We know the blood of Jesus symbolizes resurrection from the dead because we know from Scripture that’s what happened to him necessarily after his blood was shed. The blood of cattle, sheep, and goats could ever only hint at this, but the Antitype fills it with its true, full, authentic meaning as a type of the Resurrection. [6/23/08]
One might have expected Christian theologians long, long ago to figure this out since resurrection was the unexpected key to the whole conundrum of Jewish soteriology. An actual resurrection is what unravels the whole tangle. [9/14/18]
If the blood is at the center of soteriology, then it follows that the Resurrection is at the center of soteriology. Therefore, so is the Lord’s Supper…and in turn, Baptism…and, of course, so is the baptism of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and ever after. There is a quite natural flow from blood to resurrection to Holy Spirit, and on to the ordinances that express them. This concatenation of links has often gotten lost in the shuffle of post-apostolic theology and liturgy. It’s long overdue to reconceive them both in light of the premial soteriology of the New Testament. [6/23/08; 12/12/09; 7/06/16]
Jesus did at least one healing miracle (and thus “bore our illnesses” and “was burdened with our pains”—Isaiah 53:4) to prove that he could forgive sins—the visible to prove the invisible (all three synoptic Gospels report it—Matthew 9:2-8, Mark 2:3-12, Luke 5:17-26), the whole to validate the part!
Theologians routinely get this wrong because they still nurture a “penal substitution” view of the Atonement, and they can no healing in that sort of ‘atonement’. Indeed, it is not to be found there. Only on the resurrectionary atonement view can we clearly see that Isaiah’s language makes transgression, depravity and sin parallel to illness and pain, but such that the former (often invisible to humans) are included among the latter (usually visible), but all alike gathered up by the grand healing treatment flowing from Messiah’s wounding, crushing, beating, welts, humiliation, severance from the land of the living, i.e., death, via God’s vindicating justice that raised hum up from the grave with unearthly power and proof!
Thus James can likewise associate healing with forgiveness of sins (James 5:13-16), similarly making forgiveness follow healing! And Peter does something similar, drawing in fact from the very language of Isaiah (1 Peter 2:19-25). He finishes off his passage with a flourish, including all he has previously said about suffering unjustly (i.e., the very case of Isaiah’s Suffering Servant!), and, indeed, anticipating all he is going to say on the subject in the following three chapters(!) within the healing that comes “by [his] welt” (2:24; Isaiah 53:5)!
This should put to a much deserved rest, once and for all, those disparaging voices that claim to credit forgiveness of sins “in this age” but without its validating proofs and witnesses in healings of our sick, wounded, mortal bodies. Let’s get with the Kingdom program for this age of God’s lavish graciousness since the resurrectionary atonement manifested in His Son and our Savior, Jesus, the Lord of all, for goodness sake! [6/23/08]
There can be no greater proof that God is propitious toward us and our sins than that He raised Jesus from the dead instead of destroying his killers! And that’s why his blood is protective of us. It signals God’s righteousness into lifesaving, rescuing action on behalf of his needy, struggling, beleaguered, oppressed Covenant partners, i.e., all who trust His reputation for amazing salvations! ]6/23/08] His blood, being innocent in the extreme, never evoked God’s wrath so always triggers the flow of His graciousness to all who imbibe it with faith. [9/15/08]
The Premial Atonement 