like him. And so in
Revelation, it also says: They have conquered [the devil] by the blood of
the Lamb. Jesus blood covers up all our disappointments and failures, so
that when we enter into God’s presence, all he sees is victory and success,
because we are covered in his blood.
So as we celebrate
this Good Friday, let’s thank our dear Lord Jesus, our Good Shepherd, for
shedding his precious blood. He has laid down his life for you. He is the Good
Shepherd who has laid down his life for the sheep. He sweated his blood in
great internal agony. His blood flowed when the whips hit his back. His blood
dropped down from the thorns in his crown. And his blood poured out from the
wounds of the nails and the spear.
It was such a
tremendous sacrifice that he made. And yet, it was all for you. That blood is a
cleansing, healing, medicine for you against all sin. It is precious currency
to make full payment for sin. That blood has reconciled you back to God. And
that blood is now the white clothes, the heavenly wedding garment, so that you
can enter into God’s presence pure and holy and perfect in his sight. Not
because you have been pure and holy and perfect in your actions, but because of
the power of Jesus’ holy and precious blood.
Amen.
The peace of God
which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds safe in Christ
Jesus, our Lord. Amen.
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