BLOG 2.25.13.” … NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD OF JESUS.”

BLOG 2/25/13: “ … NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD OF JESUS.”

Yesterday, on the second Sunday of Lent, and after a profound lesson on the tragic consequences of the rebellion of that primordial human community against their Creator-God, and after that always poignant celebration of the bread and the wine of the Eucharist, would you believe that the congregation concluded with a hand-clapping, lively, soul-version of the old gospel hymn: “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus”?

When finished, the whole congregation broke into applause!

It was so refreshing to me. A generation ago, what with so many of the church’s ostensible leaders expressing the dregs of the theology of Protestant liberalism, the very idea of any focus on the blood of the Lamb, shed for the sins of the world was held in some disdain as being theologically archaic. It was even derided in a now infamous women’s conference on “Re-imagining God.”

To that end most of the classic hymns on the atonement that focused on Christ’s shed blood were removed from the newer hymnbook: “Alas, and Did My Savior Bleed,” “There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood,” “I Know a Fount,” “Jesus, Thy Blood and Righteousness,” and, of course, “What Can Wash Away My Sin? Nothing But the Blood of Jesus.”

And just who were these folk singing and applauding such an “outrageous” notion (as described by that former generation) yesterday? Interesting to me as an octogenarian observer, these celebrators were young urban professionals: architects, graduate students, graphic artists, film-makers, physicians, educators, coffee-shop managers, musicians, delivery service folk, software company executives, lawyers, bankers … to name a few. They were the emerging generation.

These are folk who have on their iPads the commentaries of major Biblical scholars and theologians. These are folk who understand why it was necessary for the Son of Man to suffer. These are those who come in humble adoration.

These are folk who become more and more overwhelmed by the love of God displayed in Jesus Christ. These are those who understand the suffering of God, and the cost of reconciling the world to himself.

O, yes! “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus; What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”

“In him we have redemption through his blood,

the forgiveness of our trespasses,

according to the riches of his grace.” 

                                                                                                        (Ephesians 1:7)

Peace!  (“ … by the blood of his cross.” Colossians 1:20)

About rthenderson

Sixty years a pastor-teacher within the Presbyterian Church. Author of several books, the latest of which are a trilogy on missional ecclesiology: ENCHANTED COMMUNITY: JOURNEY INTO THE MYSTERY OF THE CHURCH, then, REFOUNDING THE CHURCH FROM THE UNDERSIDE, then THE CHURCH AND THE RELENTLESS DARKNESS. Previous to this trilogy was A DOOR OF HOPE: SPIRITUAL CONFLICT IN PASTORAL MINISTRY, and SUBVERSIVE JESUS, RADICAL FAITH. I am a native of West Palm Beach, Florida, a graduate of Davidson College, then of Columbia and Westminster Theological Seminaries.
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