For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you for making atonement for your souls on the altar. For as the life, so the blood makes atonement.
I've heard this used crudely - 'Jesus shed His blood to cover your sins' with almost violent imagery. But reading the original context, it's more sophisticated. Blood represents life itself. The covenant, the restoration of relationship, requires the sacrifice of life - which is why it's serious and costly.
When I take communion now, I think less about magical substitution and more about solidarity: Christ entered into mortality, into the actual cost of reconciliation. Life for life. That's the exchange.
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