Jesus’ Blood Sprinkled

Let me show you an interesting scripture which will help you to understand these things. In 1 Peter 1:10–12, Peter is talking about the prophets of the Old Testament. And he says this, 1 Peter 1:10–12:

“Of this salvation [which we enjoy], the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come to you [you believers in Jesus], searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ [or the Spirit of the Messiah] who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that would follow. To them it was revealed that not of themselves but to us they were ministering the things which have now been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.”

You see, this is a key to understanding something. If you read the writings of David and the psalms, the writings of the prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah and others, you’ll find that a significant number of times they spoke in the first person about things as if they had happened to them which never happened to them. David said in one psalm, “They pierced my hands and my feet.” It never happened to David. He said, “They gave me vinegar to drink.” It never happened to David. Many other different aspects of the sufferings of Christ were spoken of in the first person by the prophets of the Old Testament. What’s the explanation? Peter tells us. It was the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of the Messiah in them testifying in advance of the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow.

Psalm 16 is a clear example. David said, “My soul shall rest in peace, my flesh will not see corruption.” But that was not fulfilled in David. In whom was it fulfilled? In Jesus, that’s right.

But I want to turn to an example in Isaiah, chapter 50. Isaiah 50:5–6. And I believe this is a clear example of what we’ve been talking about, the Spirit of the Messiah in the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah 50:5–6:

“The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious nor did I turn away. I gave my back to those who struck me and my cheeks to those who plucked out the beard. I did not hide my face from shame and spitting.”

Now we have no record that any of those things ever happened to Isaiah. To whom did they happen? To Jesus the Messiah. The Spirit of the Messiah in Jesus showed beforehand the sufferings and the glory. But what I want to point out to you is that 6th verse, “I gave my back to those who struck me.” Notice Jesus gave His back. He wasn’t forced to do it. He could have refused. He did it willingly. And it says, “I gave my back to those who struck me, my cheeks to those who plucked out the beard.” So I believe that revelation indicates that not merely was Jesus scourged but in the course of all the shame and the indignation to which they subjected Him they pulled out His beard in handfuls. You cannot pull out a person’s beard without drawing blood from their cheeks. So there is the third and the fourth sprinkling. His back was flogged, his beard was pulled out.

I think at this point we could look for another passage in Isaiah 52. Isaiah 52 which is another preview of the sufferings of Jesus. The last 3 verses. Isaiah 52, beginning at verse 13:

“Behold my servant shall deal prudently...”

My servant is Jesus. Not named but foreshadowed.

“...He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high...”

And in Philippians 2, Paul says wherefore God has also highly exalted Him and given Him the name that is above every name. Because, first of all, He humbled Himself to death, the death of the cross. The humiliation of Jesus as depicted in the next verse of Isaiah 52, verse 14:

“Just as many were astonished at you [aghast at you], so his visage was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men...”

Some of the modern translations indicate that that means He was so mistreated that He actually lost the appearance of a man. And if you consider all that He was subjected to, it’s easy to understand how that came about.

Going on with the shedding of His blood we turn now to Matthew 27:29.

“The soldiers of Herod, when they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And they mocked Him, kneeling before Him saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews.’ Then they spat on Him and took the reed and struck him on the head.”

And every time they struck him on the head they pressed those sharp thorns down deeper into his scalp. And the blood came spurting out. That was the fifth sprinkling of His blood.

And then in Matthew 27:35 we have this amazingly short statement:

“Then they crucified Him.”

And we know that in crucifixion they pierced His hands and His feet. That was the sixth shedding of His blood, the sixth sprinkling.

And then after He was actually dead, the final sprinkling took place, recorded in John 19:34. The soldiers had been ordered to put the three crucified persons to death. They put to death the two thieves on either side but when they came to Jesus He was already dead.

“But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs, but one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear and immediately blood and water came out.”

That was the seventh and final sprinkling of His blood. I believe myself that through all that he endured and through the final thrust into the heart the body of Jesus was emptied of all its blood. That was the price that He paid.

Let’s consider now something else that the Old Testament has to say about the blood. We go back again to Leviticus 17. I hope you’re able to follow me in this. It takes a certain amount of work to mine the truths of the Bible. But my personal experience is what we mine is so valuable it’s worth the effort. In Leviticus 17 God is instructing Israel that they must not ever partake of the blood in the meat that they eat. This has a natural application but it has a much deeper spiritual truth. And in verse 11 of Leviticus 17 God gives this explanation:

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood.”

Where the English translation says life the Hebrew word actually is the word for soul. If you want to know the Hebrew word, it’s nefesh. The soul of the flesh is in the blood. Then we have this amazing prophetic statement. God says:

“I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.”

That statement of God there found its fulfillment in the death of Jesus on the cross. He gave His blood to make atonement for our souls on the altar of the cross. He emptied out every drop of His life blood.

And in Isaiah 53:12 the prophet says this:

“He shall divide the spoil of the strong because he poured out his soul unto death.”

Bear in mind that the soul of all flesh is in the blood. How did Jesus pour out His soul unto death? He poured it out in His blood. His soul was the life that He gave for the redemption of the world, the life that He gave to redeem your life and mine. He poured it out totally without reservation in His blood.