Salvation"s Dirty Work

And you shall cause a bullock to be brought before the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the bullock. And you shall kill the bullock before the LORD, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And you shall take of the blood of the bullock, and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour all the blood beside the bottom of the altar.
EXODUS 29:10-12

NOT A PRETTY PICTURE, THIS VERSE. The bleating of a bull being bound against its will. The brutal butchering with a knife. Dipping hands into the warm blood. What a gory and offensive scene. The bloody slaughter of the sacrificial animal was not even carried out behind the Tent of Meeting hidden from view, but in the front for everyone to see.
    Other ancient cultures employed animal sacrifice, but only in Israel was blood of a sacrificial animal central in worship. Leviticus 17:11 reminds us that " It is the blood that makes atonement for one's life."
    The shedding of blood is the "dirty work" of salvation. Just as there was nothing pretty about Old Testament sacrifices, the shedding if blood sealing the New Covenant was just as offensive. The brutal crucifixion of Christ was not hidden from the view of men but on a hill in broad daylight for all to see.
     In the Old Testament, the worshiper, who with hands placed on the head of the living animals saw it killed and its blood sprinkled, was being graphically shown that sin called for the surrender of a life. When we look at the cross, we discover a graphic picture of what remission for our sin demands the surrender of the Lamp of God.
Lord Jesus, show me the offense of my sin when I look at the crown of thorns. Yours pierced hands and feet, and bruised body. My guilt and sin must truly be awful to demand such a precious price as that of Your blood.