From the desk of Pastor Ben
What About Drinking Jesus’ Blood?

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.”     (John 6:53)

As with eating His flesh, Jesus spoke symbolically regarding the drinking of His blood. The blood metaphor also speaks vividly of the importance of personally embracing His atoning death. The New Testament often uses “blood” in reference to the final sacrifice of the cross (Matthew 26:28; Romans 3:25; Ephesians 1:7; Hebrews 9:12, 14; 1 Peter 1:19; 1 John 1:7; Revelation 5:9).

The idea of a crucified Messiah was hard to accept for the Jews (John 12:32, 34; 1 Corinthians 1:23; Galatians 5:11). Jesus even rebuked the Emmaus disciples for their hesitancy: “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” (Luke 24:25-26). The apostle Paul’s evangelism to the Thessalonian Jews focused on b

The verbs for “eat” and b are both tenses in the Greek which denote onetime occurrences rather than continuous action. This clearly suggests the onetime, by-faith acceptance of salvation, not the continual, literal consumption of Jesus’ body and blood, as some church groups claim.

Ask Yourself:
We are certainly affected by the sight of blood. It horrifies and disturbs us. But is it possible that we are not horrified enough by what Jesus endured to eradicate our guilt, nor by the sight of our own sin? Are we not squeamish enough to turn our face away and walk in obedience? Interesting question, isn’t it?