S - Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
Hebrews 9:22 ESV
O - Commentary:
This verse applies to the Old-Covenant institutions, and the words nearly everything leave room for the flour offering which a poor Israelite might bring for his sin (Lev. 5:11–13). But the writer was thinking of the system as a whole and the ritual of the Day of Atonement that pertained to the totality of the nation’s sins, which showed that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. These words also constitute a principle that is true in the New Covenant.
Zane C. Hodges, “Hebrews,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 802.
A – Under the old covenant, blood purified almost everything. There were other offerings that honored God. But for the forgiveness of sin, there was no option. It required shed blood.
And animal blood could never finish the job (Hebrews 10:4). To save humanity once for all, it took the blood of a perfect human. Problem: there wasn’t one. Every one of us is born into sin.
So God did the impossible. He became a man. Jesus lived the perfect life we couldn’t live and shed the blood we couldn’t offer.
Here’s what gets me. God didn’t lower His standard. He didn’t make an exception. He met His own requirement in full. He didn’t get around the rule. He proved exceptional to it.
That’s sacrificial love.
R – Heavenly Father, You do the impossible. Thank You that You didn’t set aside Your holiness to save us. You fulfilled it through the blood of Jesus. No one else could make true forgiveness possible. Only You. Thank You for loving us that much. Amen.
