368. Sanctify with Blood
Hebrews 13:12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
Jesus sanctified the people. This is a fulfilled promise: we who believe in Jesus are sanctified. Jesus is our sanctification. He sanctified us with His own blood, meaning that He suffered and died for us as a sacrifice in our place. He shed His blood as a fulfillment of Scripture. Bloodshed, or execution, could only take place outside the city walls. The shedding of innocent blood contaminates the land and corrupts the nation. (Makes one wonder what abortion does to the country.) The shedding of Jesus’ blood was a corruptible and contaminated event, because the sins of the world were in the death and shed blood of Jesus Christ. Sin brings a curse; Jesus became a curse for us. The curse is in the blood that takes the sins away.
When innocent blood is shed as a substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of the people, the sins are taken away, all is forgiven, the guilty are declared innocent, the sinners are made righteous, and the people are sanctified, or made holy. Couldn’t God have sanctified us and made us holy in some other way than with the innocent blood of His Son? The answer is Yes, of course, for God can do anything; but the answer is No, for there is no other just, righteous, eternal, or satisfactory way to sanctify sinners. Innocent blood is the only way God can save us and make it stick forever. We don’t totally understand the full reason why, but we do know that there is no other way by which we may be saved.
God did not just come up with the best plan of salvation, but apparently sending His own Son to shed His innocent blood is the only way. At any rate, it the only way of salvation the Lord provided for people, and Christ’s blood is the only way in which we may and must go. There is no other name; there is no other way; there is no other blood. But Jesus is the Name, the Way, and the Life (blood). He sanctifies.
No matter what else you know, know this: Jesus sanctified you, Jesus saved you, Jesus forgave you, Jesus justifies you, Jesus makes you holy, Jesus gave you eternal life, Jesus redeemed you, and much more. Jesus loves you. Take this promise to heart and rejoice in it.