D12-23: Was Yeshua Going Against Torah When He Ordered His Disciples To Symbolically Drink His Blood?

In my last post I finished up by talking about God’s universal law of Blood.

This law established through Moses says one is NOT to drink blood under any circumstances because “life is in the blood“.

I then further went on to say it is because of this very command that a Hebrew would never ever consider drinking something that even symbolically represented blood such as “communion wine” for instance.

Well, right here we run into a big problem because 1300 years later after Moses, Yeshua commanded his disciples during his last Passover with them to actually drink wine as symbolic of his blood and…

…they were ordered to do this as the greatest memorial remembrance of him for all time.

Here is the New Testament reference:

“…likewise also the cup
after the meal, saying,
‘This cup is the New Covenant
effected by my blood;
do this, as often as you drink it,
as a memorial to me.’”
-1 Corinthians 11:25

Now for those of you who did NOT grow up Jewish or immersed in the Hebrew culture since birth (including me by the way), I think it might be super difficult for you to really comprehend just how shocking these words of Yeshua were to his disciples at the time.

Sitting around that last supper table, when the apostles received these instructions, they were hearing something that literally went against every cultural and religious principle they had been taught as Jews growing up.

Thoughts of worry, skepticism and downright disgust must have been stirring in their minds.

And I only imagine how the local Jews would have reacted when they heard that some Galilean Jew, a carpenter’s son, had just ordered his followers to ingest wine symbolic of his blood.

We’re talking about an apostasy reaching almost unimaginable levels!

To make matters worse, this command of Yeshua to make wine symbolic of His blood is unique to the entire whole Bible (you certainly ain’t gonna find this teaching in Torah)…

…and it’s probably one of the reasons why religious Jews just decide to write off the New Testament as being a blasphemous text filled with complete lies.

That’s right folks.

Do you wanna know what one of the MAJOR BARRIERS separating Christianity from Judaism is?

It’s this teaching right here.

The religious Jew is utterly disgusted beyond belief at the Church tradition known as Communion.

For them, taking a glass of wine and symbolically drinking it as blood is nothing less than a barbaric combination of cannibalism, idolatry and…

…a blasphemous violation of the universal law (applicable to all mankind) to NOT ingest blood under any circumstances.

Be aware of this when speaking to a Jewish person and understand this is a VERY sensitive issue for them.

Onward.

Having said everything I’ve just said, we are still faced with Yeshua’s pretty crystal clear instructions.

There’s just no getting around the fact that He ordered his disciples to symbolically drink his blood.

So how do we reconcile this instruction with the Torah?

Okay, let’s go back to some basic principles to try and answer this question and before I get into the thick of things, a disclaimer here.

I reserve the right to be wrong.

I’m telling you upfront right now that what I’m about to say here are just my best thoughts on the matter pieced together from what I’ve learned so far and what I’m about to explain is NOT the end all and be all of things…

…far from it.

In fact, if there are any Jewish brother or sisters who believe in Yeshua reading this post, I’d looooooooooooooooooooooove to get your thoughts on this matter (Steven Bruck, are you out there brother?)…

…because this is quite a tough topic to tackle.

Cool?

Alright, let’s get into it

First, it has already been established that life is in the blood, right?

Now if that’s the case…

…wouldn’t it be safe to say that…

…the Torah principle that “life is in the blood”...

…would also apply to the Messiah’s blood?

Heck, based on a lot of what one reads in the New Testament, I think one could argue that eternal life or un-ending spiritual life is an inherent attribute of the Messiah’s blood.

Okay, so piecing all of this together, here’s my attempt to articulate my thoughts on this matter in the best way I can…

…and again I remind you that I reserve the right to be wrong.

So here goes.

I think that…

…in drinking the wine that is symbolic of Yeshua’s blood, we are humbly acknowledging SYMBOLICALLY AND METAPHORICALLY the atoning sacrifice he made for us on the cross.

I am well aware that that last statement may be unpalatable to a lot of my Jewish brethren, especially because I used the word “cross” and I’m really sorry for that, but I don’t know any other way to put it.

If it helps any, again I want to share this quote from Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato who teaches that a righteous man’s death can indeed serve as an atoning force for a whole generation.

“As a result of this principle, suffering and pain may be imposed on a tzaddik (righteous person) as an atonement for his entire generation. This tzaddik must then accept the suffering with love for the benefit of his generation, just as he accepts the suffering imposed upon him for his own sake. In doing so, he benefits his generation by atoning for it, and at the same time is himself elevated to a very great degree. For a tzaddik such as this is made into one of the leaders in the Community of the Future World, as discussed earlier.”The world and everything in it are in a degraded evil state, and require that God’s unfathomable wisdom bring about the numerous chains of events to achieve their rectification. Among the more important elements of this sequence is the requirement that man must be punished for his wickedness until the Attribute of Justice is satisfied. God arranged matters, however, so that select perfect individuals could rectify things for others, as discussed earlier. The Attribute of Justice therefore relates to them rather than to the rest of the world in general.”-Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato, The Way of God

Again, I want to stress that the wine drunk in the Messiah’s name is 100% metaphorical.

It is entirely symbolic.

The communion cup of grape wine does not some how undergo some supernatural transformation into blood.

And I don’t give two hoots what the Catholic Church says on the matter with their transubstantiation (or whatever the heck the word is) doctrine.

I’m going to stop here but the next time we meet, we’re going to examine what the Apostle Paul (AKA Rabbi Shaul) had to say on this very matter.

Keep in mind, the Apostle Paul said of himself…“Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.”

Talk to you all later.

CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT

“Watch out for yourselves,
and for all the flock in which
the Holy Spirit
has placed you as leaders,
to shepherd God’s Messianic community,
which he won for himself
at the cost of his own son’s blood.”
-Acts 20:28

 ^“…and through his Son
to reconcile to himself all things,
whether on earth or in heaven,
making peace through him,
through having his son
shed his blood
by being executed on a stake.”
-Colossians 1:20

“In union with him,
through the shedding of his blood,
we are set free —
our sins are forgiven;
this accords with
the wealth of the grace.”
-Ephesians 1:7

“…then how much more the blood of the Messiah,
who, through the eternal Spirit,
offered himself to God as a sacrifice without blemish,
will purify our conscience from works that lead to death,
so that we can serve the living God!”
-Hebrews 9:14

^“But if we are walking in the light,
as he is in the light,
then we have fellowship with each other,
and the blood of His son Yeshua
purifies us from all sin.”
-1 John 1:7

“So, brothers,
we have confidence to use the way
into the Holiest Place opened
by the blood of Yeshua.”
-Hebrews 10:19

“He did the same with the cup
after the meal, saying,
“This cup is the New Covenant,
ratified by my blood,
which is being poured out for you.”
-Luke 22:20

“For this is my blood,
which ratifies the New Covenant,
my blood shed on behalf of many,
so that they may have their sins forgiven.”
-Matthew 26:28

“…and from Yeshua the Messiah,
the faithful witness,
the firstborn from the dead
and the ruler of the earth’s kings.
To him, the one who loves us,
who has freed us from our sins
at the cost of his blood,…”
-Revelation 1:5

“Sir,” I answered, “you know.”
Then he told me,
“These are the people who have
come out of the Great Persecution.
They have washed their robes and
made them white
with the blood of the Lamb.”
-Revelation 7:14

“They defeated him
because of the Lamb’s blood
and because of
the message of their witness.
Even when facing death
they did not cling to life.”
-Revelation 12:11

“Therefore, since we have now come
to be considered righteous
by means of his bloody sacrificial death,
how much more will we be delivered
through him from the anger
of God’s judgment!”
-Romans 5:9

 ^“…and all are justified freely by his grace through
the redemption that came by Messiah Yeshua.
God presented Messiah as a sacrifice of atonement 
through the shedding of his blood—
to be received by faith.
He did this to demonstrate his righteousness,
because in his forbearance he had left
the sins committed beforehand unpunished—”
-Romans 3:24-25

“‘For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
remains in me, and I in them.
Just as the living Father sent me and
I live because of the Father,
so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven.
Your ancestors ate manna and died,
but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.’ 
He said this while teaching in
the synagogue in Capernaum.”
-John 6:55-59