Why the Blood?

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” I Peter 1:18-19.

As of now we see through a glass darkly, but there is a blessed hope that One Day our Savior will unfold as never before the wonders of His love; of His blood, freely given in our stead. How little of the plan and purpose of God we really have ability to discern. Oh God! When shall we truly have understanding? We speak of and sing of the Christ and His cross; but the more we know, the more we realize that we do not know. May there be handfuls of purpose given that we might glean thereby. Holy Spirit, speak into our ears and our hearts, words which cannot be spoken. We would see Jesus!

Understanding the Scriptures. The Lord takes the heavenly and makes known the earthly, that He might make known the heavenly. This He did by use of many witnesses: through parables, through metaphors, portrayals, similes, illustrations. The heavenly to make known the earthly to make known the heavenly. Did the bread and the cup that Jesus served His disciples magically turn into the literal body and blood of Christ as taught by the Catholics? Of course not! It was representative; it was to bring them to remembrance of the cross; of the blood that flowed forth; of precious, redemptive blood, sprinkled upon the Mercy Seat for our reconciliation unto the God of whom we had transgressed. “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without the shedding of blood is no remission” Heb. 9:22.

The Law Declares it! The life of the Flesh is in the Blood. The law declares it? Yes. But almost a millennium before the Ceremonial law was given, God instructed Noah concerning the blood: “But flesh with the life thereof, which is in the blood thereof, shall ye not eat” Gen. 9:4.

“And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul” Lev. 17:10-11.

“only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh” Deut.12 23.

The scriptures, on many occasions, give an answer in the midst of the question. Why are we not to drink blood; why is it seemingly an abomination in the sight of God? Verse eleven of Leviticus chapter seventeen which we read earlier gives the answer: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.” Do not drink blood; it is life. It is Mine! It is consecrated unto Me. It is given for your atonement.

Confounding the Wise. The law said, but I say: “Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me” John 6:53-57.

“Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is a hard saying; who can hear it?” John 6:60. Truly it is a hard saying; and who can hear it?

How then, does Jesus say, Thou shalt eat my flesh and drink my blood? It is a (seemingly) direct contradiction to the command of the Father. If I eat the flesh, if I drink the blood of Jesus, God will set His face against me! He will cut me off! But Jesus says that whosoever eats His flesh, drinks His blood - hath eternal life; has the hope of resurrection; dwelleth in me, and I in him: and I live by the Father! As I live by the Father, He that eateth me shall live by me.

What did the law say? “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.” A vivid picture of the fulfillment of this scripture can be found in Isaiah chapter fifty three!

Given, For Your Atonement. “For by one offering he hath perfected [consecrated, brought to fullness, completed] them that are sanctified” Heb. 10;14. Sanctified, set apart unto the Lord? Consecrated, brought to completeness by the sacrificial offering of the body and blood of Christ? We are consecrated by Him, we are consecrated in Him, we are consecrated for Him, we are consecrated with Him. “And ye are complete in Him, buried with Him, risen with Him, quickened together with Him” Col. 2:10a,12a,13b.

The Lord Illustrates His Saying. “And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you” Luke 22:19-20.

“For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. And after the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come” I Cor. 11:23-27.

What’s so Important about the Blood?

The Natural Man and the Blood. All are familiar with the basics: food and drink is assimilated or processed by the body. Air, oxygen, is breathed into the lungs. The blood is the carrier of nutrients and oxygen throughout the body. Not only does it deposit what is needed by the cells to sustain life, but takes upon itself the condemnation, the waste built up in the cells. The blood takes it away for disposal. The blood passed through the kidneys where the contaminates and wastes are purged. If the kidneys fail the body will eventually die from the poisonous pollution: the cleansing is crucial. The body has a dependence upon the function of its kidneys for purification.

The New Man and the Blood. The new man is totally dependant upon Christ: His blood brings life, nourishment, the breath of life, cleansing. “and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” I John 1:7b. Christ cannot be polluted by the presence of our sin. (It was not embodied within Him; it was laid upon Him.) Christ’s blood cleanses, carries away our sin. Our sin is cast as far as the east is from the west; buried in the depths of the sea; His righteousness, imputed to us.

When Death comes to the Natural Man. The Science of Embalming. Basically two needles, tubes are inserted, one in an artery, the other in a vein. They are hooked up to a machine or pump. Blood is pumped out; embalming fluid is pumped in. We are familiar with the term, the “shedding of blood.” Shedding is the action of another; it is an outside source causing wounds from which blood is no longer contained. If the wounds do not immediately cause the heart to stop pumping, the pulsation of the heart will cause blood to continue to flow. Once the heart ceases to pump, the continual flow of blood ceases. Blood, once without the body, does not keep very long. Unless frozen or refrigerated it will coagulate quickly.

When Death Came to the God/Man. Christ is the Lamb slain [His blood shed] from the foundation of the world. He was wounded [His head, His hands, His feet, His back, His side] for our transgressions. He is the sheep who openeth not His mouth. The lamb whose throat is cut lies in submission. His heart continues to beat; he himself pumps forth his own blood; it is not forcibly drawn from his veins. So it was with our Lord. Though His blood was shed by reason of the wounds, yet He gave Himself a sacrifice; His blood need not be drawn from some outside apparatus; with His own heart pumped He forth His Life’s blood. As previously stated, Blood, once without the body, does not keep very long. Unless frozen or refrigerated it will coagulate quickly. The thought is this: in the offering of sacrifice, the fresh warm blood of the living sacrifice was to be taken by the high priest into the Most Holy Place to be offered on the Mercy Seat. Here’s the picture: Christ is the sacrifice; it is His blood that is to be offered. He is the Great High Priest who is to do the offering. He is the Ark of the Covenant, the Mercy Seat upon which His own blood is to be sprinkled. A suffering Saviour, a living sacrifice, Christ, as High Priest, willingly poured out Himself, His own blood. It was not cold, coagulated blood, offered upon the Mercy Seat three days later after His resurrection (as some suppose.) “The Blood will never lose its power” as some sing: Has the eternal Blood sprinkled upon the eternal Mercy Seat long since been coagulated, black, dried up? Or is Life still in the Blood?

Jesus died in our behalf: the wages of sin is death. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, we shall be saved by his life” Rom. 5:8-10. (If we are not justified before God, neither can we be reconciled unto Him.) Before laying down His life Jesus said, It is Finished. Then, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. It is finished? Not if the blood had not been already offered upon the Mercy Seat. Not if Christ was yet to be our propitiation. Not if reconciliation was not already obtained by the offering of blood. The veil of the temple was rent, from top to bottom, signifying that God had done this, signifying that the priesthood of men was officially at an end.

Signifying the “new and living way.” The veil of the temple prior to its rending: “The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing. But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands. Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. . .How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God. . .” Heb. 9:8,11,12,14

“Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. . .” The obvious should be obvious. If God has rent the veil of the temple. . .then the blood of Jesus is already, now upon the Mercy Seat, even before the veil of the temple was rent!.

What was rent? The visible veil of the Jewish temple. Christ Himself is the living Veil! “By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated [brought to fullness, completed] for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh” Heb. 10:19-20.

This (Christ Himself) is the Veil into the Most Holy Place. It [He] was not rent! How then may we enter the Most Holy throne room of the Most Holy God? It is through the blood. It is by faith. Does the Veil have a door? “I AM the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture” John 10:9. The Veil has no visible door; it can only be found, it will only open, one may only gain access, through faith in Christ and the sufficiency of His efficacious offering of blood.

God is making known unto us heavenly things by means of the earthly: namely, the atonement: pictures of blood, of life, of death. Our justification hinges upon the offering of the Blood of the Lamb; of His death, of His burial; of His resurrection; of His acceptance by the Father into the Heavenlies. And that, “To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved” Eph. 1:6.

As the blood is the life of the body, so is the Word to the soul and spirit. It carries with it, the Breath of Life, Nourishment, Cleansing.