This curious phrase is used by Jesus as he condemns the lawyers who “load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not lift a finger to ease them” (Luke 11:46, NRSV).
I’ll be honest here in admitting that for most of my life, I’ve had an aversion to pondering the concept of “blood crying from the ground” and the idea that an entire generation can be charged with a sin. My recent deep dive into the Old Testament, and my intense study of the Book of Mormon have cured my resistance, though, as I’ve come to view sin and atonement in a whole new light.
This post will be my attempt to summarize some of the things I’ve learned. Concepts like “blood crying from the ground,” the “light of the eye,” “secret works of darkness,” and the destruction of the wicked, which once seemed disconnected and weird to me now seem to be part of one big, overarching concept that Jesus really wants us to understand.
I don’t know the best way to lay this out, so I’m just going to start with the teaching of Jesus and then branch out from there, then tie them all together at the end.
“Darkness” and “light”
In the case of darkness and light, this teaching is found in a passage that deals with the eye, the body, and the concept of health. He teaches that the eye is the lamp of the body. Keep that in mind as we proceed.
The text then immediately tells of Jesus dining with a Pharisee. He does not thoroughly washing His hands prior to eating, as was their custom. This amazed the Pharisee. Jesus then says:
Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? So give for alms those things that are within; and see, everything will be clean for you.
Luke 11:39-41, NRSV
Talk about polite dinner conversation. 🙂 Again, Jesus cuts right to the heart of the matter in as direct a way as possible. This Pharisee was steeped in a corrupt way of thinking: he was convinced that salvation depends on strict adherence to outward gestures of piety. Jesus came to call out such thinking (darkness) and replace it with a “love of God” (see Luke 11:42) that permeates both the inside and the outside of the vessel, allowing it to be filled with heavenly light.
If then your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be as full of light as when a lamp gives you light with its rays.
Luke 11:36, NRSV
The light of the eye
In terms of thinking about the eye as a lamp, let’s just take a minute to ponder that teaching in terms of the parable of the ten virgins. Lamps need oil, and the oil we’re talking about is a symbol of heavenly power and purpose (see Zechariah 4:11-14). Just as Jesus anointed the eyes of the blind (albeit with clay) to allow them to see physically, He invites us to see the world with new eyes. Just a fun thought.
Your eye is the lamp of your body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light; but if it is not healthy, your body is full of darkness.
Luke 11:34, NRSV
Back to “Darkness” and “Light”
Darkness is of course a symbol of the power of the devil to blind us and thereby bind us. Darkness shows up in the form of the “mists” in Lehi’s vision (see 1 Nephi 8:23-24), or as the physical vapor of darkness (3 Nephi 8:19-23) which made it so that “there could be no light.” This darkness takes a more human form when we look at “secret works of darkness” which I have previously presented as Satanic counterfeit to the sacred temple ordinances which allow ordinary people to covenant with God (the righteous ascent) and then participate in the work of salvation by proclaiming the good news to the inhabitants of earth (the righteous descent). The Book of Mormon discusses both forms of this unwritten activity, but always in somewhat veiled ways. And interestingly though not surprisingly, the idea of secret combinations is largely absent as a Bible theme, having perhaps been redacted over the generations.
Here are a few references to secret works of darkness in the Book of Mormon:
- 2 Nephi 10:15-16
- 2 Nephi 26:10, 22-23
- Alma 37:21-25
- Helaman 6:28-30
- Helaman 8:4
- Helaman 10:3
- Mormon 8:27
Helaman 8 is especially relevant in the context of blood, darkness, and the two distinct ways of receiving the words of a prophet of God. Nephi spoke “plainly unto them concerning their secret works of darkness (Helaman 8:4),” thus angering the wicked leaders. They saw Nephi as a threat, and they considered his prophetic warnings about pending destruction to be nonsensical because “we are powerful, and our cities are great, therefore our enemies can have no power over us (v. 6).”
On the other hand, some other people reacted differently:
7 … Let this man alone, for he is a good man, and those things which he saith will surely come to pass except we repent;
Helaman 8
8 Yea, behold, all the judgments will come upon us which he has testified unto us; for we know that he has testified aright unto us concerning our iniquities. And behold they are many, and he knoweth as well all things which shall befall us as he knoweth of our iniquities;
9 Yea, and behold, if he had not been a prophet he could not have testified concerning those things.
These verses outline what it means to ‘hearken’ to a prophet. It leads to a recognition that truth has been spoken, sinful behavior has been called out, and that repentance is required. This stark division between “the two ways” one can react to a prophet is made even more obvious in Helaman 10:1, where Nephi is described like this:
1 And it came to pass that there arose a division among the people, insomuch that they divided hither and thither and went their ways, leaving Nephi alone, as he was standing in the midst of them.
Helaman 10
I believe Mormon’s worldview caused him to feel compelled to describe the two reactions of the people to Nephi as if they were the waters parted by Moses (see Helaman 8:11, 1 Nephi 4:2) or the Jordan river parted by Elijah (see 2 Kings 2:8). I’ve written a lot more about this here, here and here.
Connecting “darkness” and “blood”
With this passage, we find an opportunity to link some individual symbols together into a greater whole. I’ve found this to be a very common occurrence with my scripture study. Helaman 8:4 ties this divisive prophetic activity to “blood crying from the ground” without mentioning blood. Note the highlighted words:
4 And those judges were angry with him because he spake plainly unto them concerning their secret works of darkness; nevertheless, they durst not lay their own hands upon him, for they feared the people lest they should cry out against them.
Helaman 8
To make the connection to “blood,” we need to recognize that it is the blood of the slain prophets that cries out from the ground to God. There are many examples of this going all the way back to Abel (see Genesis 4:10-11). In the Old Testament, the last recorded “slain prophet” (chronologically speaking) is Zechariah (see 2 Chronicles 24:20-22). These two prophets are specifically referred to by Christ in Luke 11, but he’s only citing two of many. See also Christ’s words to the Nephites in 3 Nephi 9:5-11, for example.
What we see is a consistent connection between “secret works of darkness” leading to spiritual blindness followed by rejection (and killing) of prophets, then finally utter destruction.
There is a weird but related example in the Talmudic writings, which I offer here just to show that this symbolism runs deep in Israelite thinking, Zechariah’s death in the temple court leads to a literal fountain of blood polluting the holy place, which cannot be stopped. (See here and here.) Note the inversion of holy symbolism — in the place where the high priest is supposed to make atonement for the people by carrying the blood of the Lamb to the Holy of Holies, he is instead murdered by the people on the day of Atonement, his blood spilled for having condemned their idolatry. Here’s one summary:
Zechariah reprimanded the Jewish people for bringing an idol to the Temple. In response, a mob summarily murdered, arguably, the holiest man, on the holiest day, in the holiest place on earth. There could not have been a more irreverent crime. After the murder, Zechariah’s blood continued to spew forth; nothing would clot the fountain of flowing blood. Upon seeing this, Nebuzaradan, the chief Babylonian executioner, attempted to kill enough priests and sages to atone for the sin and cause the blood fountain to stop, but nothing would quiet the spewing blood. At one point Nebuzaradan turned to God, calling out, “Is it not sufficient? Shall I continue to kill everyone?” Finally, the blood stopped flowing. The Talmud claims that Nebuzaradan converted to Judaism as a result of this episode.
(source)
Unpacking the symbolism
I’ve written recently about the Hebrew root ‘betsa’ which I believe encompasses a worldly mindset that leads to spiritual blindness, greed, and pride — the same mindset Jesus condemns so aggressively in the Pharisees. This ‘betsa mindset’ causes people to reject prophets and fight against God’s messengers. Unsurprisingly, detailed descriptions of these secret combinations is missing from the Bible, but these have been restored through the Book of Moses and the Book of Mormon. The ‘betsa mindset’ is inspired by the devil (see 2 Nephi 9:9). It began with Cain, who covenanted with Satan to ‘get gain’ (see Helaman 6:17 and Ether 8:16, 22, and 23).
The covenant people, motivated by love for God and neighbor, strive for unity in Christ and come together, offering their precious goods to build a temple and thereby becoming God’s precious treasure (‘segullah’). The Satanic counterfeit tricks people into seeking after riches, lifting themselves up in pride, adorning themselves with precious things, and contending one with another. Eventually, they plot to harm and take by force, leading them to darkness and destruction. This “two ways” theme is central to the Book of Mormon and I’ve been aware of it there for years. It is becoming more clear to me that the same message was presented boldly by Jesus during His time on the earth.
One early Christian writer described spiritual blindness as a consequence of giving in to natural passions rather than keeping them in check, a situation which can then leads to peril:
And after this, when blindness of mind has succeeded passion, and the hostile powers, by their suggestions, hurry on the mind, money is now no longer desired, but stolen, and acquired by force, or even by shedding human blood. Finally, a confirmatory evidence of the fact that vices of such enormity proceed from demons, may be easily seen in this, that those individuals who are oppressed either by immoderate love, or incontrollable anger, or excessive sorrow, do not suffer less than those who are bodily vexed by devils.
Origen, (De Principiis 2.2)
Once we believe we’ve found a connection between various symbols, oftentimes we can confirm the validity of the connection by finding the same symbols in other passages. Such is the case with “blood” and “darkness” when we search the Doctrine & Covenants. In Section 88, we find “your whole bodies shall be filled with light” in close proximity to “sanctify yourselves … that I may testify … that you are clean from the blood of this wicked generation”:
66 Behold, that which you hear is as the voice of one crying in the wilderness—in the wilderness, because you cannot see him—my voice, because my voice is Spirit; my Spirit is truth; truth abideth and hath no end; and if it be in you it shall abound.
67 And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things.
68 Therefore, sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God, and the days will come that you shall see him; for he will unveil his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will.
…
74 And I give unto you, who are the first laborers in this last kingdom, a commandment that you assemble yourselves together, and organize yourselves, and prepare yourselves, and sanctify yourselves; yea, purify your hearts, and cleanse your hands and your feet before me, that I may make you clean;
75 That I may testify unto your Father, and your God, and my God, that you are clean from the blood of this wicked generation; that I may fulfil this promise, this great and last promise, which I have made unto you, when I will.
I’ll end this post with a saying of Jesus that strikes against one of the prevailing forms of idolatry in our day (we live in a time when the love of money blinds us to the oppression it causes).
Therefore consider whether the light in you is not darkness.
Luke 11:35, NRSV
Penetrating invitations like this are some of my favorite teachings of the Savior. He didn’t come to just offer up a few benign platitudes that wouldn’t cause any trouble. No, His teachings are intended to radically disrupt us from our wicked ways and open our eyes to see all things anew.
Book of Mormon Notes 
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