Drinking The Blood

Of the New Covenant

Introduction

A number of faiths under the title of Christian hold to views of transubstantiation, the belief that Jesus’ literal blood and flesh is ingested in order to partake in the body of Christ. Because of my literalist views, I wanted to see if Biblical texts would support this. The following is what I found.

 

The Four Texts: Matthew

Matthew 26:26 And as they were eating, Yeshua took bread. And He blessed and brake and gave to the disciples. And He said, “Take! Eat! This is my Body.” ²⁷And He took the cup. And He gave thanks. And He gave to them, saying, “Drink ye all of it. ²⁸For this is my blood of the New Covenant that is shed for many for the remission of sins. ²⁹But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom!”

 

 

In case you were unaware, questions regarding the Body (verse 26) have led some of us to conclude that this is not Messiah’s physical body, but the Body of Christ, the Church. Passover Matzah (unleavened bread eaten at Passover) pictures the Church without sin, leaven and vinegar being types of sin and bitterness. Manna pictures the Bread of Life, Messiah.

 

Messiah stated that this is His blood of the New Covenant, shed for many for sin remission. What portrays His blood?

 

The Four Texts: Mark

Mark 14:22 And as they did eat, Yeshua took bread. And He blessed and brake. And He gave to them. And He said, “Take! Eat! This is my body.” ²³And He took the cup. And when He had given thanks, He gave to them. And they all drank of it. ²⁴And He said unto them, “This is my blood of the New Covenant that is shed for many. ²⁵Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

 

 

The expression, my blood of the New Covenant, had me puzzled. Was Messiah claiming that the cup contained His blood?

 

The Four Texts: Luke

Luke 22:15 And He said unto them, “With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. ¹⁶For I say unto you, I will not any more eat of him until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” ¹⁷And He took the cup. And He gave thanks. And He said, “Take this and divide among yourselves. ¹⁸For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God shall come.” ¹⁹And He took bread. And He gave thanks. And He brake. And He gave unto them, saying, “This is my body that is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁰Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the New Covenant in my blood that is shed for you.”

 

 

A different wording can portray a different meaning. The last line (verse 20) reads, This cup is the New Covenant in my blood that is shed for you, indicating that the cup is the New Covenant, whereas in the texts above the cup seemed to be Messiah’s blood of the New Covenant, making the cup the blood.

 

The drink sacrifices (‘drink offerings’) and texts where grape juice is called the blood of the grapes come to mind. I found no text where anyone drank of the drink sacrifices; they were always entirely poured out. The following are the blood of grapes texts:

 

Genesis 49:10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh comes. And unto him is the gathering of the people, ¹¹binding His foal unto the vine and His ass’s colt unto the choice vine. He washed His garments in wine and His clothes in the blood of grapes. ¹²His eyes are red with wine and His teeth white with milk. Deuteronomy 32:9 For Yehovah’s portion is His people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. ¹⁰He found him in a desert land and in the waste howling wilderness. He led him about. He instructed him. He kept him as the pupil of His eye. ¹¹As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings, ¹²Yehovah alone did lead him, and no strange god is with him. ¹³He made him ride on the high places of the earth that he might eat the increase of the fields. And He made him to suck honey out of the rock and oil out of the flinty rock, ¹⁴butter of kine and milk of sheep with fat of lambs and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats with the fat of kidneys of wheat. And thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.

 

Since the Bible uses blood for grape juice or wine, I knew I could use this evidence in our Passover texts.

 

 

The Four Texts: 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 11:23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you that the Lord Yeshua, the night in which He was betrayed, took bread. ²⁴And when He had given thanks, He brake. And He said, “Take! Eat! This is my Body that is broken for you! Do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁵After the same manner also the cup, when He had supped, saying, “This cup is the New Covenant in my blood. Do ye this in remembrance of me as often as ye drink.” ²⁶For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till He comes. ²⁷Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread and drink the cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord! ²⁸But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. ²⁹For he who eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s Body!

 

I therefore put the Matthew, Mark, Luke and 1 Corinthians texts together to see what Messiah said in its entirety. I first constructed a four-column table, and carefully separated the texts into sections to set them in a parallel order:

 

 

Matthew	Mark	Luke	1 Corinthians
		Luke 22:15 And He said unto them, “With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16For I say unto you, I will not any more eat of him until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17And He took the cup. And He gave thanks. And He said, “Take this and divide among yourselves. 18For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God shall come.”
Matthew 26:26 And as they were eating, Yeshua took bread. And He blessed and brake and gave to the disciples. And He said, “Take! Eat! This is my Body.”	Mark 14:22 And as they did eat, Yeshua took bread. And He blessed and brake. And He gave to them. And He said, “Take! Eat! This is my body.”	19And He took bread. And He gave thanks. And He brake. And He gave unto them, saying, “This is my body that is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”	1 Corinthians 11:23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you that the Lord Yeshua, the night in which He was betrayed, took bread. 24And when He had given thanks, He brake. And He said, “Take! Eat! This is my Body that is broken for you! Do this in remembrance of me.”
27And          He took the cup. And He gave thanks. And He gave to them,	23And He took the cup. And when He had given thanks, He gave to them.	20Likewise also the cup after supper,	25After the same manner also the cup, when He had supped,
saying, “Drink ye all of it.
		saying, “This cup is the New Covenant in my blood that is shed for you.”	saying, “This cup is the New Covenant in my blood.
	And they all drank of it.
28For this is my blood of the New Covenant that is shed for many for the remission of sins.	24And He said unto them, “This is my blood of the New Covenant that is shed for many.
			Do ye this in remembrance of me as often as ye drink.”
29But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom!”	25Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
			26For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till He comes. 27Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread and drink the cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord! 28But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29For he who eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s Body!

 

I then reconciled the texts in order, avoiding excluding information, preserving the colors to identify from which books each part derived. All four Texts put together were as follows:

 

Luke 22:15 And He said unto them, “With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. ¹⁶For I say unto you, I will not any more eat of him until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” ¹⁷And He took the cup. And He gave thanks. And He said, “Take this and divide among yourselves. ¹⁸For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God shall come.”

 

And as they were eating, Yeshua took bread. And He blessed. And He brake. And He gave to the disciples. And He said, “Take! Eat! This is my Body that is given/broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

 

20Likewise also He took the cup after supper. And He gave thanks. And He gave to them, saying, “This cup is the New Covenant in my blood that is shed for you.” And they all drank of it. ²⁸ “For this is my blood of the New Covenant that is shed for many for the remission of sins. Do ye this in remembrance of me as often as ye drink. ²⁹But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom, the Kingdom of God!” ²⁶For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till He comes. ²⁷Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread and drink the cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord! ²⁸But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. ²⁹For he who eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s Body!

 

I then examined the reconciled paragraphs above:

 

Messiah knew He would be suffering, and greatly desired to eat this Passover with the Israelis. It would be His last participation in a Passover meal until its fulfillment in the Kingdom of God. (The event is prophetic, speaking of things to come rather than of things in the past.)

 

Messiah took the cup. He gave thanks (in Hebrew, confessions). He told the Israelis to take the cup and to divide this one cup among themselves. Messiah did not drink, but will do so when the Kingdom of God shall come (teaching that the Kingdom of God has not yet come).

 

Messiah took Matzah during the meal. He blessed Yehovah. He broke the bread, dispensing it to the Disciples. He then told them to take the Matzah. They did, and He told them to eat it, declaring that the Matzah is His Body that is given and is dispensed for them (for the Israelis). The word broken, referring to bread, indicates piecing it for eating, not shattering as in a broken heart. Messiah told them to do break and piece Matzah to each other in remembrance of Him.

 

He took the cup after they had eaten the Passover like He had during the meal. He again gave thanks to Yehovah. He gave it to them, telling them that the cup is the New Covenant in His blood that is shed for the Israelis. He did not relate the cup’s contents with blood at this point, but the whole cup and its contents with the New Covenant. This New Covenant is made in His blood, and His blood is shed for the Israelis. His Disciples all drank from this cup, confirming the New Covenant in His blood.

 

Messiah continued His explanation, stating that the blood He mentioned above is His blood of the New Covenant that is shed for many—not just the Israelis—for sin remission. They are to do this same thing in remembrance of Messiah as often as they drink!

 

Messiah reminded them that He will not drink of this fruit of the vine until that day (the Day of Yehovah) when He drinks it new with them in His Father’s Kingdom, the Kingdom of God.

 

Paul later explained what the Passover Matzah and the Passover wine cup portrayed—Messiah’s death—until Messiah comes. Anyone who eats the Passover Matzah and drinks the Passover wine in an unworthy manner is guilty of the Body and the Blood of Messiah! A participant must make sure he isn’t partying, but is participating in a solemnity, and must show consideration for others. Failure to do so shows that a person is not discerning the Body of Christ, and eats and drinks condemnation to himself!

Ezekiel 44:4 Then he brought me the way of the north gate before the house. And I looked, and behold, the glory of Yehovah filled the House of Yehovah. And I fell upon my face. ⁵And Yehovah said unto me, “Son of man, mark well and behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears all that I say unto thee concerning all the ordinances of the House of Yehovah and all the laws thereof. And mark well the entering in of the house with every going forth of the sanctuary. ⁶And thou shalt say to the rebellious—to the House of Israel, Thus saith Yehovah Yehovah, House of Israel, let it suffice you of all your abominations ⁷in that ye have brought strangers uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh to be in my sanctuary to pollute it—my House, when ye offer my bread, the fat and the blood! And they have broken my Covenant because of all your abominations. ⁸And ye have not kept the charge of mine holy things, but ye have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves. ⁹Thus saith Yehovah Yehovah, no stranger uncircumcised in heart nor uncircumcised in flesh shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel.

 

This indictment is very serious.

 

 

The Three Covenants

A careful reader, using a proper translation, will discern three covenants in the following text:

 

Hebrews 8:1Now the sum of the things that we have spoken is: We have such a High Priest Who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, ²a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle that Yehovah pitched, and not man. ³For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices. Therefore [it is] of necessity that this Man have somewhat also to offer. ⁴For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the Torah ⁵who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, “See,” saith He, “thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount.” ⁶But now hath He obtained a more excellent ministry by how much also He is the mediator of a better Covenant that was established upon better promises. 7For if that first had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. ⁸For finding fault with them, He saith, “Behold, the days come, saith Yehovah, when I will make a New Covenant with the House of Israel and with the House of Judah—9not according to the Covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. For they continued not in my covenant, and I was an husband to them, saith Yehovah. ¹⁰For this is the Covenant that I will make with the House of Israel after those days, saith Yehovah; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts. And I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. ¹¹And they shall not teach every man his neighbour and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord!’ For all shall know me from the least to the greatest. ¹²For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. ¹³In that He saith, A new, He hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away. ¹Then verily the first had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. 2For there was a tabernacle made—the first in which is the candlestick and the table and the showbread—which is called the sanctuary.

 

The following texts consider one of the three Covenants:

Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, thy King cometh unto thee! He is righteous and saved, lowly and riding upon an ass and upon a colt the foal of an ass. ¹⁰And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem. And the battle bow shall be cut off. And He shall speak peace unto the races. And His dominion is from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. ¹¹As for thee also, I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit in which is no water by the blood of thy Covenant. ¹²Turn you to the strong hold, prisoners of hope! Even to day do I declare I will render double unto thee ¹³when I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim and raised up thy sons, Zion, against thy sons, Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man. ¹⁴And Yehovah shall be seen over them. And His arrow shall go forth as the lightning. And the Lord Yehovah shall blow the trumpet and shall go with whirlwinds of the south. ¹⁵Yehovah of hosts shall defend them! And they shall devour and subdue with sling stones! And they shall drink. They shall make a noise as through wine. And they shall be filled like bowls, as the corners of the altar. ¹⁶And Yehovah their God shall save them in that day as the flock of His people, for they are the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon His land. ¹⁷For how great is His goodness, and how great is His beauty! Grain shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids.

 

The pit in which is no water (verse 11) sounds like Sheol, like the side in which unbelievers are kept until judgment. This text sounds like another reference to Ezekiel 37’s resurrection of the whole House of Israel. The prisoners will be sent forth by the blood of thy (Daughter of Zion’s) Covenant. This Covenant preserves life!

Hebrews 9:19 For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the Torah, he took the blood of calves and of goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book and all the people, ²⁰saying, “This is the blood of the Covenant which God hath enjoined unto you.”

 

This text refers to the following:

Exodus 24:1 And He said unto Moses, “Come up unto Yehovah—thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel—and worship ye afar off. ²And Moses alone shall come near Yehovah, but they shall not come nigh. And the people shall not go up with him.” ³And Moses came and told the people all the words of Yehovah, and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice, and said, “We will do all the words that Yehovah hath said.” ⁴And Moses wrote all the words of Yehovah. And he rose up early in the morning and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. ⁵And he sent young men of the children of Israel who offered ascendings and sacrificed peaces-sacrifices of oxen unto Yehovah. ⁶And Moses took half of the blood, and put into basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. ⁷And he took the Scroll of the Covenant, and read in the audience of the people. And they said, “We will do all that Yehovah hath said, and will be obedient.” ⁸And Moses took the blood. And he sprinkled it on the people. And he said, “Behold the blood of the Covenant that Yehovah hath made with you concerning all these words!”

 

In verse 1, Moshe, the higher priests and seventy elders came to worship Yehovah at a distance. Moshe then approached alone. He then went back to the Israelis and told them all the words of Yehovah, and all His justices. The Israelis agreed to fully do all Yehovah had said.

 

Moshe then wrote all the words of Yehovah. He arose early, built an altar under the hill, and erected twelve pillars, one for each tribe. Men were sent to offer oxen, the peaces-sacrifices and ascendings unto Yehovah.

 

Moshe next divided the caught blood from the oxen, placing half into basins and sprinkling half on the altar. He then read the Scroll of the Covenant so that the Israelis could hear it in its entirety. The Israelis again agreed to do and be obedient to all Yehovah said.

 

He then took the basins of blood, and sprinkled it on the people of Israel. He told them to behold that blood of the Covenant Yehovah made with them concerning all these words.

 

They were sprinkled with literal blood. They did not drink it.

Hebrews 10:29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the Covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

 

Contempt for the blood of the Covenant or for the Covenant itself is very serious.

Hebrews 12:24 And to Yeshua the mediator of the New Covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

Hebrews 13:20 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Yeshua, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting Covenant…

 

Having viewed these texts and having sorted out the four texts describing Messiah’s final Passover until He returns, I found no evidence for drinking blood, whether in literal form or in pictorial form. One more text had to be considered, however.

 

John 6: 41 The Jews then murmured at Him because He said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴²And they said, “Is not this Yeshua son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He saith, ‘I came down from heaven?’” ⁴³Yeshua therefore answered and said unto them, “Murmur not among yourselves. ⁴⁴No man can come to me except the Father Who hath sent me draw him. And I will raise him up at the last day. ⁴⁵It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall be all taught of God.’ Every man therefore who hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me—⁴⁶not that any man hath seen the Father save he who is of God—he hath seen the Father. ⁴⁷Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. ⁴⁸I am that bread of life. ⁴⁹Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. ⁵⁰This is the bread that cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. ⁵¹I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever. And the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” ⁵²The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us flesh to eat?” ⁵³Then Yeshua said unto them, “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. ⁵⁴Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath everlasting life. And I will raise him up at the last day. ⁵⁵For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. ⁵⁶He who eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me, and I in him. ⁵⁷As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father—so he who eateth me, even he shall live by me. ⁵⁸This is that bread that came down from heaven—not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead—he who eateth of this bread shall live for ever.” ⁵⁹He said these things in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum. ⁶⁰Therefore many of his disciples, when they had heard, said, “This is an hard saying! Who can hear it?” ⁶¹When Yeshua knew in Himself that His disciples murmured at it, He said unto them, “Doth this offend you? ⁶²And if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where He was before? ⁶³It is the Spirit Who quickeneth. The flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you are spirit and are life. ⁶⁴But there are some of you that believe not.” For Yeshua knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray Him. ⁶⁵And He said, “Therefore I said unto you that no man can come unto me except it were given unto him of my Father.” ⁶⁶From that, many of His disciples went back and walked no more with Him. ⁶⁷Then Yeshua said unto the Twelve, “Will ye also go away?” ⁶⁸Then Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of everlasting life. ⁶⁹And we believe and are sure that Thou art that Messiah the Son of the living God.

 

Was Yeshua commanding folks to bite His arm and suck His blood? A careful examination will answer this.

 

Messiah claims to be the bread that came down from heaven, referring to Manna sent to the Israelis in the desert. He might as well claim also to be the Rock that followed them:

 

1 Corinthians 10:1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, ²and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea, ³and did all eat the same spiritual food, ⁴and did all drink the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them. And that Rock was Christ.

 

If no one has a difficulty with the Rock being Messiah Himself, from which living waters flowed, what is hard about Messiah being the Manna? Such matters distinguish faith from unbelief.

 

Folks present knew Yeshua and His parents, and wondered how His claim of being the Manna could be true. He determined to settle the matter by stating that no one could come to Him unless Yehovah the Father draws him to Yeshua. Messiah will resurrect all such folks in the Day of Yehovah.

 

Messiah quoted the prophets, and I am supposing it to be the following text:

 

Isaiah 54:11 Thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. ¹²And I will make thy windows of agates and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. ¹³And all thy children are taught of Yehovah. And great is the peace of thy children!

 

Jerusalem is being addressed, and the children of Jerusalem are the Israelis. The timing is the End Times, starting in the Tribulation and continuing throughout the Millennium. The text speaks of folks who are taught directly by Yehovah. Folks who have heard and have learned from Yehovah will come to Messiah! They won’t see Yehovah the Father directly, because at that time Messiah alone will see the Father. Anyone who believes on Messiah Yeshua has everlasting life (present tense).

 

Messiah then spoke about the bread of life:  I am that bread of life. The Manna pictured this, but Messiah is the bread of life. The Israelis’ fathers ate Manna, and it didn’t save them; they died. Messiah is describing the Bread of Life—it is what comes down from the heavens so that a man may eat from it and not die (for ever). Messiah Yeshua is the living bread that came down from the heavens. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever, just like folks who eat of the Tree of Life.

 

The bread Messiah will give is His flesh; He will give it for the life of the world. I thought about how the Scriptures use flesh:

Romans 11:13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles. I magnify mine office ¹⁴if by any means I may provoke to emulation my flesh, and might save some of them.

 

If Messiah gave His own bodily flesh for the life of the world, why did He take it back again when He rose from the dead? He gave Himself into the hands of violent folks, but salvation came through His blood. During the Tribulation, however, the Jewish folks will be given into the hands of sinful men, and many will die. Through their deaths will come the life of the world:

 

Romans 11:15 For if the casting away of them is the reconciling of the world, what is the receiving but life from the dead?

 

Verse 52 shows that some of the folks hearing Messiah weren’t getting it. Yeshua’s response was even more cryptic: Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.

 

Look at the following verses:

 

John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory—the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 6:51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever. And the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” ⁵²The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us flesh to eat?” ⁵³Then Yeshua said unto them, “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. ⁵⁴Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath everlasting life. And I will raise him up at the last day. ⁵⁵For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. ⁵⁶He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me, and I in him.

 

Could He be referring the Word of God made flesh, the Lamb of God? If so, what would His blood be? If it refers back to the cup (discussed above in the four reconciled texts), the Covenant of Messiah in His blood, an eater and drinker of Messiah’s flesh and blood has participated in His Covenant; and only one circumcised may do so:

 

Exodus 12:43 And Yehovah said unto Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover. No stranger shall eat of him. ⁴⁴But every man’s servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat of him. ⁴⁵A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat of him. ⁴⁶In one house he shall be eaten. Thou shalt not carry forth the flesh abroad out of the house, neither shall ye break a bone of him. ⁴⁷All the congregation of Israel shall guard him. ⁴⁸And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will guard the Passover to Yehovah, all his males shall be circumcised. And then he shall come near and guard him. And he shall be as one that is born in the land. For no uncircumcised person shall eat of him. ⁴⁹One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.”

 

John 6:54 shows Yeshua’s seriousness regarding these things, because He repeats,  Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath everlasting life. And I will raise him up at the last day. If He flesh refers to the Manna and His blood refers to the waters of life in the Rock when He appeared as the Rock, this also makes sense. Verse 57 uses the expression, Shall live by me. This reminds me of other texts:

 

Habakkuk 2:4-b The righteous-one by his faith shall live. Deuteronomy 8:3 And He humbled thee and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna—which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know—that He might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of Yehovah doth man live. Romans 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. Romans 10:5  For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.

 

Eating of Messiah the Manna is associated with faith, and differs from merely tasting:

 

Psalms 34:8 Taste and see that Yehovah is good. Blessed is the man trusting in Him.

 

Yeshua refers to the bread in the third person in verse 58: He who eateth of this bread shall live for ever. This is similar to what He said to the woman He met at the well and what He said in the verses above in John 6:

 

John 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. But the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. John 6:35 And Jesus said unto them, “I am the bread of life. He who cometh to me shall never hunger. And he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”

 

Messiah Yeshua said these things in a synagogue. His own Disciples (He had many besides the twelve) found this a very hard saying that could not be heard (verse 60). Yeshua asked the Disciples directly whether this offended them. Would it still offend them if they saw the Son of man ascend back into the heavens?

 

Yeshua then clarified the point (verse 63) by explaining that the Spirit of Yehovah makes alive. The flesh (physical body made of skin, muscles, bones, etc.) doesn’t profit; eating Messiah’s arm would not do any good. The words He spoke unto them are Spirit (breath) and are life. The words must be eaten. Some of His Disciples didn’t believe Him, like Judas Iscariot. No one can come to the Word of Yehovah unless Yehovah the Father gives ‘it’ to him. (Does ‘it’ represent the Word, faith, life, hearing, Manna, the Spirit of Yehovah, or something else?) Yeshua lost many Disciples by this communication. His Twelve didn’t go away. Peter knew Yeshua had the words of everlasting life, and he spoke for the other eleven (though he was mistaken about Judas Iscariot) affirming their faith and certainty that Yeshua is the Messiah the Son of the living God.

 

1 Chronicles 11:17 And David longed, and said, “Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem that is at the gate! ¹⁸And the three brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate. And they took and brought to David. But David would not drink of it, but poured it out to Yehovah. ¹⁹And he said, “My God forbid it me that I should do this thing. Shall I drink the blood of these men who have put their lives in jeopardy? For with their lives they brought it!” Therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mightiest. 2 Samuel 23:14 And David was then in an hold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then Bethlehem. ¹⁵And David longed. And he said, “Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate! ¹⁶And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines. And they drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate. And they took and brought to David. And he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto Yehovah. ¹⁷And he said, “Be it far from me, Yehovah, that I should do this—the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives!” Therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men.

 

King David recognized that by drinking the water these men obtained at the risk of their lives, he would be drinking their blood. Messiah obtained the waters of life by shedding His own blood, and all who participate in what Messiah obtained are drinking His blood in the very same way.