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Nourishment, Cleansing, and Much More Blood The life of all flesh is the blood thereof.—Leviticus 17:14 Michael Nekora Nothing is more important to a human body than blood. We may live a few weeks without food, a few days without water, but only a few minutes without oxygen. Oxygen from the air enters the lungs where it is absorbed by the blood and carried to even the tiniest recesses in the body. The brain has the greatest need for the oxygen. If something should cut off its supply, brain cells begin to die almost immediately. In minutes a person can be incapable of ever living again, though some body organs might still function. Truly life is in the blood. Lose your blood, or have it fail to circulate in the body, and you lose your life. The importance of blood in the Body of Christ is demonstrated by the fact that the phrases “blood of Christ” or “blood of the lamb” occur more frequently in the Scriptures than “cross of Christ” or “death of Christ.” Blood has always had sacred associations. A person’s word might be considered sufficient to make a contract binding, but an oath really sealed it. Thus we read about the time the daughter of Herodias danced before king Herod. He was so pleased that “he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask. And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist’s head in a charger. And the king was sorry: nevertheless for the oath’s sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her” (Matthew 14:7-9). About the only thing Herod could have done to make his verbal contract more binding would have been to slaughter an animal and walk between its pieces. God makes such a reference to the nation of Israel: “I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof,” [therefore will I give them into the hands of their enemies] (Jeremiah 34:18). The shed blood of an animal made a contract absolutely binding. God was reminding the people how seriously they treat covenants they signed among themselves when sealed with blood sacrifices. He expected the nation to treat seriously the covenant they “signed with blood” with him at Sinai (see Hebrews 9:19). Yet it was the usual story: making a vow was easy; keeping a vow was harder. When the people ignored their vows, God delivered them into the hands of their enemies. The wonderful covenant God made with Abraham in Genesis 15 was solemnized by the sacrifice of animals. Abraham saw a representation of God as a “smoking furnace, and a burning lamp” passing between the pieces of the sacrificed animals. God followed the custom Abraham associated with the ritual that made a contract absolutely binding. In this case God promised to bless Abraham by giving him land and a seed. Cleansing Blood Blood as a symbol of sacrificed life can be seen in the blood applied to the lintel and two side posts of the Israelite houses prior to the passage of the death angel through the land of Egypt. It is also found in various sacrifices associated with the tabernacle. The first time blood is specifically mentioned as a cleansing agent is in Leviticus 14 where the priest performs a ritual for someone whose leprosy has disappeared. The priest kills one bird, dips the second bird in the blood and lets it go. “[Then] he shall sprinkle [the blood of the bird that was killed] upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field” (Leviticus 14:7). Blood is associated with cleansing in a text describing the experiences of the Great Company: “These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:14). It’s not just robes that are made white in this blood. Eighteenth-century poet William Cowper wrote the words of hymn #290 in the Bible Student hymnal. Entitled “Cleansing Fountain” it begins with these words:
Most everyone knows blood carries oxygen and nutrients to all the cells in a body and thereby nourishes the body. Blood also cleanses the body by carrying off toxic wastes such as carbon dioxide and uric acid generated by the muscles and other body processes, and brings those toxins to organs that can flush them out of the body. Is there anything comparable to this function in the Body of Christ? There is, and in this application the toxic waste is sin: “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). The cleansing power of Jesus’ blood is necessary when people present themselves in consecration. But it is not a one-time action; it must be repetitively applied over and over. Consider these words: “It is from inside, from men’s hearts and minds, that evil thoughts arise—lust, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, arrogance and folly! All these evil things come from inside a man and make him unclean!” (Mark 7:21-23, Phillips). Just because someone is not guilty of every sin listed does not mean that person is free from sin. Can we honestly say we never have evil thoughts? These make us unclean, a condition that cries out for cleansing: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). How can we be cleansed from the toxic wastes of sin that are produced as a byproduct of everything we do? John told us: “The blood of Jesus Christ … cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). He continues: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (verse 9). Note the important stipulation introduced by the word “if.” “If we confess our sins, he [will] cleanse us.” “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy” (Proverbs 28:13). The death of Jesus Christ paid the ransom for father Adam and provides what has been called the “robe of Christ’s righteousness.” As we sojourn in this world, things happen which we do not approve. These have been called “spots on our robes.” We read: “Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy” (Revelation 3:4). These few in Sardis who did not defile their garments are the real footstep followers of the master. It is not because they are perfect. They begin as imperfect as anyone else. But they confess their shortcomings and the cleansing power of the blood restores their robe to sparkling white. “Drinking” Blood When Gentiles accepted the gospel message, some Judaizers claimed they had to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses. This controversy became so divisive it was felt only the apostles could settle it. Paul and Barnabas went to Jerusalem and in Acts chapter 15 we have the account of the proceedings. James stands up and summarizes what they decided. He lists four prohibitions for Gentile Christians, two of which concern matters of blood: “Avoid what has been sacrificed to idols, tasting blood, eating meat which has been strangled, and sexual immorality. Keep yourselves clear of these things and you will make good progress” (Acts 15:29, Phillips). Jewish law prohibited eating any meat unless the blood had been thoroughly drained from it. So a faithful Jew would not eat the meat from an animal that died by strangulation, from natural causes, or by a predatory beast. So did the apostles pick and choose among the law’s prohibitions when they said Gentiles should abstain from blood and meat containing blood? Not at all. They were reiterating a rule God gave the entire human race as represented in Noah and his family immediately after the flood: “Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you … But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat” (Genesis 9:3,4). As we remember how ingrained this rule was within the Jewish community, consider how shocking, almost revolting these words of Jesus would be: “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.”— John 6:53-56 No Jew drank blood. Only savages and the uncircumcised did that. For Jesus to say this was too much. In verse 66 we read that “many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.” Why did Jesus say this in a way that would offend the largest number of people? Why did he not say, “Eat my flesh and pour out my blood,” or “Eat my flesh and sprinkle my blood”? That would be compatible to what was done in all the typical Jewish sacrifices. Jesus knew exactly what he was doing: he was transforming the symbol. God was saying to Noah, “If you drink the blood of a lamb, the life of the lamb enters into you. Don’t do it!” Jesus was saying, “If you drink my blood, my life will enter into you. Do it!” It is not just his past life and death that are so valuable to us; he is the continuing source of our life. “He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all, of it; for this is my blood … which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:27,28). Later that night he used a different metaphor to show how our life comes from him: “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5). A vine is a picture of our life in Christ. As physical life is sustained by the circulation of blood and a branch lives because of the circulation of sap, our spiritual life survives only if it is constantly nourished by Christ. True, his death was only hours away when Jesus told his closest associates to drink his “blood” from the cup, but a marvelous, spiritual resurrection was just a few days away. Such a spiritual life will be ours also if we are faithful: “If we be dead with him, we shall also live with him” (2 Timothy 2:11). Defending the Body Bringing nutrients to, and carrying off waste products from, the body’s cells is done by the red blood cells. Blood also contains white blood cells and these defend the body against infection. Amazingly they have a kind of “memory” about past enemies and, when seen again, they instantly begin to fight them. This is why vaccination is so powerful. If someone is deliberately infected with a benign form of a virus, the body will memorize its structure so it can attack it in the future. Edward Jenner in the mid-1700s learned that those who were infected with cowpox never got smallpox, a disease that kills 30% of those it infects. One smallpox-infected wounded warrior from Cortes’ army is said to have been responsible for the death of four million Aztecs over a two-year period. The last known smallpox death occurred in 1978; today general vaccination against this disease has stopped. So another function of blood is to help us overcome our enemies. “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 12:11). The blood of someone who has successfully overcome a disease changes in subtle ways so it can efficiently fight that disease in the future. Its “memory” is in the form of antibodies and these can be transferred to those who were never infected. This is done by separating the “serum” from whole blood and putting it in another’s body. The new host body begins to duplicate those antibodies and is thus prepared to overcome and survive when assaulted by that disease. Jesus was tempted by the Adversary to take an easy way to success, power, and the satisfaction of his own human needs. He was frequently tired, frustrated, tempted, and abandoned. But he overcame all of these besetments without using any supernatural power. “Because he has himself been through temptation, he is able to help others who are tempted” (Hebrews 2:18, Jerusalem Bible). “For it is not as if we had a high priest who was incapable of feeling our weaknesses with us; but we have one who has been tempted in every way that we are, though he is without sin” (Hebrews 4:15, Jerusalem Bible). When we “drink his blood” in symbol at the Memorial celebration, we accept his invitation to share his life, to use his strength as we encounter the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil. He previously overcame these and with his help, we can too. In fact John tells us that because of what is within us, we are overcomers: “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them [false prophets—see vs. 1]: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). The blood of Christ brings us back from the dead, the dying life we inherited from father Adam: “You were dead, because you were sinners … He [God] has brought you to life with him, he has forgiven us all our sins” (Colossians 2:13, Jerusalem Bible). “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). No other New Testament picture expresses this concept so perfectly as does blood. We drink Christ’s “blood” in symbol at the Memorial. Since we all know from whom we have received life, why do we need to have a ceremony? We do it because it is a physical expression of a spiritual reality. The ceremony keeps the memory bright. Whenever we partake of the bread and drink of the cup, let us see the spiritual reality of Christ who energizes us to fight off sins which so easily beset us, who nourishes us, and who purges us of toxic sins. This is “The Mighty to Save” to use Isaiah’s words: “Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save” (Isaiah 63:1). |