Unless You…Drink His Blood, You Have No Life in You (Lev. 17)

The whole story of the Bible – the whole of human history – rides on the current of blood.

In Genesis 4, the blood of Abel cries out to God for justice.

In Egypt, the first plague turned the water of the Nile into blood.

At the Passover, blood was placed on the doorposts of the house – to prevent the angel of death from striking the firstborn.

The opening chapters of Leviticus spelled out in great detail how our approach to God requires the careful use of blood.

And here in chapter 17 – right after showing the way back into the Most Holy Place in ch 16 – the first thing God says is to remind his people not to eat blood.

Eating or drinking blood is consistently a cursed thing: Think of how Revelation 16:6 speaks of this: When the third angel pours out his bowl into the rivers and springs, they become blood. And the angel of the waters says: "Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was, for you brought these judgments. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve."

And so the title of tonight's sermon should sounds horribly disconcerting: "Unless You Drink of His Blood, You Have No Life in You."

When Jesus said in John 6, "unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you," that prompted many of his followers to abandon him.

That's just crazy talk. How can an observant Jew say this?

Let's look at this more carefully...