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This is a sermon based on the Scripture text found in Hebrews 9:22. It was given during a worship service that included the Sacrament of Communion.
Written Excerpts:
WITHOUT THE SHEDDING OF BLOOD
Hebrews 9:22 “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.”
Introduction
As I was thinking and planning for this service, I thought of the phrase that is found in the text of Hebrews 9:22 “… without shedding of blood is no remission.” I immediately felt impressed that this was the subject that God would have me touch on for the message today as we prepare to celebrate the sacrament of Communion.
At various times in my life I have heard and read comments that were critical of the Jewish faith as presented in the OT because of the animal sacrifices and the amount of bloodshed that is recorded. Some critics also make these same accusations against the Christian faith because of its connection to the OT as portrayed in various statements in the NT.
I don’t know about you, but from time to time I have stopped and pondered what it must have been like to be involved in the OT worship and the sacrifices that were required by the law as explained in Leviticus. I’ve wondered what it must have been like to regularly take an animal that I have raised to the tabernacle or the temple and surrender it to be slaughtered as an offering to the Lord. I’ve wondered what it must have smelled like on any given day as the fire is burning on the altar, consuming the carcass of a young heifer or a yearling lamb. I suppose that the smell of cooking meat would be pleasant, while at the same time catching the smell of blood would be a stark contrast. I’ve wondered how it must have sounded. Were the animals afraid and bellowing or bleating as they waited their turns?
I thought especially of the account in 1 Kings that describes the sacrifices that Solomon made when the Temple Israel Israel
I remember reading those words some time ago and thinking to myself, “I certainly can understand why some people would be ‘turned off’ by the graphic bloodshed this kind of event would have represented.” I can’t even comprehend that many animals being slaughtered for sacrifices. I can’t comprehend how that would have smelled and what kinds of sounds would have permeated the air. And so, you may have heard, like I have, that some people refer to Judaism and to Christianity as the “bloody religion.”
Well, dear friends, while we may acknowledge that it is not pleasant to think about all of sacrificial animals, we who trust in Christ must never forget that these words in Hebrews have always been true and they are true to this day. “Without shedding of blood, is no remission.”
And, by the way, since I mentioned that it is not very pleasant to think about the killing of all those sacrificial animals, I think that brings out an important observation about our salvation. It occurs to me that the "unpleasantness" of the sacrificial system may be an intentional reminder for us that God never intended the provision of our salvation to be pleasant. God may have required such gruesome examples in the symbolic atonement to alert us to the fact that the death of His Son for the real atonement was not a pleasant event either. It was very costly and very gruesome as well.
For just a few moments today, before we celebrate the sacrament of communion, I want us to ponder the significance of this statement in relation to our salvation.
I. The context of the claim sets the background for its truth.
In the preceding verses, the Apostle is describing the benefits of the new covenant, which we talked about in the last communion service. The old covenant was established or ratified through the sacrifice of blood (v. 7; 18-21) and the new covenant was also established through the sacrifice of blood (v.12).
Now, in verse 22, the author declares, “according to the law almost all things are purified with blood…” He says, “almost all things” because some things were purified by water and others were purified by fire. Keep in mind that all of these purifications were ceremonial and symbolic.
(Adam Clarke) … it was always understood that every thing was at first consecrated [dedicated, sanctified] by the blood of the victim.
Clarke seems to be implying that the death and the shedding of the blood of the animal was in itself a sobering and sacred thing that put a special sacredness on the things that were ceremonially purified by its blood.
II. The content of the claim declares the love of Christ.
“… and without shedding of blood, is no remission.”
A. Shedding of Blood
(Jamieson,
In the OT, the Lord forbids the eating of blood for the Israelites because, “The life is in the blood.” The blood represents life and the shedding of blood represents the taking of life; the surrender of a life; or the end of a life.
(Clarke) “The apostle shows fully here what is one of his great objects in the whole of this epistle, viz. that there is no salvation but through the sacrificial death of Christ, and to prefigure this the law itself would not grant any remission of sin without the blood of a victim.”
Shedding the blood of the sacrificial lamb was proof that a life had been given in place of the life that had been spared.
Cf. Leviticus 17:11 “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that makes an atonement for the soul.”
All of these examples provided for us in the Old Testament depict the real sacrifice that Jesus made for all of mankind. Instead of a bull, a goat or a lamb, it was the holy, sinless, Son of God. His blood was shed, which proves that His life was given so that every other person believing in Him need not die, but may have life.
B. Remission of Sins
The word “remission” occurs nine other times in the New Testament (KJV) and in all but one of those places it has the qualifier “of sins” tied to it. The other occurrence has the word sin in the same sentence and in the preceding verse. So, all other uses of the word remission in the NT includes the idea of removal of sins.
The word carries the basic idea of forgiveness of a debt. It seems then, that we can understand the author to be saying that apart from the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness or canceling of the debt that was owed. As I mentioned in the previous communion message about the new covenant, Jesus Christ stated himself, “This is my blood of the new testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”
Conclusion:
All of this was very necessary. Why? God had declared at the very beginning of time in the Garden of Eden that death would be the consequence for sin. Death is the sentence upon every soul that has sinned. God had planned before the foundation of the world that there would be a remedy provided to redeem the sinner that is condemned to die. That plan included the death of His own Son as a substitute for every person.
However, as we explained in previous messages and Bible Studies, the OT system of sacrifices was important to lay the foundation for our understanding. It is an illustration in physical life to define the work of Christ in spiritual life. Notice verse 23 in our Scripture text. “Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.”
The author is saying that everything connected to the sacrifices here on earth is only a copy of the real thing in heaven. Therefore it is fitting that the copies be purified with the blood of animals, but the heavenly must be purified with the blood of the perfect, sinless, Son of God. In this context of explaining some of the distinctions between the physical and the spiritual, the Apostle states, “Without the shedding of blood, is no remission.”
Today, as we partake of the sacrament of communion we are acknowledging the shedding of Christ’s blood for the remission or forgiveness of our sins.
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