Nov 3 - Matthew 26:28

Jesus said,

"This is my blood of the covenant,

which is poured out for many

for the forgiveness of sins"

Matthew 26:28

I did something a little challenging the other day. I'm an artist, but it took a few moments to figure out how to sketch out an aerial view of a cow.

Why was I drawing the top view of a cow on a white board? Because I was trying to explain the old Hebrew practice of "cutting a covenant." I drew the cow, and then swiped my finger down the center of the whiteboard cow, cutting it in half.

"This is what they did when they cut a covenant," I said. "They'd cut a lamb or goat or turtledove or ox in half, and walk on the blood ground between the pieces." Why? "To symbolize that: If I break this covenant, may the same thing happen to me -- blood, guts, and death."

"And that was part of how sins were forgiven too," I said. "Rather than you and me getting cut in half, a lamb was sacrificed instead."

As I said this, I drew a person. It wasn't an aerial view. Just a round head and a robe and hands stretched out a little to the sides. It was on the whiteboard again, and I repeated the process of swiping my finger down the center. And as I cutting the person in half, I notice that this looked like a crude drawing of Jesus.

Caught up in inspiration and realization, I instantly drew a cross behind the broken figure. In my brain echoed the words, "This is my body broken for you."

Then another echo: "This is MY blood of the covenant which is poured out ... for the forgiveness of sins."

Blood. Covenant. Body broken in half. Forgiveness. Jesus was the figurative (and definitive) Lamb cut in half so we didn't have to be!

Spend a moment today bleeding a little. Cut open your heart, confess your sins, and thank your Lord for his self-sacrificing grace.

In Christ's Love,

a guy who finds it easier

to draw a sacrifice

than make one

... but making one has a lot of power!