Prep for Sunday: First reading

And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. Then he took the book of the covenant, and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, "All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient." And Moses took the blood and threw it upon the people, and said, "Behold the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words." - Ex 24:6-8

First impression: the NAB translation we'll hear on Sunday uses the verbs "splashed" (on the altar) and "sprinkled" (on the people) instead of the more general - and visceral - term "threw." This online interlinear translation uses "sprinkled" in both instances.

I've always related the blood of Jesus to that of the Passover lamb with which the Jewish people's doorways were marked in Egypt. This passage reminds us that there is so much more of the Hebrew salvation history that Jesus fulfills beyond just its best-known stories. It is not necessarily clear from the context that this reading is the first Day of Atonement, which the Jewish people still celebrate today as Yom Kippur. There is a great explanation in a Messianic context here. Jesus has fulfilled all need for sacrifice, and it is shortsighted to overlook this importance of his most precious Blood - even if blood sacrifice has always been a symbol intended for our benefit - on the feast of his Body and Blood.

(more later?)