In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us.  Ephesians 1:7-8
 
 
As a child, I went to church every Sunday with my family. It was a large urban church and one where my family had attended for generations. During the worship service, we would stand to sing hymns. Every time we sang a hymn where the words spoke of the blood of Jesus, my brother Logan would become faint. It literally made him sick to think about blood, even in a song. One of those hymns is entitled Nothing but the Blood, penned by Robert Lowry in 1876. The first verse is:
 
What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
 
Growing up, I’m sure I sung that hymn many times (and even as an adult) and never fully grasp the powerful meaning behind the words. As a young child, I’m sure my brother didn’t fully understand either as he focused only on the word “blood”. How ironic it is that years later, he became a paramedic and served the community in that capacity for almost 30 years!
 
God does have a sense of humor and irony is often the medium. On Easter morning, I opened my devotional book to discover the title of that day’s reading was “Risen”. Ironic. Or maybe it was just one of many coincidences God orchestrates to get my attention. In this chapter, the author* uses the analogy of antibodies in blood to represent Christ’s work on earth and on the Cross. In this season of pandemic, as I read the word “antibodies”, it leapt off the page. Antibodies are proteins that develop in blood as a response to infection. They help the body to fight the infection, but they also linger on to be at the ready to fight again should that disease invade once more. What I find curious is the analogy: antibodies to fight infection are compared to Jesus and His resurrection power.
 
When Jesus left heaven to be born in a manger as a baby, He purposefully put on human flesh with all of its constraints. Although Jesus never sinned, He was exposed to the sin of this world. On the Cross at Calvary, Jesus took on all the sin from every one of us. He died a horrific, excruciating death by crucifixion. His bloody sacrifice paid the penalty for our sins - every wrong thought, word, and deed, including trying to live life without God. Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead. His resurrection overcame the bonds of death, secured our salvation from God’s judgment, and allowed us to have a relationship with God the Father.
 
Just like the antibodies in our bloodstream protect us from disease, Jesus’ power through His death and resurrection protects us from sin and death. When we invite Jesus to be our Savior, His blood cleanses us of our sins. When we acknowledge Him as Lord, His resurrection power enables us to live the abundant life He offers now and forever. It doesn’t mean we will never sin again, but we hold in our spirits the power that gives us strength to resist temptation, much like antibodies in our bloodstream give our bodies the strength to resist disease. When we fall short and ask Jesus for forgiveness (1 John 1:8-9**), He readily forgives us, for He has already paid the price for our sins, for sins past, present, and future.
 
Jesus willingly exposed Himself to the sin and death of this world in order to save and protect us. By acknowledging His redemptive power created through the bloody work on the Cross, we share in His power to overcome - to overcome the sin that so entangles us, to be free to live and love in ways that honor God, and to enjoy the abundant life that He so freely offers.
 
In a time when most of us are sheltered at home, it is indeed Good News that we have a Savior who came and redeemed us by His blood shed for us on the Cross. While tempers may flare, frustrations may run rampant, and hurtful words may be spoken, know you can be forgiven. You have the power within you through Christ to overcome temptation, even in the worst of times. When we are consumed with worry over our health, loved ones, jobs, and economic situations, we can trust the One who overcame. When we choose to live under His lavish grace, purchased for us through His blood, we can experience the abundant life through the fruit of His Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).
 
May the blood of Christ take on new meaning for you in this Easter season and may you have hope of overcoming. Through Jesus’ sacrificial death and powerful resurrection, and by His blood shed for you, you have the power and strength to be who God desires you to be. May you sing these words with understanding and grasp the truth behind them: What can wash away my sin? What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
 
 
Dear Jesus, thank You for washing away my sins and for making me whole again through Your blood shed for me. Forgive me when I think, speak, and act in ways that are hurtful to others and not honoring to You. Help me claim Your resurrection power to overcome any obstacles I face now. Show me how to cultivate the fruits of the Spirit in my life today. By Your grace, I pray. Amen.
 
 
*Jennifer Kennedy Dean in Prized.
 
**1 John 1:8-9: If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
 
 
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Text and photograph copyright © 2020 by Dawn Dailey. All rights reserved. Photo of the Church of Saint-Séverin in the Latin Quarter of Paris, France.
 
 
All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

There he built an altar, and he called the place El Bethel, because it was there that God revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother.  Genesis 35:7
 
 
I’m an old movie buff. I’ll take a movie from the 1930’s-1950’s any day over a contemporary film. With life as we know grinding to a halt due to the coronavirus, I find myself with a bit more inclination for movie-watching.
 
In the 1954 Hitchcock thriller Rear Window, James Stewart plays Jeff, a photographer who is home-bound with a broken leg. Bored from being cooped up at home, Jeff turns to spying on his neighbors with his camera and binoculars from his window at the back of his apartment. He becomes convinced that he’s witnessed a murder. While the plot continues in true suspenseful Hitchcock style, Jeff portrays a man ruled by his deep-seated fears. But he also deals with his fears of the immediate danger of suddenly being pursued by his murderous neighbor. He is helpless to defend himself. He cannot protect his fiancée, played by Grace Kelly, when she enters the presumed murderer’s apartment.
 
Rear Window speaks volumes about voyeurism as well as the society during which it was made. However, it also speaks to our own fears and curiosities. In a time when many in this country and around the world are mandated to stay at home, we, too, can feel bored and “cooped up”.  We, too, can be overly curious and even obsessed about what’s going on around us and in the world by staying glued to the news. We rationalize that the more we know, the more we can control. We, too, can experience fear as we look through our own rear window and realize we live in uncertain times and in circumstances beyond our control. Our perspective, like Jeff’s in Rear Window, can become narrowly focused on our sudden confinement as we practice extreme, but necessary, social distancing, while we harbor feelings of fear. But unlike Jeff, we don’t have to choose to react in fear.
 
On another level, there are lessons to be learned through metaphoric rear windows. This backward-looking perspective can aid us as we peer through the windshield and glance out the side windows.
 
In Genesis 35, God directs Jacob to move his family to Bethel and to build an altar to the Lord. This altar is a specific reminder to Jacob and his people that God delivered him when his brother Esau pursued Jacob with the intent to harm him. But this physical altar of stacked stones also reminds Jacob of how God was always with him in past difficulties and that He will surely be with him in the future. In looking back at God’s faithfulness, Jacob has the courage to look forward to the future.
 
Looking back, we, too, can see more clearly where we’ve traveled through life to get to where we are now. We can see through the rear window how God worked on our behalf. Believing He is faithful, we carry that faith forward to help us navigate through uncertainty and difficult circumstances. When we see how God has worked in our lives in the past, gratitude has room to surface in our hearts to replace fear. Even joy – yes, joy - can grow when we thank God for how He has cared for us in the past. We trust He will care for us in the future when we cast our anxiety on Him (1 Peter 5:7*). We don’t have to give into fear because we know that God is with us in all circumstances (Joshua 1:9**). While fear may try to worm its way back into our minds and hearts, with a mind focused on God and His faithfulness and a heart overflowing with joy and gratitude, fear can be left by the wayside, seen only through the rear window.
 
 
Lord God, as I reflect on the past, I thank You for the ways You have worked in my life. You are faithful and I do not need to be fearful. Fill my heart and my mind with gratitude and joy as You lead me through the difficulties of the present and the uncertainties of the future. Amen.
 
 
*1 Peter 5:7  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
 
**Joshua 1:9  “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”
 
 
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Text and photograph copyright © 2020 by Dawn Dailey. All rights reserved. Photo of winding road to Mt Difficulty winery in Central Otago, New Zealand.
 
NOTE: Interested in learning about the similarities between this current pandemic and the 1918 pandemic of influenza? I highly recommend the short, but informative book The Influenza Pandemic of 1918 by Virginia Aronson (available for free from the app Internet Archive or https://archive.org/). If you’d prefer a synopsis, click here for my essay on the 1918 pandemic based on facts from this book.
 
 
All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™