March 22, 2026 Holy God, Holy Lives: Power in the Blood | Leviticus 17:1-16

Today, we will be reflecting on Leviticus 17:1-16, Power in the Blood. As you read through the Bible and are introduced to the sacrificial system of Israel, you begin to see how blood represents life. In the sacrifices, we see how the sacrifices point to the seriousness of our sin and that the cost of our sin is life through the shedding of the blood of the animals. The original punishment for sin in Genesis is death; the cost for sin is life. Over time, people began to believe that our life force was found in the blood of creatures, and so rituals were designed to take that life for themselves. So, God gives his people laws to prevent the unnecessary shedding of blood, revealing how God honours all life and that all life belongs to God, not to us. When the proper time came, God sent Jesus to pay the price for our sin through the shedding of his own blood on our behalf so that we are washed clean from our sin and made holy in the eyes of God .

Transcript

Power in the Blood

Leviticus 17:1–16

The idea of the sacrifices that Israel is given in Leviticus is not new to Israel. Sacrifices and blood enter into the story of humanity right from the beginning of the Bible. The penalty for sin given by God in Genesis is death; Genesis 2:16–17, “And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” In Genesis 4, Cain and Abel both bring sacrifices to the Lord, Cain brings the fruit of the ground while Abel brings fat offering from the first born of his flocks, offerings that involved the shedding of blood of these animals. These are an echo ahead to the sacrifices laid out here in Leviticus, pointing ahead to the offering of Jesus’ blood for our sin; his death for our lives. 

Blood becomes one of the symbols of life. In the sacrifices we see how the Lord uses them to point out, and remind the Israelites of the seriousness of our sin; that the cost of our sin is the shedding of the blood of innocent animals; again, pointing ahead to Jesus, the one-person innocent of sin, and the shedding of his blood for the guilty.

Over time, people began to believe that our life force was found in our blood, as well as the blood of animals. As this belief grew more common, people began to develop rituals to take the life force of animals or their enemies for themselves, to make themselves more powerful. These rituals often involved the killing of enemies or animals and eating or drinking their blood; often gruesome and cruel. God steps in and gives his people laws to prevent the unnecessary shedding of blood, whether animal or human, revealing how God honours all life, and that all life comes from and belongs to God. This is why Israel was to drain the blood of an animal they had slaughtered to eat and pour the blood out on the earth and then cover it afterwards. 

This is also reflected in how the people are to bring their sacrifices to the Lord. All those who sacrifice an animal on their own without bringing it to the priests to be approved, are to be considered guilty of bloodshed and cut off from the rest of the people. Blood sacrifices, because they involve the taking of the life of a creature, need to be treated respectfully, acknowledging that the life belongs to God and is not to be taken by their own hands for their own sin offences before God. Only the Lord’s representatives, the priests, are given this important responsibility. In the sacrifices, we see how the sacrifices point to the seriousness of our sin and that the cost of our sin is life through the shedding of the blood of the animals. 

Sin’s not to be treated lightly. The sacrifices are a temporary solution to allow the people to come close to God, but in the end, God requires a perfect sacrifice, a first-born without blemish, holy, set apart completely for God, and perfect as God is perfect, as Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:48, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Jesus is the only person who is perfect because he’s also completely God. Because he values our lives so deeply, he sacrifices his own life for ours, so that we can be with God into eternity, never fearing not being able to be in God’s presence again. God sends Jesus to pay the price for our sin through the shedding of his own blood on our behalf so that we’re washed clean from our sin and made holy in the eyes of God. I appreciate the imagery Scripture gives us of what is accomplished in Jesus’ sacrifice, that when our sins are washed away through Jesus’ blood, Isaiah 1:18 tells us we’ll be “white as snow,” a visible contrast to the scarlet red of blood. The blood of the sacrifices, and later of Jesus, becomes the way of reconciling God’s people to himself, becomes the way of atonement for our sins. 

Because life is a gift from God, and all life belongs to him as the giver of life, God gives Israel some powerful harsh warnings to respect life, “‘I will set my face against any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who eats blood, and I will cut them off from the people. For the life of a creature is in the blood…. it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life…. That is why I have said to the Israelites, “You must not eat the blood of any creature, because the life of every creature is its blood; anyone who eats it must be cut off.” This respect for the life of all creatures reminds us that our first task in the Garden of Eden was to care for creation as God’s stewards. 

So, what does this have to do with today since we no longer do sacrifices? Creation care is still important; we’re still stewards of creation. How we live in and with creation is rooted in our relationship with God. Living in a part of the country that is heavily agricultural, this is probably understood better as life-stock and ensuring the land is healthy for producing crops is part of our DNA.

Yet there’s more here in this passage. Life is a gift, from conception to death. If the life of an animal is treated with such respect by God, how much greater the respect for the lives of those created in the image of God. How do we live this out in our lives and relationships, within our communities? A couple of the issues in our time are abortion and medically assisted dying. Abortion, the respect for the lives of our youngest and most vulnerable has been part of our Christian identity since the time of Rome. In ancient Rome, the practice of infanticide by exposure was common. Families, often constrained by poverty or social customs, would abandon unwanted babies to die from starvation or wild animals. These babies were sometimes left on trash heaps, city walls, or in remote areas. Early Christians, believing that all humans are made in the image of God, stood against infanticide and abortion. Christians would rescue abandoned infants and raise them as their own. These acts of compassion provided a powerful image of the Gospel at work in everyday life.

People noticed that Christians not only protected their own families, but also showed love for those society had rejected. Over time, this brought cultural change. By the fourth century, Christian emperors outlawed infanticide. It’s not just enough to say we're against these things, we need to live out sanctity of life by walking along woman who are considering abortion, surrounding them with support. Being pro-life is not just about the birth of a child, but it’s providing a community of support and encouragement to help her and her family to raise the child to maturity, about being involved in their lives through the good and the bad times. It’s easy to say we’re against abortion, but it takes Christ-like commitment to life to ensure the children are raised with all that they need to grow into healthy adults.

MAID is another huge issue today. When it comes to medically assisted dying, we need to look harder at palliative care and providing comfort and care for those approaching death and their loved ones. Life is a gift, but it can also sometimes come to feel like a painful weight. Today, people are taking their own lives in order to not be a burden on their families; there’s a call here to walk with, not just the person considering death, but with their family and addressing the big picture, not just the dying. Lewis Smedes tells of a woman named Grace who took her own life because she had developed MS and was completely dependent on her husband who was also busy with caring for their 5 children. She did this to help her family, but was it effective? Smedes asks some hard questions: “Did she in the long run really make life better for her husband and children? Who can tell how much good they lost from life when they lost the burden of caring for someone they loved?”

“Canada is now noted as the fastest growing assisted dying program in the world,” a University of Alberta research team wrote. 76,475 MAID deaths have been reported in Canada since it was legalized in 2016 as of the end of 2014. We’re expected to reach the 100,000th MAID death by this summer. A parliamentary committee is now meeting to expand MAID to those whose only condition is a mental illness.

Valuing life is about creating communities of shalom where people can flourish, find meaning and purpose, where they are valued for who they are and not just what they provide to the community. Believing that life is sacred sends us toward any neighbour who needs help to keep going; as Lewis Smedes writes. We do this because God loves them. God gives life, God alone reserves the right to take life away. Jesus offers his blood as a sacrifice so that we might live, to wash away our sin which brings death. Because we’ve been given new life through the blood of Jesus, we’re called to live for life as Paul calls us in Romans 12:1–2, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” And in living in a sacrificial way, we bring life into our communities that reflects the new life found in Jesus.