Based on a talk by Fr Joseph Edattu:

Today, when the church is celebrating the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we reflect upon the power of the blood of Jesus. When we think of Jesus’ heart, we also think of the part of him that was pierced by a spear and released blood and water. 

When we pray, “Lord Jesus, wash and cleanse us with your previous blood,” we don’t really realize the immense power that Jesus’ blood possesses.

When we consider the blood of Jesus, there is a pre-shadow that we can see in the Old Testament. The Israelites were held as slaves by the Egyptians for more than 430 years. They made every effort to escape, but they were unsuccessful. They endured severe persecution and year after year of torture. They sought tranquility, but it was never granted to them.

It is easy to forget the humanity of Christ, after all he is the Son of God, walked on water, and rose from the dead, and yet he bled for us. The Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus reminds us of Jesus’ humanity and the significance of his sacrifice. He suffered, he felt pain, he literally laid down his life and set his heart upon us. It is our turn to pick up what God has given us and share it with the world.

We read:

Exodus 2:23 After a long time the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned under their slavery, and cried out. Out of the slavery their cry for help rose up to God.

People ask me, Father; how do we come out of our addictions of pornography, adultery, watching unholy videos, drugs, drinks, smoking etc.? Even after trying are best we can’t come out of it. We groan and cry out to God.

Even the Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out. Hence God send many plagues against the Egyptians to save the Israelites. There were different types of plagues. What exactly helped the Israelites come out of their slavery. To understand this, let us read the passage:

Exodus 12:12-13 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

Each of the ten plagues is against each of the ten God’s of Egypt. 

God of the Nile –  water turned to blood

Goddess of Fertility, Water, Renewal – Frogs coming from the river Nile

God of the Earth – Lice from the dust of the earth

God of creation; movement of the Sun – Swarms of Flies

Goddess of Love and Protection – Death of Cattle and Livestock

Goddess of Medicine and Peace – Ashes turned to Boils and Sores

Goddess of the Sky – Hail rained down in the form of fire

God of Storms and Disorder – Locusts sent from the sky

Sun God – Three Days of Complete Darkness

Pharaoh: The Ultimate Power of Egypt (God of Death) – Death of the Firstborn

These “plagues” sent from the God of Israel, was a proof that the “one true God” was far greater than all of the multiple Gods of the Egyptians. God proved only one God exist ‘Yahweh’. Then God said, “I am the Lord, there is no other God.”

The Lord promised that if the Israelites followed His instructions, the plague would pass over them and not hurt them. The Lord told each Israelite family to sacrifice a perfect male lamb and paint the blood of the lamb on the doorframe of their houses. The Lord told the Israelites to cook and quickly eat the lamb. As the blood was applied to the top and each side of the doorway, this blood dripped down, forming a figure of a cross in the doorway, on which Jesus shed his blood.

Our deliverance is possible only through the blood of Jesus. 

God uses various things to save His people; we might think of the blood of the lamb as a metaphor of Jesus Christ.

2 Kings 2: 19-22 Now the people of the city said to Elisha, ‘The location of this city is good, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the land is unfruitful. He said, ‘Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it. So they brought it to him. Then he went to the spring of water and threw the salt into it, and said, ‘Thus says the LORD, I have made this water wholesome; from now on neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it. So the water has been wholesome to this day, according to the word that Elisha spoke.

God is purifying the entire land and water by means of the prophet Elisa through the symbol of salt. 

2 Kings 4:38-41 When Elisha returned to Gilgal, there was a famine in the land. As the company of prophets was sitting before him, he said to his servant, “Put the large pot on, and make some stew for the company of prophets.” One of them went out into the field to gather herbs; he found a wild vine and gathered from it a lapful of wild gourds, and came and cut them up into the pot of stew, not knowing what they were. They served some for the men to eat. But while they were eating the stew, they cried out, “O man of God, there is death in the pot!” They could not eat it. He said, “Then bring some flour.” He threw it into the pot, and said, “Serve the people and let them eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot. 

God wants to cleanse and purify us rather than destroy us. Why did Jesus die? God’s attitude is not destruction but purification. No one is rejected or denied by Him. He gave his life to save us because of this. The blood symbolizes cleansing and purification—the settling of a matter. There is nothing that can’t be purified by the blood of Jesus. 

God shed his blood by giving us the unblemished lamb, salt, flour and all the materials of this world, for our purification; at the end, He gave us His blood.

Hebrew 9:13-14 For if the blood of goats and bulls, with the sprinkling of the ashes of a heifer, sanctifies those who have been defiled so that their flesh is purified, 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 worship the living God!

Nothing is greater than the blood of Jesus. Only those who believe and understand his teachings will be saved. The greatest thing the blood of Jesus accomplished was this—it washed all our sins away and made us clean and pure—white as snow. From the minute we receive Jesus as Lord of our life, God will not remember any past sins in our life. That’s how powerful the blood is!

The best part? We don’t have to earn and pay for what has been provided on the Cross. In fact, we couldn’t earn it even if we tried. The best thing we can do is joyfully accept this free gift.

We shouldn’t regret, nor be sorry but instead, we should be filled with hope by believing that the blood of Jesus has cleanse and is sprinkled upon us. Jesus is the source of all hope because He shows us the path of life, in His presence is fullness of joy and in His right hand there are pleasures for evermore. Hope fills us with joy in the midst of our trials and fuels our perseverance as we press forward in God’s strength.

Giving our life to Jesus changes everything. Jesus came to reveal who God is and to restore our relationship with Him. No matter our past mistakes or our present fears, Jesus can give us a new life in Him. All we need to do is put our faith in Him. The fact that He took the place of every sinning, failing human being on the cross to make payment for our sins is what makes His shed blood so powerful.

1 Peter 1:18-19 You know that you were ransomed from the futile conduct inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish.

The world’s most valuable items like gold and silver can’t compare with the lasting and eternal value of the blood of Jesus Christ shed to redeem us from sin. God purchased our lives with His own blood. When we say we are covered by the blood of Jesus, it means the price was paid for our freedom from sin. Jesus paid a very high price for our salvation, the price of His blood. We were slaves to sin, slaves to death, to darkness and the devil. The Blood BOUGHT us back so we no longer have to be slaves anymore.

1 Peter 1:1-2 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who have been chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with his blood: May grace and peace be yours in abundance.

The blood of Jesus has the power to overcome the enemy The blood of Jesus has the power to release the grip of the great curse, the ramifications for that are immeasurable. 

Our problem today is lack of faith in Jesus. Jesus Christ means relying completely on Him—trusting in His infinite power, intelligence, and love. It includes believing His teachings. It means believing that even though we do not understand all things, He does. Jesus said ‘have faith in me’. Let us stand strong in our faith and believe that it will happen! 

Hebrew 12:24 And to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

1 John 1:7-8  But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

Sin is the cause of broken fellowship with God. Christians that are out of fellowship with the Lord are walking in darkness, and sin is the cause of all broken fellowship. Allowing unconfessed sin to lurk within or pretending to be in fellowship while walking in the darkness is simply a lie. Fellowship with the Father is incompatible with sin – but if we confess our sin, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness. 

We can never achieve sinless perfection, but can choose to live in the light by keeping a short rein on sin, dying to self, living for Christ, submitting to God, resisting the devil, and flying to our Heavenly Father to receive His forgiveness through Jesus Christ our Mediator.

God is love and peace and hope and joy – and God is purest light. He knows that the perfect place of protection and joy for all His children is to remain in fellowship with Him and to walk in the light of His love, just as He is in the light.