Why Did Jesus Have To Shed His Blood?

Blood & Redemption

In my culture, the shedding of blood has a negative connotation. Especially if we’re not talking about blood shed due to an injury. Shedding blood is thought of as cultish. Superstitious. This, however, was not the case in the time and culture of the Israelites. The Israelites and surrounding nations were familiar with blood sacrifices.

Why did Jesus have to shed His blood? The author of the book of Hebrews tells us, “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22). This is because the life is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11). Man was created by God. Then, Man rebelled against God, transgressing His commandments, living as if He has no law to live by. It would have been just for God to destroy Man for our rebellion. Yet, because God is love, He sent His Son, Jesus, to be born in the likeness of sinful flesh and to offer up His perfect life as an atonement for sin. Jesus “entered once for all into the holy places, not by the means of the blood of goats and calves but by the means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12). The blood of Jesus makes a way for sinful man to be reconciled to a holy, perfect, just, and righteous God.

This is a deep and profound question. It requires much reflection upon the Scriptures. Will you join me as we explore this question in further depth?

The Shadow of the Substance

The book of Hebrews speaks of copies and shadows. I recommend you to read the whole book, particularly chapters 8-10. It tells us that most of what we read of in the Old Testament were shadows. The tabernacle, temple, priests, animals, laws, ceremonies, festivals. All of it. They were all a shadow of the Substance, which is Christ Jesus.

For the purpose of this question I will quote Hebrews 9:23-10:4,

Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then He would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes 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.
For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. (Hebrews 9:23-10:4, bold added)

Just as a true object casts a shadow on a sunny day, so it is with Christ and the law. Christ is the true substance. The law was the shadow of the good things to come. Looking at the shadow gives a glimpse of the true form. Yet, it is not the true substance. It is only a shadow, cast by the true substance. The shadow points to the truth. And if you follow the shadow to the end, you’ll find the substance. In this case, the substance is Christ Jesus, who came into the world to save sinners and redeem people for God from every tribe, tongue, nation, and people group. Christ made atonement with His own blood.

The Torah

The first five books of the Bible are known as the Torah. The Law. Often time when we think of the law, we think of the 10 commandments given in Exodus 20:1-17. These 10 commandments are a part of the law. They do not make up the entirety of the law. Moses wrote about Christ.

The Torah, or the Law, contains much in them. It has in its pages the creation of the world and Man. It records the fall of Man. The flood. The call of Abraham to be the father of the Jewish nation, the Israelites. How the Israelites got to Egypt. God calling His people out of Egypt. God making them a great nation in which all the nations of the world would be blessed in fulfillment of God’s promise to Abram.

It also contains much of how the Israelites are to be a holy nation unto God. God gave them many instructions.

How to govern the people;
How to live;
How to eat;
What to wear;
How to approach and worship God.

It is the last item that we are concerned with here. How the people are to approach and worship the living God, who is a consuming fire? How can a people, who are sinful, have the Holy One of Israel dwelling in their midst without being consumed? How can this dangerous blessing remain?

God gave the Israelites clear instructions as to how to build the tabernacle and temple. God told them who is to perform the sacrifices. God commanded what sacrifices are to be offered and when. It was very important that they followed these instructions exactly. If not, they would likely end up being consumed like Nadab and Abihu who offered up strange incense to the Lord (Leviticus 10:1-3).

A dangerous blessing, indeed.

The Problem

It is a natural inclination of the human flesh to think God is like one of us. He isn’t. He is holy. Which means He is separate. Other. Different. (For more on God’s holiness see our article, Worship God the Eternal Creator.)

Man has sinned against God by exchanging Him for a created thing. We continually transgress, or break, God’s commandments. Living as if God has given us no law to live by. We all stand guilty before God, our Creator. Because God is just, He will render the right wages for our sin. Death.

For the wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:23a)

For our rebellion, Man is to die. To die and then face judgment. We have no way of earning right standing before God. We can’t cleanse ourselves of our own sin. Therefore, every individual stands condemned before God.

For more on the problem, see our articles:

The Sacrificial System

Instead of immediately judging Man and finding him/her guilty, God made a way for people, by faith, to stand holy, righteous, and pure before Him. Because we sinned, we need a substitute to atone for sin. This is what the sacrificial system pointed to. A sacrifice acceptable to God.

There could be many books written, and many have been written, on Israel’s sacrificial system. Books explaining the details of the temple, the priests, the animals, the incense. The purpose of this article is not to explain it all. For this article, however, it would be beneficial to recount the Day of Atonement.

This day is what is being referenced in Hebrews 9:23 to 10:4. I encourage you to read this whole section again. The Day of Atonement is described in Leviticus 16. If you take the time to read the whole chapter, it will help with your understanding of what the author of Hebrews is saying.

Essentially, every year on the Day of Atonement, the high priest for that year would have to offer a sacrifice to atone for his own sin and the sin of his family. No priest under the law was sinless. Then, he would offer a sacrifice for the sin of the assembly. For they too are not sinless. (Some details of the atonement are expressed more fully in our article Why Did Jesus Die For Our Sins?)

The sacrifices of bulls and goats could not even come close to taking away Man’s sin. Because Man sinned, a man also must be the substitute. Not just any man. The Son of Man. Only a sinless man could be considered the spotless Lamb of God.

It is important to remember that the sacrificial system given to the Israelites could NEVER take away sins. Remember Hebrews 10:3-4. What the sacrifices did do, was point the people to the One who could. The One who was coming into the world to condemn sin in the flesh. The One who came into the world and did condemn sin in the flesh.

He is the eternal Son of God. The second member of the trinity. Jesus, whom God has exalted and made both Lord and Savior (Acts 2:36).

The Substance

If we keep reading in the book of Hebrews we will read,

Consequently, when Christ came into the world, He said,
“Sacrifices and offerings You have not desired,
    but a body have You prepared for Me;
in burnt offerings and sin offerings
    You have taken no pleasure.
Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God,
    as it is written of Me in the scroll of the book.’” (Hebrews 10:5-7)

God did not delight in the blood of bulls and goats. It did not please Him. It did not satisfy His justice. Indeed, it could not.

The Scriptures are very clear in whom God delighted in. He delighted in His Son. The Son is beloved to the Father and the Father to the Son. (For more on who the Son is, see our article: Christology 101)

Jesus was always God:

In the beginning was the Word (the Son), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1, bold and parentheses added)
No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, He has made Him known. (John 1:18, bold added)
Thomas answered Him, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28)
But of the Son He says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom.” (Hebrews 1:8, bold added)

Jesus became a man:

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14, bold added)
For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. (Colossians 2:9)
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. (Hebrews 1:3, bold added)
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. (Colossians 1:15)

It is important to know that Jesus is both God and Man.

Man’s sins are so great, that in order for them to be paid for the One paying them must have enough worth to do so. (This is a wonderful truth to dwell upon, see our articles: The Cancelation of Debt and The LORD Was Pleased To Crush Him.)

Also, because man sinned, man must pay the fine. Let me illustrate it this way. If I was charged for murder and found guilty, the judge’s justice could not be satisfied in my dog, or lamb, or chickens. Man committed the crime and thus man must be punished.

Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin (Hebrews 9:22).

This is why we read in Hebrews,

Sacrifices and offerings You have not desired, but a body have You prepared for Me. (Hebrews 10:5b)

Only Jesus could pay for the sin of the world. Because He is the eternal Son of God. He is of infinite worth. Yet, blood is required for the forgiveness of sins. The life is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11). Thus, the Son of God stepped down out of eternity. He took on the form of sinful flesh, although He Himself knew no sin.

He did all this so that He could satisfy the justice of God on behalf of sinful men. (For more on how Jesus did this, read our article: Forsaken By God.)

When instituting the Lord’s supper, Jesus says,

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom.” (Matthew 26:26-29, bold added)

The New Covenant has been set and sealed in and by the blood of Jesus Christ. There is no need to offer sacrifice year after year. The shadow pointed to the substance. For He is perfect. His sacrifice was sufficient to pay for all the sins of everyone who would call upon His name. The evidence for this is that,

When Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until His enemies should be made a footstool for His feet. (Hebrews 10:13)

Partakers of the Blood

Jesus made it abundantly clear that in order to inherit eternal life man must eat of His flesh and drink of His blood.

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on Me, he also will live because of Me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” (John 6:53-58)

This is symbolic language. Jesus is speaking metaphorically. Figuratively. To understand, we must follow Jesus’ description in the Bread of Life metaphor very closely. To do so, we need to read verses 25-59.

Jesus’ goal is to have the people He is addressing believe in Him as Messiah. To follow Him. But they are seeking literal bread because they are hungry. Jesus had miraculously provided this literal bread for them the day before (John 6:1-14).

Notice how Jesus uses their physical appetite to try and direct them towards Himself spiritually. Similar to how Jesus often used parables, as Christ continues to speak to them, He gets deeper into the metaphor. This only causes more confusion for the crowd. If we do not take the entire context of what Jesus is teaching, we can easily get confused, too.

Key verses that help us rightly understand Christ’s intended meaning of this figurative language:

John 6:29
John 6:33
John 6:35
John 6:40
John 6:47-48
John 6:51
John 6:53-58.

Notice that Jesus defines His own context. Christ continues to emphasize believing in Him. As the metaphor continues, He substitutes eating and drinking for coming and believing, using parallel language all throughout. There is an important shift in vv. 47-51 from “believes” to “eats.” Some incorrectly claim that Jesus is talking about communion here. Is there any reason to believe that from what the text says? No one takes communion in the passage!

What Jesus is essentially saying is that, unless we truly identify with Jesus, we will die in our sins. Unless He is found in us. Unless we are found in Him. In the very essence and core of our being. Unless He abides in us, and us in Him, there is no remission of sin.

We must be baptized, immersed, in Christ. Found in Him. Hidden in Him. Clinging to the shedding of His blood for the forgiveness of sin. Trusting fully in both His death and resurrection. Not moving to the left or to the right. Firmly grounded and rooted in Christ. It is then, and only then, that we find forgiveness in the blood of Jesus.