Blood sermon ideas
Blood is liquid life, and the Bible drips with it — from the blood of Abel "crying out" from the stained earthly soil of Genesis 4:10 to the heavenly rider wearing a "robe dipped in blood" while leading the celestial army in Revelation 19:13. As blood is intimately connected with life itself (Deuteronomy 12:23) and God is the author of life (Acts 3:15), he is the owner of blood. That insight grounds the Bible's prohibition against murder (Genesis 9:6), as well as against the eating of "flesh with its life, that is, its blood" (Genesis 9:4; cf. Acts 21:25).
What does the Bible say about blood?
The Bible passages below can be used in sermons dealing with blood.
See also Atonement
Of sacrifice and covenants
Our sermons can explore how these connections — life with blood, the shedding of blood with death — explain the atoning function of the sacrificial system. As the wages of sin is death, blood becomes redemption's natural currency: forgiveness comes through the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9:22). Hence, blood has the sacred weight to seal covenants and must be sacrificially splattered, smeared, sprinkled, and poured throughout the book of Leviticus.
- Genesis 9:4, don't eat flesh with its blood (See also Acts 21:25)
- Genesis 9:6, don't murder, because we are made in God's image
- Exodus 24:8, Moses and the blood of the covenant
- Leviticus 1, instructions for the burnt offering
- Matthew 26:28, the blood of the covenant in the Lord's Supper/Eucharist
- Acts 3:15, God is the author of life
- Romans 6:23, the wages of sin
- Hebrews 9:22, blood purifies
Peace through Jesus' blood
In the New Testament, the sacramental, covenantal, and sacrificial meanings of blood converge in the life of God flowing through the veins of the Messiah. For through the blood of the cross, God reconciled all things, whether on earth or in heaven.
- Romans 3:23-25, atonement from sin by grace, through faith
- Romans 5:9, justified by Jesus' blood
- Ephesians 2:13, brough near by Christ's blood
- Colossians 1:20, God's reconciliation of all things through the cross
Sermon ideas about blood
Following are sample excerpts from Zeteosearch.org sermon resources about blood:
"It is in John 19, therefore, that the exact same collection of words appears as in 1 John 5:6-8: water, blood, Spirit, witness, and truth. The significance of this connection is that it offers an explanation of what it means to believe that the Christ, the Son of God, is Jesus." Sermon Preparation by Alicia D. Myers from Working Preacher
"Hélène Mugot's Du sang et des larmes, which translates to Blood and Tears, is an installation of glass pieces made to look like bodily fluids. They hang on the wall in the shape of a three-paneled altarpiece—blood in the center, tears on the wings. The globular forms catch the light from the room and shine." Artwork by Victoria Emily Jones from Art & Theology
"Better, I think, to hope that this connection to blood, this hesitancy to expunge it from the narrative of Jesus, has something to do with being formed by the words and images of the Bible." Scripture Meditation by Steve Mathonnet-VanderWell from the twelve