Atonement

1 Peter 1:1-2
Peter, an apostle of Jesus the Messiah, to God’s chosen ones who live as foreigners among the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who have been set aside in advance by God the father, through the sanctification of the spirit, for obedience and for sprinkling with the blood of Jesus the Messiah.  May grace and peace be poured out lavishly on you!  (The Bible for Everyone)

I was reading 1 Peter this past week and a line in these opening verses got my attention - “for sprinkling with the blood of Jesus the Messiah.”

At first glance, this might seem like an odd phrase.  It might even seem gross - like why would anyone want to be sprinkled with someone else’s blood?

But I started thinking about how this ties back to Leviticus 16 and the details given to Moses for his brother Aaron to perform in the tabernacle for the Day of Atonement.

You can read Leviticus 16 for all the details, but here's a quick overview.  Aaron was given directions about what animals were needed for the yearly sacrifices.  There were sacrifices each high priest, from Aaron onward, was required to make for their own selves and their families, and then there were also sacrifices to be made for the whole community of Israel.  These same sacrifices were made each year as an atonement for the community.

Part of this sacrificial system involved two goats.  Lots would be cast to determine which goat would be sacrificed within the tabernacle, and which goat would take on the sins of the community and be removed from the camp.

The goat selected for sacrifice in the camp would be killed and its blood would be sprinkled on the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat, as well as sprinkled in the tent of meeting and on the horns of the altar.

Then the high priest would place his hands on the goat that was still living and confess all of the sins of the community.  The goat would then be removed from the camp and sent out into the wilderness.

This became an annual statute to be followed by the community.

Hebrews 9:11-14
But Christ has appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come.  In the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands (that is, not of this creation), he entered the most holy place once for all time, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.  For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow, sprinkling those who are defiled, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works so that we can serve the living God? (CSB)

That little line that popped up at the beginning of 1 Peter is just a few words, but they carry such deep meaning.  Jesus became the final sacrifice, the blood shed and sprinkled over us, atoning us once and for all and making it possible for us to serve the living God without the need for annual bloodshed.

Thanks be to God, great things he has done.  

I love seeing how all of Scripture ties together and understanding more deeply the significance of each part of the story.  


~  Melissa