Hebrews, Gladwell, & The Better Blood (Part Two)

Yesterday I talked about how Macolm Gladwell is like a many-armed Hindu god, plucking anecdotes from all over the place and drawing connections that seem unlikely.

And the writer of Hebrews is...well, I can't bring myself to say that he's like a many-armed Hindu god, but he's something like it. He's grabbing all sorts of Old Testament stories and showing how Jesus fulfills them.

A couple of weeks ago I was looking at a passage in Hebrews 12 where the author drops a little snippet of something that, upon a little reflection, yields a beautiful glimpse of the gospel:

You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. (Heb 12:23-24)

Okay, so what the heck is the blood of Abel doing here? And what's the better word that is being spoken?

Going back to Genesis 4 we see the very first human-to-human consequence of the Fall recorded in Genesis 3. Adam and Eve have two sons, Cain (the oldest) and Abel. Cain works the ground, Abel is a hunter.

Cain brings an offering to the Lord that (for whatever reason) the Lord doesn't look upon favorably. Abel brings a more scrumptous offering, and the Lord accepts it gladly. Cain gets grumpy. Cain kills Abel.

The Lord asks Cain, "where is your brother?" And here comes one of the most quotable statements in the Scripture: "Am I my brother's keeper?" And then the Lord speaks:

"What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. ¹¹ Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. " (Gen 4:10-11)

So Abel's blood calls out the rightful condemnation of Cain: "Guilty!" The first homicide in history. Cain kills Abel in a fit of jealous rage. And his blood cries out a word that condemns Cain to wander and live a fruitless life (see Gen 4:12).

The author of Hebrews grabs a hold of this and delightfully turns it on it's head. Jesus' blood speaks "a better word" than the blood of Abel. In fact, it speaks the exact opposite word: "Not Guilty!" is the cry of Jesus' blood, offered as a sacrifice in our place, on our behalf.

And the irony of it all is that Jesus' blood, apart from the intention of God from the beginning of the world, should actually echo the blood of Abel. We, too, are guilty. We have killed the Son. Our lives are filled with bloodshed, adultery, theft, grumbling, hatred, and all the outworkings of the death that Adam and Eve introduced into our hearts on the day of the Great and Terrible Exchange.

And yet the blood of Jesus cries out not to condemn us (even though it might) but to forgive us. This Son who was slain has his blood poured out on the ground and it speaks a word of grace, love, a covering and an offering that shockingly and completely unexpectedly re-directs everything.

It is a word of hope and of a beautiful, fruitful future. Life, not death. An invitation home, not a condemnation to a lifetime of wandering.

And so hurray and Amen to this blood that speaks a much, much, much better word than the blood of Abel!

And hurray and Amen to the Spirit-guided genius of the writer of Hebrews who leads us through the Old Testament with a joyful touch, finding the wonder of Jesus at every turn....even the ugly ones.