Why So Much Blood?

Blood was linked to worship, sacrifice and the atonement for sin. Even when he was tasked to consecrate Aaron and his sons to the priesthood, Moses dressed the men in beautifully adorned and bejeweled garments, then placed blood on parts of their bodies and sprinkled them with oil and blood, to include their priestly garments.  

Why so much blood?

Blood serves an invaluable role in the body. It transports nutrients and oxygen to the cells and conveys away waste. But when we hurt ourselves or someone hurts us, it is the blood that helps to heal the hurts, wounds and injuries. It is the blood that assembles and flows at the place of injury to push away infection, cover the wound, protect the body and create the scab that allows the skin to grow back. Our hurts are covered by the blood. Blood is the sign of injury, but is also the sign of healing.

If blood is essential to our physical healing, it is even more of an imperative for our spiritual health. Leviticus 1-9 goes into detail about the shedding of blood as a sacrifice or offering for sin, but Hebrews 9 makes it more pointed, without the shedding of blood, sin cannot be atoned. If there is no shedding of blood, we cannot be covered from our spiritual hurts. We would live with our sins intact, forever guilty of our trespasses.

The psychological explanation for why we are repulsed by blood is that blood is a sign that something is wrong, there is a hurt somewhere. By this theory, a repulsion to blood is the emotional response to hurt. Have you been hurt, wounded or injured? Don’t fear the blood. It is the blood that will heal, soothe and save you. Not simply the blood flowing in your body, but the blood shed by Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God. His blood, shed freely on Calvary rushes in to heal you like no other substance in the universe.