Drink the blood of the lamb?

[Elzee]

I was asked a question last night about the correlation between the Passover and the Eucharist - how they had to ‘eat the lamb’ during Passover, which is a foreshadowing for the Eucharist. This has been talked about quite a bit on these forums and in Scott Hahn’s book The Lamb’s Supper ( ). The question I was asked is - did they also have to drink the lamb’s blood? How does Jesus telling us we have to drink his blood relate to the foreshadowing of the Passover to the Eucharist? I thought they only spread the lamb’s blood over their doorposts. I don’t think I’ve ever thought about this before, and don’t reccall this being talked about in Dr. Hahn’s book.
I didn’t know how to answer this . Can anyone help me?

 

[puzzleannie]

Elzee:

I was asked a question last night about the correlation between the Passover and the Eucharist - how they had to ‘eat the lamb’ during Passover, which is a foreshadowing for the Eucharist. This has been talked about quite a bit on these forums and in Scott Hahn’s book The Lamb’s Supper ( ). The question I was asked is - did they also have to drink the lamb’s blood? How does Jesus telling us we have to drink his blood relate to the foreshadowing of the Passover to the Eucharist? I thought they only spread the lamb’s blood over their doorposts. I don’t think I’ve ever thought about this before, and don’t reccall this being talked about in Dr. Hahn’s book.
I didn’t know how to answer this . Can anyone help me?

the lamb’s blood was spread on the doorpost at the first Passover to protect the inhabitants of the house from death. In Jesus’ day when the temple still functioned, the lamb’s were slain at a certain time, and the blood sprinkled on the altar, and at certain times in the OT, on the people by the priests. Hahn explains this, also this explains the shout from the crowd: “Let his blood be upon us and upon our children.” The lamb had to be completely drained of blood before being cooked (as is the rule with all kosher meat) and in no way could the blood be consumed. This is another reason Jesus’ claim in John 6 cause such scandal, and is still a stumbling point with Protestant denominations that take the command not to eat blood literally.

 

[Elzee]

Thanks puzzleannie - but I think I’m still confused. It seems this history wouldn’t be a stumbling point for Protestants, but would instead lend support their claim that Jesus couldn’t have been talking about drinking his blood since this was not allowed with the Passover lamb (none of the blood could be consumed). It seems this would be more a stumbling block for us (Catholics)? What am I missing? Thank you!

 

[Verbum]

Hi Elzee,

Jesus is called the Lamb of God. He sheds his blood for our sins.

As you know, Jesus is wholly present in either the consecrated bread or the consecrated wine. They are drunk separately to signify the separation of his blood from his body, in other words his death.

Verbum

 

[puzzleannie]

Elzee:

Thanks puzzleannie - but I think I’m still confused. It seems this history wouldn’t be a stumbling point for Protestants, but would instead lend support their claim that Jesus couldn’t have been talking about drinking his blood since this was not allowed with the Passover lamb (none of the blood could be consumed). It seems this would be more a stumbling block for us (Catholics)? What am I missing? Thank you!

Jesus gave the explicit command to eat his body and drink his blood, it proved a stumbling block for the majority of the crowd who left him at that point. It is a stumbling point for Protestants if they cannot understand sacramental presence. Since they reject the entire notion of sacrificial priesthood and the Eucharist as sacrifice with the one True Priest and one True Victim, they obviously do not have this understanding, so yes it is a stumbling block.

 

[chicago]

I think that part of the idea of drinking the blood is also to partake in the very covenant which has been made by it’s sharing such that Christ’s Blood mingles with your own and the two lives become one.

I was taken at a performance of Gotterdamerung that I saw last week when two of the characters made an agreement by becoming blood brothers. The covenant was sealed by each of them letting blood from their wrist into a chalice to intermingle of which they then both drank.