I witnessed to a man several years ago, and after several meetings he said, “I’d like to come to church, but there’s just so much talk about blood.” My attempts to explain Scripture’s emphasis on blood seemed to fall on deaf ears.
Leviticus 17:11 says, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.” When an animal was given as a sacrifice and its blood was shed, it was an atonement for one’s sins. The animal’s innocent life was being given for the sake of a sinful life. The word “atonement” in the Hebrew means “to ransom,” or “to remove by paying a price.” Because the blood is the life of the animal, and the ordained means for atonement, it couldn’t be eaten.
The shed blood of an animal was to only be offered at one place – the altar: “and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls.” The life of the animal was in the blood, but it had to be shed at the altar for the ransom of the soul.
Brothers and sisters, is this not another wonderful example of Jesus Christ? Unlike the sacrificial animal that gave its life unwillingly, Christ voluntarily gave His life for sinner (Jn 10:18). Unlike the priest of the Tabernacle that offered an animal on the altar, Christ gave His own life as a ransom at Calvary (Mk. 10:45). Unlike the priest that offered the sacrifices perpetually, Christ shed His precious blood once and for all (Heb. 9:27-10:10)!