Easter: The Body and The Blood
At the Last Supper, Jesus takes bread and wine and announces the beginning of the new covenant.
Matt 26 v 26v27
Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
At the meal, Jesus associates His body with the bread and His blood with the wine. This feast has been celebrated throughout the centuries.
The next day, Jesus is tried, found guilty, tortured, hung on the Cross and died.
John 19 v 33 - 37
But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”
When He died, a soldier came to break His legs. When he found He was already dead, he pierced His side with a spear. From the wound flowed Jesus’ blood. His blood left His body. His body was then taken down from the cross and buried.
What I find interesting here is that the blood separated from the body. Just like in the Lord’s Supper, where Christ separately holds the bread and then the wine.
Just like in Genesis, where Joseph’s cellmates, the chief baker (bread) and the chief cupbearer (wine) are separated, one dies while the other is restored to Pharaoh.
When we come to celebrate this feast, we take the bread and the wine. We eat His body and we drink His blood. Then within us, they come together. The bread and the wine mix within us, the body and the blood combine to symbolically allow Christ to inhabit His temple.
John 6 v 53
Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.”