[Pearls Episode 146: Preparing for Sunday.]
What is it about blood? It has such a powerful effect on us.
I recall in kindergarten, a boy named Dwayne managed to get a small puncture wound through his fingernail. It had the funny effect that blood would pool up under the nail, and then if he pressed the tip of his finger, it would squirt out (am I losing anyone yet?).
For a lot of 5-year-old boys, this is about as cool as it gets. Dwayne was running around the classroom sharing this new-found superpower with everyone. Many of the kids screamed and quite a few became more than a little queasy at the sight.
Even in little kids, blood has a powerful effect to attract or repulse.
And it doesn’t take long for blood to take center stage in scripture. As soon as Chapter 4 of Genesis, after Cain tries to beat the wrap of murdering his brother, God warns him, “Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the soil.”
Blood won’t let us get away once we have it on our hands. Just ask Lady Macbeth.
On the lighter side, here’s a few fun facts: the average person has about 100,000 miles of blood vessels – wonder who measured all that? A red blood cell can make a round trip around your body in about 30 seconds. And you have trillions of them – making up to 100,000 million per second. In fact, you just built a quarter billion more while reading this sentence. Congratulations.
Bottom line – blood is powerfully integral with what it means to be human, what it means to be alive, and God’s design. It calls to mind this poem by Christopher Derrick:
He’s a terror, that one-
Turns water into wine,
Turns wine into blood,
Wonder what He turns blood into?
Turning our attention to this week’s Pearls episode and Sunday’s scripture, we come to the high feast of Christ the King of the Universe.
First, let’s consider earthly kings – or, in this case our government since we don’t have a king (though many a politician seems to see themselves wearing ermine and carrying a scepter when they look in the mirror).
How does our government maintain its rule over the people? First, and ideally, by being a benign government and endeavoring to serve the will of the people. Even in that idyllic situation, the government must deal with those who don’t abide by the rules. What if you step outside the bounds of government? Well, a minor tiptoe outside the lines might get you something like a traffic ticket. A bigger leap will land you in court. Pole vaulting over the line will land you in jail. And if you stubbornly refuse ascent to the dictates of government, ultimately at the end of the law is a man with a gun. Bottom line, government has authority over us because it threatens us with our blood if we agitate too much.
Christ flips the script.
That is the power of the incarnation.
God became man and came to earth to serve. To heal. To teach. And most importantly, to redeem us from death, by giving His life for us.
It’s true that if we choose not to follow Christ, we condemn ourself to misery. But Christ the King doesn’t compel us to follow Him with the threat of our blood.
He inspires us to follow Him by having poured out His own.
Blessings on your journey with Christ –
Steve and Karen Smith
Interior Life