Jesus' Body and Blood

“When the Lord your God expands your territory as he has promised, and you have the urge to eat meat, you may freely eat meat whenever you want. It might happen that the designated place of worship—the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to be honored—is a long way from your home. If so, you may butcher any of the cattle, sheep, or goats the Lord has given you, and you may freely eat the meat in your hometown, as I have commanded you. Anyone, whether ceremonially clean or unclean, may eat that meat, just as you do now with gazelle and deer. But never consume the blood, for the blood is the life, and you must not consume the lifeblood with the meat. Instead, pour out the blood on the ground like water. Do not consume the blood, so that all may go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what pleases the Lord. [Deuteronomy 12.20-25]

I just have some thoughts about "the blood" today.

The thing that crossed my mind today is the statement that the life is in the blood. That, coupled with the instruction not to consume the blood of animals, made me think forward to Jesus. Jesus not only gave bread to His disciples to eat as a symbol of His body, but He also gave them wine to drink symbolizing His blood.

Although allowance was made to eat the bodies of animals, consuming their blood was forbidden. Jesus' Last Supper gives full insight as to why.

Our lives are not fulfilled in eating animals. Even though it is tempting to think that as long as we can eat we will be okay, it is simply not true. Because life is in the blood, instruction was given to avoid the blood of animals. However, the life provided in the flesh of animals is only temporary. The life provided in the flesh of Jesus is eternal. The "blood" Jesus offered symbolized by the wine at the Last Supper serves forever to remind us that true life - eternal life - only comes in the covenant with God sealed by the blood of Jesus. Furthermore, we are given the symbol that our temporal provision is found in Jesus' "body" (the bread).

There is so much more to be considered here than time and space will allow. And, I am not sure I would be one with enough understanding to expound upon it all. But this I know, the blood of Jesus was necessary for our eternal life AND for our temporal life on earth. We are much closer to understanding God when we grasp these facts.

Father, help me today to more accurately discern the body and blood of Jesus. Just as I need to eat, help me to see that I need to walk in the benefits of Jesus' body and blood.