The Brook Kidron

A lot of times I think it’s easy for Christians to see the Old Testament and New Testament as separate stories, and not a presentation of a unified story about the glory of God and his redemption of sinful man. We see the sacrifices of the Old Testament along with what some see as an angry and vengeful God, and we dissociate it from the loving and merciful God of the New Testament. But the two cannot be separated. No matter how the mind of man interprets or perceives Scripture, God’s unchanging, always loving, and always just character is revealed to us consistently and progressively. The way that the Old Testament points to Christ, and the typology that is present throughout, can produce nothing short of awe in the mind that sees it.

This week as I was thinking and reading about Passover, one particular event in the life of our Savior jumped out at me and left me broken. But before I can get to it there must be some context.

The blood sacrifices of the Old Covenant are one of the most commonly criticized and protested practices of all for those who do not understand their significance. Innocent animals were slain by the thousands at Passover time. During the Passover Jews from all over would travel to Jerusalem in order to offer a sacrifice for their sins. The purpose of this was not just to kill innocent animals, but to literally offer a way for the judgment of God to be appeased. The innocent animal stood in the place of the guilty human, absorbing the justice and wrath of God so that the people would not have to. The lamb would identify with the condition of man, becoming sin for him, so that the wrath of God could be poured out upon it as the very essence of a sinful nature.

For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. (Leviticus 17:11)

The sin of man, placed upon the innocence of a lamb, and the wrath of God satisfied.

This is what Jesus did for us. He lived the perfect life and took on himself the full wrath of God against sin. He stood in our place, having done nothing wrong, and bore our burden, a burden beyond imagination. This is the context for the story that stopped me in my tracks…

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.
(Isaiah 53:4,5)

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)

Historians say that during the time of the Passover there were as many 300, 000 lambs that were sacrificed. That’s a lot of blood. So much blood that the Jews had to come up with a way to get rid of fit all. So from the temple where the offerings were being made, which sat above the valley Kidron, they dug a channel that went down into the valley and into the brook Kidron so that the blood could drain away. The brook turned completely red throughout the process, covered by the mass amounts of blood flowing down it, and was on of the most “horrific sights” ever according to historical accounts.

But on the night before Jesus was crucified, during the week of the Passover, he left Jerusalem to go to Gethsemane – on the other side of the valley Kidron. Along the way he would have crossed over that brook, red from blood. Thousands upon thousands of innocent lambs were slain to take away the sins of the people, and now the blood was running by the feet of the Lamb of God. He knew where it came from, and he knew where he was going. But no one was taking his life, he was laying it down.