²⁷And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; ²⁸for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. ²⁹ But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”

The imagery is startling, almost absurd. Drinking blood?! Of course, we understand this to be a metaphor, where the cup of wine represents the blood of Christ. But still, the imagery is shocking. While the disciples, as first-century Jews, would be more used to blood being present in sacrificing animals to the Lord in worship, the idea of drinking it would be abhorrent (see Gen. 9:2-4 and Lev. 17:14, where drinking blood was forbidden because “the life of all flesh is in its blood”). Yet, Peter’s vision of unclean animals being let down from heaven and God’s command to eat them (Acts 10:9-16) tells us that the Lord has released the Jews (and everyone else) from the Law of Moses. Yet, we cannot escape the thought that Jesus would use such staggering imagery.

The disciples in the upper room may have been reminded of what Jesus taught multitudes in John 6, where He conveyed emphatically:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.” (John 6:53)

Yes, the life is in the blood. In so speaking, Jesus overlayed another figure of speech, called a metonymy, where a writer or speaker swaps a phrase with a different word or phrase closely associated with the idea. For example, the phrase “Keep your eyes peeled” is not meant to be taken literally but is used in place of the words “Stay alert and keep watching.” Figures of speech make communication not just more picturesque but more emphatic and memorable. So, Jesus spoke of drinking His blood to convey the idea of imbibing His life. The communion cup symbolizes our complete commitment to the life of Christ. In believing that He gave His life in place of ours on the cross, where the condemnation of sins was poured out on Christ instead of us, we who were dead in our sins took on His life in place of ours. We became new creations in Him. And we can say, along with the apostle Paul,

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. (Gal. 2:20)

I once heard the expression that a man “had his father’s blood flowing in his veins” as an expression of how the son took after his father. We can say that through faith in Jesus’ substitutionary death on the cross for us, we now live the life of Christ, for His blood (figuratively speaking) flows through our veins. Our life is in Him, and His in us. So, in communion, Jesus uses the cup of wine to represent His life-blood.

When God gave the Law to Moses and the people, the blood of a sacrificial offering was sprinkled on the people to ratify the covenant (see Ex. 24:4-8). But Christ’s sacrifice on the cross inaugurated a new, replacement covenant. When we came to faith in Christ, we entered into that new covenant and took His blood (spiritually speaking) into us, not onto us. It was a complete transfer of life, not just a sprinkling. And that is what Jesus wants us to remember. This is central to our forgiveness, for the thing that the cup represents has at its core our forgiveness, as the writer to the Hebrews made plain: “… without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Heb. 9:22). (Note: For more discussion on this verse, see the article “Central Principle”).

The vivid portrayal of this truth in the symbolic form of drinking from the cup of wine should indeed arrest us. A sacrifice has been made for our salvation, a new covenant has been instituted, and by taking and drinking the cup, we are demonstrating that we are “all in” with Christ!

Lord, thank You for shedding Your blood to forgive me of my sins! It is my privilege to thankfully respond to Your sacrifice by doing what You asked me to do, to remember You in the drinking from the cup at communion.