The irony of the death of Jesus is that He died to provide life. He did this in two significant ways: 1) by shedding blood, since blood cleansed the holy place and purified the people so that they could meet with the Holy God (the point of the sacrificial system; see Lev 16), and 2) by defeating death through the resurrection, thereby providing the hope of eternal life (1 Pet 1:3-4). His death was necessary to the purpose of life and resurrection, but it was not sufficient in itself, for if all He did was die, we would still be in our sins (1 Cor 15:12-19). It was about the blood, since life is in the blood and the blood cleanses (Lev 11:17; Heb 9:11-28), and it was about the resurrection, since death could not have the final victory (1 Cor 15:50-58).