I joined a Life Group many years ago that changed my life forever. We learned an inductive method of studying Scripture and then walked through Genesis, Exodus, and John chapter by chapter. After all these years, there is a portion of Scripture that still brings me to a pause today, and that is Genesis 15. In this chapter, we see God reassuring Abram (later named Abraham) of the promise He’d made a few years before. Abram is still childless and more or less unconvinced that God will do what he said he would do. But God tells him to prepare a covenant sacrifice–the first one that appears in Scripture.
A covenant between two parties is an exchange of promises upheld by the shedding of blood. Leviticus 17 tells us that the life of every flesh is in the blood, so the shedding of blood as a covenant sign represents a life for a life. What’s remarkable about Genesis 15 is that God has Abram prepare the covenant sacrifices for them to exchange promises, but before Abram can walk through them, God puts him to sleep. In Abram’s place, a firepot with a cloud of smoke and a blazing fire torch passed through the sacrifices instead (the foreshadowing here is wild). God did not let Abram walk through the covenant because God’s ultimate promise was to bless Abram and his descendants, and the only one that the promise depended on was God.
When God told Abram to fetch him a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon, he understood the purpose because Abram was a product of his culture. Covenant promises were common between businessmen, friends, or allies. For us, though, we sign contracts. We mail or fax over pieces of paper and wait for a signature, not slice a hand open and shake on it. So, the significance of blood is lost on us today, and I want to invite you to think deeply with me about that phrase I mentioned two weeks ago: pleading the blood of Jesus.
Sacrifice as worship, covenant, repentance, and cleansing are all themes present throughout the Old Testament and the New, and God gave his people specific instructions on what to do (or not do) with the blood of sacrificed animals. For example, Leviticus 3 explains that the one who brings the peace offering shall choose a sacrifice without blemish or stain and lay their hand upon their head (a sign of contrition, confession, and consent to the plan of substitution). After the animal is sacrificed, the priests are to sprinkle its blood on the altar, bringing atonement and peace between God and man, albeit temporarily. This is what the early followers of Jesus would have in mind when talking about the blood of Jesus as a means for our peace and atonement before God, as Peter wrote in 1 Peter 3, “Once and for all time.”
I have been thinking deeply about this phrase, and I want to invite you to join me for a moment to think deeply about it, if only for the sake of gaining clarity on your why. Why do we plead Jesus’ blood if His blood has already had its full effect, once and for all time, to bring us near to God? When we plead Jesus’ blood over our children or our homes, are we inadvertently making a statement that His blood was inactive until we invoked its power? Never would I assume that to be our intention, but is it our impact? While it is not mandated anywhere in Scripture that believers must plead the blood of Jesus over anything or anyone, what we will find in Scripture is the apostles reminding their audience of the promises given to those in the New Covenant, and I think that might hold the key to questions such as these.
I love the way Kerry Kirkwood encourages people to pray prayers of blessing, and I believe that applies to how we speak about the blood of Jesus, too. Perhaps we begin to remind ourselves, as the apostles did, of the promises His blood has secured on our behalf once and for all:
Thank you, Jesus, that your blood has washed me clean.
Thank you, Jesus, that your blood has brought me near to God.
Thank you, Jesus, that your blood means God is always with me.
Thank you, Jesus, that your blood means God is for me, not against me.
Thank you, Jesus, that your blood paid the price for my children.
Thank you, Jesus, that your blood was freely given despite my weaknesses.
Thank you, Jesus, that your blood is a covenant with me that I can never break.
Thank you, Jesus, that your blood has reconciled all things in heaven and on earth.
Thank you, Jesus, that your blood is our triumph and victory.
Thank you, Jesus, that your blood has purchased my healing.
I can honestly say that I have not landed on a conclusion for or against pleading the blood in prayer, nor do I think God is motivated differently when we pray with christianese versus our most simple prayers of, “I need you.” So, wherever you land, that’s ok! I do recognize that when I invite people to think deeply about the phrases we call christianese, it can make some feel frustrated or uncomfortable. However, I want to remind you of two things. First, Jesus promises us that the Holy Spirit, the comforter, will lead us into all truth and remind us of what Jesus has said. Secondly, God invites us to love Him as much with our minds as we do with our hearts. Do not be dismayed. We will never be able to comprehend the depths of His goodness and mercy in full, but the more we seek the more we will find!
