Noun or Verb?

 

My dreams are often nonsense and I wake up laughing. The dream I had last night was like that. A woman kept asking people to answer a riddle with a verb instead of a noun. This dream ran through my mind when I read several hundred words in my devotional about the blood of Christ, ending with this statement: “Nothing is more practical, more important, or more delightful to the people of God than the blood, the precious, effectual, cleansing, redeeming blood of Christ.”

The dream made me think: is the blood (noun) what is stressed here, or is it the verb — Jesus died that all these benefits would be mine?

The reading begins with telling how those who heard the gospel and “When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, ‘Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.’ ” (Acts 11:18)

In English, the dictionaries say ‘repentance’ is a noun. In Greek, the dictionaries affirm it as a verb, an action word. I don’t think this is a riddle. It seems that all the verses quoted about the blood of Christ are using this noun as a euphemism for the verb that Jesus died for my sin, an action that is a riddle to those who are blinded by their sin.

The idea of atoning blood is first suggested in Genesis when God killed an animal to provide skins to cover Adam and Eve. Then His people were commanded to kill a lamb so the angel of death would pass over them when He destroyed the firstborn in Egypt. His law said “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.” (Exodus 12:1–14) And the NT often points to the blood of Christ as vital to forgiveness, how God purchased His people and justified them. It says we were bought with a price, brought near to God, and can walk in His light because of the blood that cleanses us from all sin.

While the Bible clearly says that through Christ, God “reconciled to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:20) these statements all refer to one action — the death of Jesus Christ which is identified by words about His shed blood. And He did it for us:

He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. (Hebrews 9:12–14)
And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. (Hebrews 10:10–14)
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh…” (Hebrews 10:19–20)

We have victory over Satan because Jesus took our place: “And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death” (Revelation 12:11) and because He has cleansed us, we “have washed (our) robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:14)

PRAY: Jesus, Your actions on my behalf made possible all things: repentance, forgiveness, redemption, justification, cleansing, victory — a page of positives… including the grace and enablement to obey, love, reject self and sin, go out, share, and more action verbs. And You remind me of all this with a silly little dream and the rich language of Your Word. Oh, what a wonder You are!!

The power of truth

In ancient times, funerals were performed by Egyptians who strongly believed in an afterlife. They thought that a deceased person crossed over to the land of the dead and continued ‘life’ there. For that, they needed to recognize their body so they could be reunited with it. Therefore, the body must be preserved as long as possible, leading to elaborate embalming. Then deceased person might have been buried in a tomb with all their possessions for use in their afterlife. 

Other cultures had different ideas about death and the afterlife, if they believed in one. However, the people of God had been promised life after death. Job knew that after he died, he would, “in my flesh see God.” Yet the Israelites did not embalm; their deceased were buried as soon as possible.

This was true when Jesus died. I’ve not had time to research this, but it seemed that in His time, the event of death was a bigger issue than focusing on the body as the Egyptians did. Still, the body needed to be taken care of, and oddly enough, His mother and family did not do that, but a prominent member of society.

And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. (Mark 15:42–46)

In those days, a devout Jew highly valued the nation (God’s chosen people), obedience to the Law of God, the temple and their faith in one God. Jesus challenged all four values every time He had anything to do say about Gentiles, told them they missed the major purpose of the Law, predicted the destruction of their temple, and told them He was the “I am.” It is little wonder that they hated and crucified Him. 

But not all rejected His teaching. Joseph of Arimathea was one of the devout that listened to Jesus. He asked for Jesus’ body, and then took care of the burial. Courage was needed since the disciples had scattered, rightly fearing that they would be next to die because they followed Jesus. But this Joseph took courage.

What was it that made the difference? The passage says that he was “looking for the kingdom of God.” In those days, that anticipation meant a restoration to Israel of their former glory resulting in their rule over all oppressors, Rome in particular. Did Joseph believe that? Or did he understand that the kingdom of God was as Jesus said and not about political sovereignty?

Matthew’s Gospel says this man was rich, and also a “disciple of Jesus.” Luke says he was “a good and righteous man, who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God.” John said that Joseph made this request secretly “for fear of the Jews.” 

This tells me that Joseph believed what Jesus said about the kingdom. He knew that it was about the rule of God and concerned the spiritual condition of humanity, not their physical or political circumstances. By believing this, which was so contrary to popular thought, no doubt he also believed what Jesus said about their religious value system. Like Jesus, Joseph of Arimathea was going against the tide. His life may also have been in danger. Courage indeed!

All of this makes me think of the cushy life I have; no threats from the authorities, no worries that I will be strung up by the thumbs for believing in Jesus. The worst I’ve ever experienced is the wrath and ridicule of ‘religious’ people who think that faith in Christ is about being “good” and about chalking up points with God. My faith in Christ and in the grace of God is a challenge to their value system, something like Jesus’ challenged the ‘devout’ in His day yet I’m protected by ‘civil rights’ — at least for now.

Joseph also points to the power of truth. Jesus embodied it and declared it, and when He did, many believed it and many still do, regardless of popular thought and opinion. Faith in Christ continues today because truth changes lives and gives people courage to go against the tide.