His Blood Propitiates God’s Anger
Today is Good Friday. And we’ve spend the whole week considering what happened on this day – how, when Jesus spilled his blood on that cross he was giving us life. His blood ransoms us from our prisons, cleanses us of our sins, reconciles us to our God, and today I’d like to share how His blood propitiates God’s wrath.
There’s a word that I guess you’ve never said in your life – propitiate! It comes from Romans 3 which says this in verse 23-25: “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.” (Romans 3:23–25 ESV)
Propitiation Through Blood
So what does this mysterious word mean? Google dictionary defines “propitiate” like this: to win or regain the favour of (a god, spirit, or person) by doing something that pleases them, or as the Mirriam Webster dictionary says, the word tends to suggest averting the anger or malevolence of a superior being.
Gaining the favour or averting the anger of a superior being. When Jesus shed his blood, he averted or appeased the anger of God the Father.
What angers God? The Bible is very clear that sin angers God. When we act or think in a way that dishonours God or dishonours people, we sin. And God is angry at sin – as he should be. Some people try to downplay this side of God, but the truth is a good God must be angry at evil – if God could look at murder, rape, hatred, dishonesty, pride or any other sin without hating it then He Himself would not be good.
Atonement Through Christ
But here comes the good news and it’s why we call today Good Friday. God’s anger at sin was propitiated. In more simple English, God placed the punishment of all the world’s sin on Jesus at the cross. We sing a song called In Christ Alone which says “on that cross where Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied”.
So, hear this: Jesus died on the cross in our place, so that by placing our faith in Him, God’s rightful anger at sin is swallowed by Jesus.
Isn’t that amazing? Jesus took our place. And so instead of each person paying the price we deserve to pay for our sins, Jesus paid the price. And we can go free.
Good Friday Reflections
This word propitiation is a beautiful word. It tells us the good news of the gospel of Jesus, that we who place our faith in Christ are no longer under God’s anger, but have been released because our sins have been paid for.
So today, on this holy day of Good Friday, spend time thinking of Jesus on the cross. Spend time thinking of how the blood He shed gives us life, because in shedding it he ransomed us, cleansed us, brought us back to God, and propitiated God’s anger, all for our benefit.
And this means you can come to God today without fear. Though you deserved anger, Jesus took it for you. Praise Him today for going so far – all the way to the cross – to absorb God’s rightful anger at sin, and give us life by His precious blood.
