Jump Start # 642

Revelation 1:5 “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood”

Our verse today comes from the introduction to the book of Revelation. Jesus is introduced to as by three descriptive terms: faithful witness; first begotten of the dead; and the prince of the kings of the earth. We are also told two powerful things that Jesus has done. First, He loved us and then, as if based upon that, He washed us from our sins in His own blood. The New American Standard version says that He released us from our sins in his blood. The idea is forgiveness. Forgiveness came about through the blood of Jesus.

That expression, “washed in His own blood,” says something about the blood of Jesus. We never turn to blood to clean things. In fact, we try to get blood out of things. We wash with water, better still, water and soap or some type of cleaner. Blood stains. Blood ruins things.  Blood on a white shirt is bad news.

The blood of Jesus, as referred to in this passage, isn’t in a spray bottle like our cleaners or in a handy wipe. The blood of Jesus refers to the cross. It’s the only time we read about Jesus bleeding, was the scourging, the crown of thorns and the nails.

Blood is important in the Bible. Cain and Abel had their differences concerning what to offer God—Cain offered vegetables, Abel offered a lamb, implying he killed it and sacrificed it. Blood was involved. The first time blood is found in the Bible is implied when God clothed Adam and Eve with animal skins. God could have just made animal skins, but more likely, He killed two animals and took their skins for clothing. I don’t know if Adam witnessed that. If he did, it’s the first time he saw blood. It’s the first time he saw something die.

The priests in the Old Testament would take blood that from the sacrifices and sprinkle it upon different things. The Hebrew writer reminds us that the blood of bulls and goats could not remove sins. The blood of Jesus can. It does. It washes away our sins.

The washing in blood connects us to baptism. Baptism is for the remission of sins. When the people listening to Peter interrupted him and said, “What shall we do?” His answer was to repent and be baptized. The eunuch when listening to Philip about Jesus saw water he cried out, “Water! What prevents me from being baptized?” He knew. He understood. He wanted to be washed in the blood of Jesus.

The result of this washing is forgiveness, cleansing. Clean clothes. Clean rooms. Clean cars. There is a nice smell to clean things. There is a good feeling to clean things. The cleansing we are talking about is not on the outside but the inside. Clean minds, clean hearts, and a new relationship with God.

The Bible teaches that Jesus shed His blood. He was slaughtered and bled, much like an animal in the O.T. His blood is powerful, but it took His death to accomplish this. It was a prick and a drop like some use to check their sugar level. It was a small vial like you might have to give at the doctor’s office so they could test things. No, this was a pouring, a bleeding, a lot. It wasn’t pretty. Those that get squeamish at the sight of blood would not be able to look at what happened on the cross. It would be hard for any to watch. Some did. Some stood in silence. Some used the occasion to mock. Some were stunned.

The blood of Jesus—powerful, necessary and productive. There is an old hymn that fits this passage, “Are you washed in the blood?” Good question. Good things to think about. Blood is necessary to be right with God. Not our blood, but Jesus’ blood.

Roger