Hebrews 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. I. THE SACRIFICE OF THE SAVIOUR, WHICH WE COMMEMORATE, WAS THE OFFERING OF HIMSELF. "No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself." Not the Sanhedrim, not Annas, not Caiaphas, not Pilate, not Judas, not the Roman Guard, not the excited mob took away the Redeemer's life; had they done so, Christ's would have been only a martyr's death. "For this cause came I into the world." II. THE SACRIFICE OF THE SAVIOUR WAS NOT ONLY THE OFFERING OF HIMSELF, BUT THE ONE OFFERING OF HIMSELF. The earth can see no second Gethsemane or Calvary! Never in the history of the human race can such another event be recorded, it stands alone as a monument of the august majesty of Divine law and the pitiful depth of Divine love. III. THE SACRIFICE OF THE SAVIOUR, WHICH WE COMMEMORATE, CONTRASTS WITH THE JEWISH LAW. They had the ceremonial and symbolical: we have the spiritual and the substantial. IV. THE SACRIFICE WE COMMEMORATE TEACHES US THAT NOT ONLY COULD THE SAVIOUR BE OFFERED BUT ONCE, BUT THAT HE COULD "SUFFER" BUT ONCE. V. THE SACRIFICE WE COMMEMORATE TEACHES US THAT CHRIST "APPEARED" TO PUT AWAY SIN. Ponder well the words — "He appeared." Salvation was accomplished in connection with Christ's incarnation. There could be no doubt of the actuality of the atonement: it was in the body that He assumed that He died for our sins, and we can test the validity of the sacrifice by the reality of the incarnation. (W. M. Statham, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. |
    |