The Blood of JesusSample

Earlier we read John the Baptist's proclamation: “Behold the Lamb of God...” (Jn. 1:29), but now let us complete the missing phrase: “Who takes away the sin of the world”. If John had not mentioned the second part, then the sacrifice of the Son would not have been different from the sacrificial lambs of the Old Testament.

To understand the effect of the blood of the Agnus Dei we must analyze 2 words:

• Atonement: Simply, it means: To cover. That was the purpose of the blood of the Old Testament lambs: to temporarily cover the sins of the people. Why was the atoning blood of the lambs only a temporary covering? For the simple fact that the Israelites had to offer constant annual sacrifices for their sin; it is the proof that the blood of the lambs only had a temporary and incomplete effect.

Let's imagine that there is a dirty wall in our house and we want to paint it white. When we apply the paint directly we can appreciate that the white color covers perfectly the dirt on the wall; the paint is thick and fresh. After a full day has passed, we find that the paint has dried and become transparent; we can see the old color and dirt behind the new layer of paint that has dried. Why does this happen? Because a fresh coat of paint only temporarily covers imperfections in the wall; the atoning blood of the lambs was only a temporary coat of paint.

Propitiation: Simply, it means: to appease; to calm. In the Old Testament, we only find the word “mercy seat”, which was the lid of the Ark of the Covenant.

A simple atonement (temporary cover-up) was not enough to satisfy God's wrath. Something much more powerful and definitive was needed. We needed something that God could see and say, “I am satisfied; now I see that there is not something covering up that filthy sin in your soul.” What did we need? The blood of the Son. And what could the blood of the Agnus Dei do? John answers this question: The blood of Jesus his Son “cleanses us from all sin” (1 Jn. 1:7). The blood of the Son did more than paint the dirty wall white: His blood took a sandpaper to scrape and clean all the impurities from the dirty wall so that when the fresh paint dries there is no dirt behind it to be seen.

Did you find this Plan useful? We adapted this Plan from the book by Jair Muñoz: ¿Quién decimos que es el Hijo del Dios viviente?