Nothing But the Blood

Today was a pretty tough day at school. I got a phone call from a coworker around 6:30 am telling me that a Ashbrook High School student was an innocent victim of a shooting on Thursday night. Keeaira Pendergrass was shot in the neck and killed when an argument broke out in her home in Gastonia. It goes without saying that the students took her death hard. She was well liked by students and teachers at AHS. I am told by other teachers that she had really turned her life around when she came to Ashbrook last year and had made an impact on a lot of people. Although I had never taught Keeaira, it breaks my heart to see someone lose their life at such a young age. It is also heartbreaking to see my students have to work through the anger, grief, confusion, & fear of losing a friend to such a violent & unnecessary crime. As Norkeithus simply said to me, "Man, Ms. Kleber, it really makes you think. I was just talking to her yesterday. Makes you really think about who you hang out with." I think what also makes it so hard to process & comprehend is knowing that this kind of violence happens all the time and in many cases, violence like this simply leads to more violence. The spirit of anger, hatred & revenge cause people to take matters in to their own hands, simply perpetuating the system. Violence begets violence.

I would be lying to say that I have some brilliant plan to end this cycle of violence, but as I turned to scripture to find some perspective, the Lord so kindly pointed me to Hebrews 12:22-24 "But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the sprits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel." Charles Spurgeon says of this passage, "The blood of Jesus is the life of all vital godliness...We are full of sin, but the Savior invites us to lift our eyes to Him, and as we gaze upon His streaming wounds, each drop of blood, as it fall, cries, "It is finished; I have made an end of sin; I have brought in everlasting righteousness." Spurgeon later says, "...only a current coming to Christ can give us joy & comfort." Here, in this passage, death is so clearly on display, but this death is unlike any other. The blood that was shed was more innocent than we will ever know. Here on the cross is the only man who lived a sinless life, the only life that did not deserve death, but yet Christ willingly gave up his life so that I can commune with my Father in heaven, bringing about joy & comfort. That is the only solution to ending violence & saving us from our sin...salvation in Christ that leads to sweet communion with our Heavenly Father. I think Matthew Henry's commentary gives even more insight, "This is speaking blood, and it speaks better things than that of Abel. First, it speaks to God on behalf of sinners; it pleads not for veangance, as the blood of Abel did on him who shed it, but for mercy. Secondly, to sinners, in the name of God, it speaks pardon to their sins, peace to their souls; and bespeaks their stricktest obedience and highest love and thankfulness." Here we see that Christ's blood did so much more than the shed blood of other men could ever do. The death of Christ was not for the sake of vengeance, but for the sake of MY salvation so that I may be pardoned & my soul may be at peace. I cannot "solve" the problem of death and violence by the worlds definition of problem solving. But I do know that my solution to the problem is the death of Christ on the cross, and His resurection from the grave. Just as Acts 2:24 says, "But God raised Him (Jesus) up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power." When we see the power of Jesus over sin & death, that is when true change happens, and that is when we are freed from the chains of this world.