As we think about Good Friday and the significance of the cross of Christ, I want to ask and answer a strange question to help you see the preciousness and potency of the blood of Christ: “if the blood of Christ could speak what would it say?”
But before I answer that rather odd question let me remind you of a story in Genesis about the first time that blood ever spoke. It’s the story of Cain and Abel found in Genesis chapter 4:8-10:
Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?” And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.
So we see that the first time blood ever spoke it cried out to God. But what did it cry out? The text doesn’t explicitly say but I think we can draw a solid inference if we examine some uses of the word “crying” in the OT.
This same word for crying is used in Genesis 41:55 where it says: “When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread.” Here it has a nuance of demanding something that ought to be given them.
In Exodus 5:15 the word is used again in the context of Israel’s slavery to Egypt: “Then the foremen of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, “Why do you treat your servants like this.” Here the word has a nuance of calling someone to account for performing an injustice against someone.
Lastly, the most telling example is found in Job 19:7 where Job says: “Behold, I cry out, ‘Violence! ’ but I am not answered; I call for help, but there is no justice.” In this context the word implies a call to bring justice upon someone who has committed a crime.
This leads me to conclude that when Abel’s blood spoke and cried out to God, it cried for justice against Cain. It’s cries reached the ear of God screaming “a grievous crime has been committed and the one who committed it must be punished properly so that justice is restored.” This is what blood said the first time it spoke.
But there is another recording of blood speaking in the Bible and it answers the question I asked at the beginning: “if the blood of Christ could speak what would it say?” In Hebrews 12:24 it says this: “Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and [His] sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” So Christ blood does speak and when it speaks, it speaks a better word than Abel’s. So if Abel’s blood cries out for “justice” and “punishment” on the one who committed the crime, what “better word” does Christ blood speak?
When Christ’s blood cries out, it cries not for justice but for mercy because Christ received justice that we might receive justification. When Christ’s blood cries out, it cries not for punishment but for pardon because the punishment that we deserve fell on Christ. As Charles Spurgeon said:
Far more delightful is the fact that another and more melodious cry went up to heaven from the cross of Calvary. “Father, forgive them,” resounded from the wounds of Immanuel. The blood of Abel was not voiceless, and the blood of Jesus was not [mute]; it cried so as to be heard amid the thrones of heaven, and blessed be God, it spoke for us and not against us; it spoke not worse things, as it might well have done, but better things than that of Abel.
So as you reflect on the meaning and significance of Good Friday, remember that we worship a Savior whose blood speaks this verdict over us: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)
