ONLY BLOOD STAINS REMAIN
There was a lot of blood that poured out of Jesus’ body on the day of his death. He had been hit over the head with a staff by roman soldiers multiple times - undoubtedly leaving deep cuts and gashes that would never have a chance to heal. A crown of jagged thorns was pressed down into his skull. His back was scourged with metal-tipped whips 39 times. His hands and his feet were driven through with iron stakes. And his side was gouged with the point of a spear sending blood and water flooding to the ground. By that Friday evening Jesus’ blood had covered the steps and the courtyard of the Roman palace, left a trail on the road that led to a hill called Calvary, soaked into the wood of the cross, and pooled on the dirt below. Jesus’ blood was everywhere. It must have been a little bit disgusting to see and physically repulsive to those with weaker stomachs. There was so much blood, in fact, that the scene of Jesus’ torture probably reminded a lot of those Jewish believers about the altar in the temple covered with the blood of the dozens and dozens of animal sacrifices required of the people. Which would have been a fitting thought to bring to mind during Jesus’ crucifixion since all of those Old Testament sacrifices were meant to point to Christ in the first. Jesus’ blood had to be poured out because he was the Sacrifice to end all sacrifices. His blood was the ransom price that paid for our sins. “For without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22) the New Testament book of Hebrews says. Jesus’ blood was necessary. His blood was essential to our salvation. And it poured out of his body until he bled to death.
Soon after Jesus gave up his life on that cross, two men named Joseph and Nicodemus came and took his body down from where he was nailed. But they didn’t have a whole lot of time. The Sabbath Day was going to begin at sundown and they wanted to get the body of Christ prepared for burial and into a tomb before that happened so that they could avoid doing any work on the Sabbath Day. And so as quickly as possible they wiped off Jesus’ body, wrapped him in burial linens and the customary spices, and laid him in a small cave used as a gravesite. They then rolled a large boulder in front of the entrance so that no one could get in and disturb the corpse of Christ. And there Jesus’ body lay from Friday evening until Sunday morning, void of life, covered in recent wounds, and wrapped in bloody committal clothes hastily put on by two men who had probably never done anything like that before.
But then Sunday morning rolled around. And a few Christian women rolled out of bed to go to the tomb where they found that the stone had been rolled away. And so they rushed back to Jesus’ chosen disciples to tell them the incredible and somewhat frightening news. And once the disciples heard what had happened, the gospel writer John records for us that, “Peter and the other disciple [John] started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed.” There was nothing left in Jesus’ tomb on that first Easter morning except the burial linens Joseph and Nicodemus had wrapped him in a few days before. And although these linens were certainly stained with Christ’s blood, but only blood stains remained. There was no body! Jesus had risen! The blood had dried! And our salvation was complete!
Those grave clothes that were lying in the tomb that first Easter morning may seem like a minor part of a major story, but they really signify something very important: there’s nothing left for us to do. Because those blood stains on the white pieces of cloth were the blood stains of Christ himself. He was the one that suffered in our place. He was the one that experienced the very tortures of hell while on the cross. He was the one that gave up his life to conquer death. But those linens that were once wrapped around his dead body no longer had a body to wrap around. Jesus didn’t stay dead. He lives. And so there is nothing left for us to do. Jesus has done it all. He has permanently secured our salvation. We will now live with him in heaven forever just as he lives there forever. Even though we sometimes feel compelled to do something (anything!) for our salvation, Jesus has already done it all.
There are certain times in our lives when we feel pretty bad about ourselves, don’t we? Times when we feel guilty about our actions. We do something that is obviously horrible or we say something that is hurtful to those we love or we think about something that is undeniably inappropriate or hateful - and it’s especially at those times when we feel as if we now need to do something in order to get that forgiveness and that salvation back. Maybe if we act a little nicer to people this month we can then somehow make up for the terrible things we just did. Maybe if we just try our best not say those words again the Lord will reward us for our efforts and forgive us. Maybe if we pray more or go to church more or donate more than the Lord will like us a little better and we’ll be on his good side just like we were before.
Of course, when we start to think like that we are forgetting that we can’t do anything to impress the Lord. You can’t be good enough, you can’t try hard enough, you can’t pray or worship or give enough to make a difference in your status before God. Because being good and trying hard and praying and worshiping and giving do not cancel out the consequences of sin. God clearly says in the Bible that sin deserves severe punishment and there’s nothing you can do to change the Lord’s mind. And there’s nothing I can do either. No matter how many sermons I preach, no matter how many classes I teach, no matter how many people I visit, the Lord is no more impressed with me than he is with any other sinner. I don’t get forgiveness sooner because of my actions or have a better standing with God because of the title in front of my name. I can’t do anything that would make the Lord want to grant me forgiveness. There isn’t anything anyone can do.
And so that’s why we are focusing on the blood stained linens in that Easter morning grave: it doesn’t matter that we can’t do anything for our forgiveness and salvation because there’s nothing left for us to do. Those blood stained linens show us that Christ has done everything - we are off the hook! Even if we end up falling into an appalling sin that we never thought we would be capable of doing, there is nothing left for us to do to gain forgiveness. The blood is Christ’s; he paid for those sins; and now only blood stains remain. Even if our minds are constantly in the gutter and we would be embarrassed if anyone else saw what we were thinking on any given day, there is nothing left for us to do to gain forgiveness; only blood stains remain. Even if we have lived a life that is nowhere near what a Christian life should be, only blood stains remain; there is nothing left for us to do to gain forgiveness. The forgiveness and the salvation that Christ has won for you are already yours. You don’t ever need to get them back because he is continually holding them out to you. And he doesn’t require that you be good enough or dedicated enough or hardworking enough or Christian enough to get this forgiveness. He doesn’t require that you do anything because he already kept the requirements himself: a perfect life, a sacrifice for sins, and a victory over death. Jesus did it. There is nothing left for you to do. And those blood stained linens in that grave 2000 years ago prove it.
It was proof enough for Peter and John. When they got to the tomb and saw the strips of linen and the head cloth folded up by itself, the Bible simply says that they believed. They didn’t quite understand all of the implications of this event just yet, but they did trust that their Lord had truly risen from the dead. And that must have been a great comfort to these two followers of Christ. Because in the last few hours before Jesus’ death they had sinned against the Lord in multiple ways! On Thursday evening in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus had specifically asked them to stay up and pray with him, but they fell asleep instead. When Jesus was arrested by Judas Iscariot and the mob, the disciples all ran away. When Jesus was on trial in the courtyard of the high priest, Peter denied even knowing who he was. And while Jesus hung on the cross, the disciple John was standing right there. And although John didn’t necessarily sin in that situation, he couldn’t do anything about it either. He had to watch his God die right before his eyes. And so for the rest of that Friday night and all day Saturday and even early Sunday morning, Peter and John must have felt awful. They had abandoned their Lord when he was all alone and they hadn’t got a chance to speak to him again before he had died. I wonder if they got any sleep at all.
But then came the unbelievable news of Sunday morning and the race to the tomb and the blood stained remnants of Jesus’ death lying on the ground. And Peter and John knew: Jesus had done it! He had told them many different times that he would rise from the dead and now he actually did it! Jesus had beaten death! Jesus was alive! And if he was alive they would surely see him again. And they did. And they are right now. And so will we.
We will see Jesus face to face with our own eyes one day soon. Our bodies will rise from the grave because Jesus rose from the grave. We will get to live in perfection because Jesus lives there right now. We have nothing to fear from death; Jesus conquered it. We have nothing to worry about from the devil; Jesus destroyed his work. We have nothing left to pay for sin; Jesus paid it in full. He paid it by being punished. He paid it by suffering. He paid it by bleeding to death. But look in that Easter tomb this morning: only blood stains remain.
Amen.
“Where, O death, your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” - 1 Cor. 15:55-56
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