I have a serious problem with blood. While my favorite color is red, whenever I see blood, I immediately become lightheaded. Sometimes I even faint. When I was a young mother, actually pregnant with our fourth child, our 3-year-old son was running through the house, chasing his sisters. I was in the kitchen, cleaning up from lunch, when I heard a scream, followed by cries for help. I rushed into the family room to find Reagan’s forehead bleeding profusely. I grabbed a towel, pressed it onto the cut and called Dale at work. As I was explaining to my husband what had happened, he asked me to look at how deep the cut was. I pulled the towel back, afraid of what I would see and could see all the way to Reagan’s skull, blood pumping out with every heartbeat. I could feel my body beginning to fail me, all the while trying to hold Reagan and talk to Dale. With my head spinning, I asked Dale if I should meet him with the kids at the ER. Almost laughing, he replied, “That’s all we need; for you to pass out and need stitches as well!” He rushed home, got Reagan to the hospital and stitched up. When they returned, Reagan’s head was covered with a clean white bandage. I never had to look at the blood again.
I wish I could say this was an isolated incident, but it has happened more times than I can count. The sight of blood affects me deeply. It is best if I don’t look. In today’s reading from Luke, there is a tremendous amount of blood on display. While I’d like to close my eyes and not look, I must, and so must you. Don’t skip over the gruesome parts of Jesus’ final steps to the cross. Force yourself to look upon Jesus as He suffered, as He was falsely accused, mocked, beaten and crucified. Do not avoid His precious blood shed for you.
Read Luke 22:47-23:46
The final events leading up to Jesus’ death by crucifixion begin to pick up speed, starting with a large crowd of soldiers and led by none other than Judas Iscariot! Judas comes right up to Jesus to kiss Him, the agreed upon sign that this is the One they should arrest. Jesus responds to this gesture of peace, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” (v 48) The apostles form a protective circle around Jesus, thinking this is why He asked if they had weapons, to save Him from false arrest. One disciple (you guessed it - Peter!) jumped the gun and cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant, and Jesus responded “‘No more of this!’ And touching his ear, he healed him.” (v 51)
The mob of soldiers and servants marched Jesus away to Caiaphas’ house, who was the current Jewish high priest and administrator of the Sanhedrin. Once there, only official leaders were allowed inside. Peter found himself in the courtyard, warming himself by the fire and hoping this was all just a horrible nightmare. As the light illuminated his face, several people asked if he knew Jesus; each time, Peter denied knowing Him and became very defensive at being interrogated in such a manner. “Immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. Then the Lord turned and looked at Peter. So Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, ‘Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.’ And he went outside and wept bitterly.” (v 60-62)
Jesus was mocked and beaten before bringing Him before the Sanhedrin Council, where He was interrogated mercilessly. They demanded to know if He was, in fact, the Son of God, to which Jesus finally replied, “‘You say that I am.’ ‘Why do we need any more testimony,’ they said, ‘since we’ve heard it ourselves from his mouth?’” (v 70-71) Next Jesus is brought before Pilate and then Herod and asked the same litany of questions, then Pilate gathered Jesus and His accusers and informed the Jewish leaders that He found no reason to charge Jesus with any crimes; certainly nothing worthy of the death penalty! Pilate remembers the custom of releasing at the Passover a prisoner chosen by the people and thinks he will offer to release Jesus, but the crowd will have nothing of it. Instead, they demand that Pilate release Barabbas, a notorious criminal who had committed robbery, insurrection and murder. What should Pilate do with the innocent man, Jesus? The crowd began to shout, “Crucify! Crucify him!” (v 21)
“So Pilate decided to grant their demand and released the one they were asking for, who had been thrown into prison for rebellion and murder. But he handed Jesus over to their will.” (vv 24-25) The guilty one was released, while the innocent was crucified in his place.
After being scourged severely, Jesus was forced to carry His cross outside the city, where He would be hung on it to die. Eventually, the weight of the cross became too much for Him. Simon, a Cyrrenian, was just coming into the city. A large man, he was requisitioned to carry Jesus’ cross the rest of the way to Golgotha. “Two others—criminals—were also led away to be executed with him. When they arrived at the place called The Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals, one on the right and one on the left. Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing.’” (vv 32-34) “Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing…” What a beautiful, selfless and powerful statement. Each of the players in this current drama thought they knew what was happening, whether they be the mockers, Jesus’ fellow criminals hung on the cross, the soldiers who actually drove the nails into His hands and feet, or the few women who were already grieving the loss of their precious rabbi. Jesus makes it clear that they have no idea what they are doing. This plan had been in the making since time began and would not be thwarted by anyone. Complete and finished forgiveness, redemption and restoration had always been the goal.
Jesus then assures one of the criminals hanging beside Him that, because of his belief in Jesus’ innocence and confession of his sin that put him in this place, he would be with Jesus in heaven forever. Finally, darkness came over the entire land, as if it were night. This wasn’t a solar eclipse or a storm blowing through. This was still, ominous, silent darkness, as God the Father turned His face away from His sinsoaked Son. Simultaneously, the thick curtain in the temple, separating the holy place from the Holy of Holies, was torn in two, from top to bottom. Jesus’ sacrifice was accepted by God and was enough. Finally, after millenia of bloody sacrifices that never fully covered sin, the debt was paid for everyone for all time. “And Jesus called out with a loud voice, “‘Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.’ Saying this, he breathed his last.” (v 46)
“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens—Jesus the Son of God—let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.” (Heb 4:14-16)
Below is one of my favorite prayers from the collection of Puritan prayers and devotions, The Valley of Vision. The Puritan Movement was a religious phenomenon spanning the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This small book draws from the largely forgotten deposit of Puritan exercises, meditations and aspirations. While the language might seem a bit clunky, I’d like to encourage you to read the prayer aloud, and picture in your mind’s eye the scene. Make this your prayer today.
THE PRECIOUS BLOOD
Blessed Lord Jesus,
Before thy cross I kneel and see
the heinousness of my sin,
my iniquity that caused thee to be ‘made a curse’,
the evil that excites the severity of divine wrath.
Show me the enormity of my guilt by
the crown of thorns,
the pierced hands and feet
the bruised body,
the dying cries.
Thy blood is the blood of incarnate God,
its worth infinite, its value beyond all thought.
Infinite must be the evil and guilt
that demands such a price.
Sin is my malady, my monster, my foe, my viper,
born in my birth,
alive in my life,
strong in my character,
dominating my faculties,
following me as a shadow,
intermingling with my every thought,
my chain that holds me captive in the empire of my soul.
Sinner that I am, why should the sun give me light,
the air supply breath,
the earth bear my tread,
its fruits nourish me,
its creatures subserve my ends?
Yet they compassions yearn over me,
thy heart hastens to my rescue,
thy love endured my curse,
thy mercy bore my deserved stripes.
Let me walk humbly in the lowest depths of humiliation,
bathed in thy blood,
tender of conscience,
triumphing gloriously as an heir of salvation.
Big Picture Questions for Today:
Are you like me and tempted to not look intently on Jesus’ full and complete sacrifice on your behalf?
This part of the story is heartwrenching. Everything in us wants to look away. How can you ponder on the gruesome, while hanging onto the glory of the cross today?
Pray for eyes to see your Savior’s great sacrifice for you.
Charity Gayle - Thank You Jesus for the Blood (Lyrics)
Thank You Jesus for the Blood
By Charity Gayle, 2021
Verse 1
I was a wretch, I remember who I was
I was lost, I was blind, I was running out of time.
Sin separated, the breach was far too wide
But from the far side of the chasm, You had me in Your sight
Verse 2
So You made a way, across the great divide
Left behind, Heaven's throne, to build it here inside
There at the cross You paid the debt I owed
Broke my chains, Freed my soul and for the first time I had Hope
- Chorus -
Thank You Jesus, for the blood applied
Thank You Jesus, it has washed me white
Thank You Jesus, You have saved my life
Brought me from the darkness into glorious light
Verse 3
You took my place, laid inside my tomb of sin
You were buried for three days but then You walked right out again
Now death has no sting and life has no end
For I have been transformed by the blood of the Lamb
Bridge
There is nothing stronger
Than the wonder working power of the blood the blood
That calls us sons and daughters
We are ransomed by our Father
Through the blood
There is nothing stronger
OH the wonder working power of the blood the blood
That calls us sons and daughters
We are ransomed by our Father
Through the Blood
The Blood
