The Wonder Of Jesus’ Crucifixion Series

In Oklahoma, someone saw this poster promoting a Red Cross blood drive:

"I gave my blood.

Christ gave his.

I give a pint.

He gave all.

The needle is small, sharp.

The nails were large, dull.

The table soft, restful.

The cross rough, painful.

The nurses kind, gentle.

The soldiers cruel, mean.

The crowd applauds my sacrifice.

"They that passed by reviled him."

Mine is for O Positive.

His for positively all.

Mine, at best, will prolong a Life FOR A WHILE.

His, without doubt, can save ALL forever."

Someone once observed that Bible is a bloody book.

In fact, another person commented,

“Cut the Bible anywhere and it will bleed.”

From the book of Genesis all the way through Revelation, blood is a major part of the picture. In Genesis 3, we find God making the FIRST sacrifice. when Adam and Eve sinned, God sacrificed an animal to provide skins to cover their nakedness.

And in the New Testament we’re told of the blood of Jesus the LAST sacrifice - offered by God to cover the nakedness of our sin.

Many of our old hymns talk lovingly of the blood of Jesus.

If you know them sing them with me:

“Would you be free from the burden of sin?

There is power in the Blood

Would you over evil a victory win?

There’s wonderful power in the Blood

There is power, power wonder working power

In the Blood of the Lamb

There is power, power wonder working power

In the precious Blood of the Lamb”

“What can wash away my sin?

Nothing but the Blood of Jesus

What can make me whole again?

Nothing but the Blood of Jesus

Oh, precious is the flow

That makes me white as snow

No other fount I know.

Nothing but the Blood of Jesus.”

(speak reflectively)

What can wash away my sin?

What can make me whole again?

What can make me white as snow?

No other fount I know.

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

What those hymns (and others like it) are declaring is that the story we’ve read in John 19 isn’t just about Jesus’ bleeding and suffering and death. Oh no. The story is about WHY Jesus suffered. WHY He bled. WHY He died.

And why did Jesus bleed and suffer, and die?

(OR US)

The Bible clearly teaches that without the blood of Jesus there is no forgiveness for our sins.

Ephesians 1:7 teaches that “In him we have redemption THROUGH HIS BLOOD, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.”

Revelation 1:5 declares: that Jesus “…loves us and has freed us from our sins BY HIS BLOOD.”

And 1 Peter 1:18-19 tells us “… it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST, a lamb without blemish or defect.”

(PAUSE) And where did Jesus shed His blood?

In His final 2 days - Jesus shed His blood several times.

• In the Garden of Gethsemane He prayed so hard about His upcoming crucifixion that He literally sweated drops blood.

• Then, in Pilate’s Hall after He’d been arrested and had gone through several trials, He was brought to Pilate for the final time. And Pilate had Jesus beaten with whips. Whips embedded with bits of glass and bone that bit into his skin and tore into his muscles. And His blood was shed.

• Then those same soldiers mocked Him, and placed a crown of long, sharp thorns upon His head and pushed it down until it drew blood.

• Later - at Calvary - the soldiers drove nails in His hands and drove another nail through His feet. And His blood was shed.

• And finally, when He died a Roman soldier pushed a spear into His side and blood “bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.”

Again and again and again, Jesus shed His blood for us.

And the Bible clearly teaches that this was all on purpose.

It had been PLANNED.

ILLUS: Several years ago, I received a series of emails from 3 separate atheists. They had visited our website and found my collection of illustrations there. They’re all categorized, and one of those categories is dedicated to Atheism. They didn’t like what they read there, so they challenged me to defend my position. Over the course of several weeks I engaged in a conversation with each of them and it was enlightening to discover what type of people they were.

The first atheist was an angry man. All his emails were entirely in capital letters – which in internet etiquette is very bad form. It’s the equivalent of shouting at a person. He’d send an email attacking the Bible or Jesus or the church and I’d send back an answer to his objections. But he never dealt with my answers. He simply moved on to another attack… and I’d send him answers to that email. Then he’d move on to another topic. He had no intention of engaging me in meaningful debate. He merely wanted to shout angrily at God. And because I knew that eventually his emails would anger me and cause me to respond in anger… I terminated the conversation.