Scripture Study for

The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Understanding the Word

By Br. John R. Barker, OFM

As Israel enters into a covenant relationship with the God who has  delivered them from bondage in Egypt, Moses calls upon the people  to affirm that they will be faithful to their God, which means— among other things—to be loyal and obedient, observing all of the  covenant expectations (especially the Ten Commandments). In the  ancient Near East, and so also in ancient Israel, solemn covenants  were sealed by sacrifice and blood from the sacrificed animal was  sprinkled on both parties. Here, the people are sprinkled with blood  along with the altar itself, which represents God. This blood, which  binds the two parties into a relationship of mutual loyalty, is thus the  “blood of the covenant.” 

The central theme of the Letter to the Hebrews is the priesthood  of Christ. Formerly, the high priest, as representative of the people,  would enter the tabernacle to offer sacrifice to God. This earthly  tabernacle was considered an analog to the divine, heavenly dwelling.  Some of the sacrifices were instituted to cleanse Israel of the effects  of sin through the sprinkling of the blood of the sacrificed animals,  an act that had to be repeated regularly. Christ, the eternal High  Priest, has rendered all of this obsolete by entering into the actual  heavenly sanctuary, offering himself in sacrifice, and cleansing away  sin with his own blood. Because he is the Son of God, this action  surpasses all others in quality and effect.

In Mark, the Last Supper is held on the evening ushering in the  feast of Passover, when the lambs were slaughtered. The blood of  the Passover lamb in Exodus protected the Israelites from death,  and the lamb itself was eaten. Here, Jesus offers his own body to  be shared by the disciples and his own blood as “my blood of the  covenant,” a reference to the blood of the sacrificial animal of the  covenant at Sinai. Thus he draws on two traditions of sacrifice,  both closely related to the Exodus, to articulate the meaning of his  own imminent death, which both saves from death and seals a new  covenant between God and humanity.

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