It is indeed providential that in preparation for Communion last Sunday Henry wrote on the topic of bread. In a very informative article he surveyed the history of bread in both Old and New Testament times. Inevitably, he landed on the most significant interpretive motif for bread, that which Jesus himself expounded by saying "I am the bread of life.” Taken further, at Matthew's account of the last supper Jesus said "Take, eat; this is my body" (Matthew 26:26 ESV). Clearly then, Jesus wanted His followers to see that just as bread served as a basic, everyday life life-sustaining for our temporal, physical bodies, those who banked their faith completely in Him as the source of true life would be sustained spiritually with life everlasting. The administration of the sacrament continued with Jesus offering the cup and saying "Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (Matthew 26:27b-28 ESV). These words of Jesus leave no doubt that the cup represented Christ’s own blood that was to be shed for the remission of sin.
I do not pretend to have completed an exhaustive search of how blood is viewed throughout Old and New Testament times, but I would like to share a bit about how blood relates to the covenant that Jesus mentions. While we could easily go back to a number of Old Testament texts citing covenants (Covenant of Works, Abrahamic Covenant, Davidic Covenant), a great example of a blood covenant is found in Exodus 24. Here Moses affirms the covenant God established on Mt. Sinai by sacrificing bulls and throwing half the blood on the base of the altar and the other half on the people. There is life (or a life force) in all the blood that God has created (both human and animal). Since all blood is under God's sovereign dominion, that which is shed for sacrificial purposes is given back to Him by pouring/sprinkling upon the base of the altar, upon the high priest, upon the veil of the tabernacle and even upon the people of Israel. Such sacrificial blood had the power to temporarily atone (Leviticus 16:6,15-19; 17:11), purify (Leviticus 14) and sanctify (Exodus 29:30-31) and was that which sealed God's covenant with Israel.
Such concepts are carried into the New Testament but are given additional importance in relation to the blood of Christ. The book of Hebrews contains several references back to Exodus 24, all of which testify to the power of sacrificial blood to remove sin. Throughout the New Testament, Jesus is seen as the ultimate sacrifice since His blood, unlike that of animals whose blood brought temporary relief from sin, was so superior that it brought about everlasting forgiveness and sanctification. Through His perfect obedience in shedding His precious blood, Jesus brought peace and reconciliation between ourselves and God. We are freed from the power of sin and Satan, having our guilt blotted out completely. We have been pardoned by God based on the active obedience of Christ, and we are being transformed into new creations. Indeed, all we who had gone astray were by God's grace and mercy "sprinkled" with the blood of Jesus. Thus, the cup representing His shed blood is the guarantee of our salvation. His blood sealed the New Covenant, the Covenant of Grace. We drink the cup in remembrance of Him.
In light of this, think upon the following ...
1. How is blood described in John 1:13?
2. In what ways is the phrase "the shedding of blood" used in the Bible?
3. What are the evidences that the atoning power of Jesus' blood have been gifted to a person? See 1 Peter 1:13-23
4. The inspired author of Hebrews uses the phrase "once for all" in 7:27, 9:12, 9:26 and 10:10. What are the contexts in which these words are spoken?
5. In 1 Peter 1:18-19 to what things are the "blood of Christ" compared and what makes it different?
6. In modern day language we speak of "cutting" a deal or a contract. In the Old Testament a covenant is cut. See Genesis 15 to gain further understanding how a covenant was ratified.
7. In John 6:53-54, what must a believer do to experience eternal life?
