Eucharistic Meditation, July 2

2 Kings 24:4: also for the innocent blood which Manasseh shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; and Yahweh would not forgive.

Manasseh's reign, as we saw some weeks ago, was the turning point for Judah. After Manasseh’s idolatries and violence, Yahweh determined to destroy Judah, and no amount of reformation and repentance would change His mind. Here we have that same thing stated with frightening simplicity: "Yahweh would not forgive."

The particular sin mentioned here is the shedding of innocent blood. As Ahab killed Naboth and the prophets, Manasseh persecuted and killed the innocent, and the Lord rose up as an avenger of blood to destroy Judah. But the violence of Manasseh has a deeper root in the history of Israel.

Cain was the first to shed innocent blood in the Bible, and all who follow his example are Cainites. Pharaoh too shed innocent blood, filled the land of Goshen and the Nile with the blood of slain children, and as a result Yahweh determined to destroy Egypt. He sent plagues, turning the Nile to the bloody grave it already was, and finally killed the firstborn of all Egypt. During the days of Manasseh, Judah became an Egypt, shedding the blood of innocents, and arousing Yahweh as an avenger, to bring plagues and destruction to His own people.

But this is not the last time innocent blood is shed on the land of Israel. As soon as Jesus is born, Herod, a king in the tradition of Cain, Pharaoh, and Ahab, slaughters innocents, and at the end of the gospel story, the firstborn of Israel, the innocent firstborn of Yahweh, is slain at Passover. Jesus' blood does not call up vengeance, but when the blood of martyrs is mingled with the blood of Jesus, the Lord takes vengeance once again, and destroys Herod’s temple as he destroyed Solomon's.

This is the innocent blood that we bless and drink at the Lord's table. Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us; this is the innocent blood of our Passover Lamb. As we drink it, our doorways are covered with the blood of our Passover Lamb, and we are saved from the avenging angel. But as we drink it, innocent blood is poured out on the earth, and the Lord is summoned to vengeance, to take up shield and buckler, and to judge and cleanse us, and the earth.

posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, July 02, 2006 at 07:45 AM

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