Blood as a symbol of death in the New Testament

When we sing songs like “Nothing but the blood of Jesus” and “Forgiveness is bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ”, do we understand what the words mean? Or when we hear that our sins can be washed away by the blood of Jesus, what does that mean?

In the first Lord’s Supper, Jesus said that His blood “is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many” (Mt. 26:27NLT). And at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ Pilate told the crowd, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. The responsibility is yours!”. And the people replied, “We will take responsibility for His death” (Mt. 27:24-25; Acts 5:28; 20:28). So in the Bible the word “blood” is often associated with violent death. This originated from the Old Testament where in their sacrifices “blood” stood for sacrificial “death”. Animals died on behalf of the people. This is a synecdoche, which is a figure of speech where the word “blood” stands for “bloodshed” or violent death. This figure of speech is also used in the New Testament, mainly for the “blood” of Christ where it means that it was a sacrificial death. So blood as a symbol of death appears throughout the Bible.

The usage of the word “blood” in place of the word “death” in the New Testament is often a pattern prophecy (topology) that connects the death of Christ with the Old Testament sacrifices. Just as the death (and blood) of an animal was used to purify the Israelites, Christ was the ultimate sacrifice who died violently so that people could have their sins forgiven.

The usage of the word “blood” in place of the word “death” in the New Testament is also often a pattern prophecy (topology) that connects the death of Christ with the Old Testament covenants (Heb. 9:15-28). Just as the death (and blood) of an animal was used to ratify the covenant at Mount Sinai, the death of Christ ratified the New Covenant. The death of the animal symbolized the penalty for breaking the old covenant and foreshadowed the death of Christ as the means of lasting forgiveness to sinners like us.

The main benefit of the death of Christ is that Jesus as the sinless Son of God paid the penalty for our sins in His death for us on the cross. Our sins can be forgiven and we can be reconciled with God. For example, “For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God” (1 Pt. 1:18-19).

Not only does the blood [death] of Christ rescue His followers from the penalty of sin, but the passages that mention His “blood” say that they receive other benefits like:
– It rescues us out of a sinful way of life and saves us from God’s condemnation (Rom. 5:9).
– It purifies our consciences from sinful deeds (Heb. 9:14).
– It makes us holy (Heb. 13:12; 1 Jn. 1:7). We are sanctified (progressively cleansed from sin).
– It unites us with Christ and brings us near to God (Eph. 2:13). We can come close to God.
– It reconciles us with God; gives peace with God; and makes us holy and blameless before God (Col. 1:20-22).
– It makes us right [justified] in God’s sight (Rom. 3:25; 5:9).
– We are part of the new covenant (1 Cor. 11:25; Heb.13:20).
– It puts us in the church where there will be people from all nations (Acts 20:28; Rev. 5:9), and
– It enables us to enter heaven and be present with God (Heb. 10:19).

There was nothing in the physical appearance of Jesus that marked Him out as special. He wasn’t special in ways that count with us. Until Christ’s baptism, John the Baptist didn’t know that Jesus was the Messiah (Jn. 1:31). But John and Jesus were cousins and knew each other growing up. So Jesus would have had a blood type that was common to humanity. There was nothing special about the blood in His body – it had no miraculous power or properties, but was just like that of any other person.

The hematology of the fluid in His body was not important, it was the violent death and resurrection of the innocent, sinless Son of God that matters. “The blood of Christ” means the sacrificial death of Christ. But in two verses this phrase has an extended meaning (Appendix).

The “blood” of Christ is mentioned in the New Testament nearly three times as often as “the Cross” of Christ (another symbol of His death), and five times as frequently as the “death” of Christ. So, it is the major symbol of Christ’s death.

Prayer

Father God, we thank you that the death of Jesus Christ was a vicarious sacrifice – He was a substitute for us and we received the benefits. His sacrifice was effective and lasting because it was the death of a unique sinless person.

We thank you for the many benefits that we can receive through the death of Christ including being made right in God’s sight, forgiveness, reconciliation, being made holy and blameless, and having fellowship with yourself and with others in the church and entering heaven. In Christ’s name, Amen.

Appendix: Is the “the blood of Christ” a metalepsis?

Metalepsis is a double metonymy where something is described by means of another thing that is remotely related to it. For example, “He is a lead foot”, meaning “he drives fast”. Lead is heavy, a heavy foot would press the accelerator, and this would cause the car to speed.

According to Bullinger (1898), In the New Testament, the expression “the blood of Christ” is the figure (of speech) metalepsis: because first the “blood” is put (by synecdoche) for blood shedding: i.e., the death of Christ, as distinct from His life; and then His death is put for all the merits of the atonement effected by it: i.e., it means not merely the actual blood corpuscles, neither does it mean His death as an act, but the merits of the atonement effected by it and associated with it.

Bullinger claimed that the following were examples of metalepsis: Rom.3:25; 5:9; Eph. 1:7; 2:13; Col. 1: 20: Heb. 9:12,14; 10:19; 12:24; 13:12; 1 Pt. 1:2, 19; 1 Jn. 1:7; Rev. 1:5.

However, when I checked all the passages in the New Testament that referred to the “blood” of Christ, I could only find two that involved a metalepsis.

The first was where Christians are said “to be sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ” (1 Pt. 1:2CSB). A Christian isn’t sprinkled with the physical blood of Jesus, so this is a figure of speech. And a Christian isn’t sprinkled with the death of Jesus, so this is not a synecdoche as described earlier in this post. Instead, this verse means that as soon as a person becomes a Christian they receive all the benefits (some of these are listed above) which come from the sacrificial death of Christ.

The second was about “the sprinkled blood (of Jesus), which says better things than the blood of Abel” (Heb. 12:24CSB). The means that the forgiveness that came through Christ’s death was better than the vengeance expressed in the murder of Abel.

In all the other verses that I found, the word “blood” can be replaced with “death”, and the benefits of Christ’s death are stated separately without being implied.

So, I disagree with Bullinger. In the New Testament, the expression “the blood of Christ” usually means the sacrificial death of Christ (by synecdoche) and is a pattern prophecy (topology) that connects with the Old Testament sacrifices and covenants. There are only two instances where it is a metalepsis (Heb. 12:24; 1 Pt. 1:2).

Reference

Bullinger E W, 1898, “Figures of speech used in the Bible, 610-612”.

Written, June 2024

Also see: Blood as a symbol of death in the Old Testament
Symbols of Christ’s death
Patterns of Christ hidden in the Old Testament