Blood is an issue, and it is an issue with people. Some people find it grotesque. Was it something about Christ’s blood that saved us? Maybe it was the symbology of blood that saved us. Maybe Christ was only symbolically crucified? People can read the scriptures and make any possible thing out of them, but the concept of the saving blood of Christ is a consistent theme regarding salvation. Wouldn’t it have been a wonderful thing if the Son of God would not have had to be crucified? If He came and just said, “If you believe in Me your sins are forgiven.” And He spent a few centuries teaching us the way. But that is not what happened, so are we going to understand why and how His blood saved us. One of the great mysteries, God the Father can get a little wrathful, how is it that killing His Son made us right with God? You would think it would do just the opposite….
The scriptures pertaining to the blood and flesh ritual that was conducted using wine and bread, are not short or vague scriptures. Drinking blood…yuck! I sympathize with those that have trouble with it. But that is one of the points, those listening to what Christ said felt the same way. Yuck! To the Jews this was not only sacrilegious, but smacked of Paganism! I can’t blame them, but it shows that they understood exactly what Christ was saying and reacted to it. So He was not saying that, “We are going to go somewhere and drink some wine and eat some bread and have a good time and pretend it is my body and blood.” That is not what this long set of scriptures are saying. His own Apostles objected! Yeshua knew the implications and the controversial nature of it, and He knew it had to be done. Why cause all the controversy if it was not necessary? He gave His own Apostle no recourse, accept it or leave….So it was important enough that He risked losing His own Apostles over it, and then He performed it with them. So it was not an obscure, metaphysical concept for them to ponder. It happened, and after washing their feet He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you.” DONE TO YOU. There was something about that, that did something important to them. So Yeshua made the concept real and His blood went on to save us from hell.
Here is something else that needs to be made clear, Christ did not say that the blood and wine ritual is what saves us. He said, “…anyone that eats of this bread, he shall live forever….” Now regular bread does not make you live forever. Then to reinforce the truth He said, “….unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.”
So what does it mean to be saved from hell and not have any life in us? What does it mean if He does not raise you from the dead? Saved from hell but not raised or go to heaven! WOW! I got a question….is that where ghosts come from? They are not in hell and they are not in heaven, they are not among the physical living or the spiritual living. Pretty much defines ghosts! My best advise, don’t be silly enough to think you can figure out the exact divine functionality of the event. Christ told us to do it, if you don’t believe Him, you can tell Him you are not interested. Free-will is a great thing. Then you can come back and tell us were you ended up with no life in you. Me? I believe!
