I continue to reflect on the meaning of the blood Jesus shed on the cross. In part 1, the emphasis was on the New Covenant which was brought by Jesus’ death (Matt 26:28; Lk 22:20; Jer 31:31-34). Part 2 was about our redemption, purchased by his blood (Eph 1:7; Mk 10:45). A third benefit of Christ’s blood is atonement.

Paul speaks of Jesus being displayed as “a propitiation in His blood” (Rom 3:25 NASB). A propitiation is an atoning sacrifice. In some religions a propitiation is a sacrifice you might bring to a deity to appease its anger. It sooths the deity and cools its wrath. The anger is turned to favor.

In our modern world, some don’t like the concept of propitiation as applied to Jesus’ death on the cross. They consider the idea of God’s wrath having to be appeased as crude. I suppose what’s driving them is that they don’t want to see God as ever being angry about anything.

However, there is a rightful and holy anger in the character of God. Think of things like human trafficking or ethnic cleansing and it’s not hard to see how a holy God would be angry. Yet even the sins in our lives deserve the wrath of a holy God, run-of-the-mill things like greed, lust, and envy.

The death of Jesus, an atoning sacrifice, was about God’s wrath and love at the same time. For example, God, in His great love for us, sent His own propitiation, Jesus Christ crucified for our sins. 1 John 4:10 says, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (NASB). God, in love, provided His own sacrifice. He gave His only-begotten Son (Jn 3:16; See also 1 Jn 2:2; Heb 2:17).

Years ago I had a professor who told our class a true story from his own life. When his son was very young, the boy blatantly defied one the family’s household rules. It was certainly an offense deserving a spanking.

He sat down with the boy and explained that there had been a violation. Justice had to be satisfied. Justice meant that there was a penalty to be paid. In this case, it involved a spanking.

The boy braced for what he knew was coming. He knew it was well deserved, but this didn’t make it any easier.

Then his father did something totally unexpected. He turned around and told his son to spank him. His son was bewildered and a bit horrified. However, he did what he was told to do.

After this bizarre and painful ordeal was over, his dad explained what had just happened. He made sure the boy knew that his transgression deserved punishment. Yet he had chosen to receive that punishment so that the boy wouldn’t have to. Being a devout Christian, this dad used the opportunity to turn the topic to Christ.

This illustrates, in a small way, what God did for us. His displeasure at our sins is actually an expression of His goodness. How could God be good if He did not oppose evil? Goodness doesn’t excuse evil. It confronts it.

Our infinitely wise God devised a way to satisfy His justice through an expression of sacrificial love. He sent Jesus to suffer and die in our place. You could say that Jesus took the spanking for us. Every person who turns to Jesus in faith is forgiven. God’s wrath is no longer applicable. Our sins have been atoned for.

Thank you Lord for providing the means of our forgiveness. Thank you for your holiness. Thank you for your love. Praise you for the blood of Jesus. Because of it any sinner can be forgiven when they surrender to Christ in faith.