Blood is Thicker than Family
A Special Passover Message
The cup of the blessings that we bless—is it not the sharing of the blood of the Messiah? And the bread that we break—is it not the sharing of the body of the Messiah? Because there is one bread, we, the many, are one Body, for we all share of the one bread. (1 Corinthians 10:16-17, mjlt)
Often times, when we find ourselves in trouble, we look to family to bail us out. Conversely, when a close family member needs us, we rush to their aid; or when there is a conflict between two events, and one of them involves family, we choose their event—because that’s what family does. This is what we mean when we invoke the old adage, “Blood is thicker than water.” Friends may come and go, we say, but family is forever. Yet the original meaning of this expression may actually mean the exact opposite—that it’s not familial blood that binds us so permanently, but rather the bond that is forged when two parties ceremonially exchange each other’s blood to seal a promise; that is, they make a blood covenant. And there has never been more precious covenant blood exchanged than that of the Lamb of God—our Master, the Messiah Yeshua.
His is no ordinary blood covenant with us—its height, depth, width and breadth we can hardly fathom. So what could the blood of the Messiah possibly accomplish that the blood of our relatives can’t even approach?
Let there be no doubt: only the blood of the Messiah Yeshua has been “poured out… for release from sins” (Matit’yahu 26:27). It is “through His own blood” that He “acquired” us (Acts 20:28) and made us His. “How much more, then, having now been declared righteous in His blood, will we be saved through Him” (Romans 5:9)!
Indeed, it is only through Yeshua that all things have been “reconcile[d] to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His execution stake” (Colossians 1:20). In Yeshua alone do “we have the redemption through His blood and the release from our missteps, according to the riches of His unmerited favor” (Ephesians 1:7).
“But now, in Messiah יֵשׁוּעַ, Yeshua, you—being at one time far off—became near in the blood of the Messiah” (Ephesians 2:13), and “through His own blood [He]… obtained age-enduring redemption” for us all (Iv’riym 9:11-12). “[H]ow much more, then, will the blood of the Messiah… purify our conscience from dead actions to serve the Living God?” (Iv’riym 9:11-14).
He “set [us] apart through His own blood” (Iv’riym 13:12), which “cleanses us from every sin” (1 Yochanan 1:7). His blood has “untied us from our sins” (Revelation 1:5b), and through His slaughter—by His blood—we were “redeemed to God” (Revelation 5:9).
This blood is so powerful—so perfect—that the Master Yeshua Himself taught us, “If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and do not drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves” (Yochanan 6:53). Because of this, at His last Passover, He broke the matzah and said, “This is My body” (Luke 22:19); and “likewise, also, with the cup… saying, ‘This cup is the בְּרִית הַחֲדָשָׁה, B’riyt Ha’Chadashah [New Covenant] in My blood'” (Luke 22:20).
If these astounding, unfathomable things are what the blood of Messiah has covenanted for all of us collectively, then how much more should that same blood bind us permanently together one to another as members of His “one Body”? As fellow-believers in Yeshua, do we not “share… of the body of the Messiah?” As co-followers and slaves of our Master, do we not “share… of the blood of the Messiah?” Our true family, then, which deserves the highest priority, is not the one with which we share blood, but the one with which we share the blood of the Messiah (cf. Luke 14:26).
As we partake of the Passover memorial, let us remember what the shed blood of Yeshua bought for us, and bought us for. Let us leave behind our once-a-week acquaintance with fellow believers, and instead treat each other like real family, based on the true covenant of blood we share. As we break the matzah, let us not forget how His broken body connects us together. “Because there is one bread, we, the many, are one Body, for we all share of the one bread.”
What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Kevin, I am a believer, and I do my utmost to follow Torah in all the ways that I can. I am so thankful to Abba for opening my eyes to truth.
My question is this: I have often wondered how Messiah can be the Passover and eat the Passover at the same time. We know that he had to die when the lambs were slain. How could he be sitting there at the table eating Passover with his disciples on the night of the 14th, be arrested and then die on the afternoon of the 14th.
Any illumination you can shed on this will be appreciated. I have heard many different explanations over the years, some plausible, some not so much. Thank you.
Shalom Kate,
Thank you for your question.
My response is: Do “we know that he had to die when the lambs were slain”? Is that true?
Why would that have to be the case?
Think about it: wasn’t Yeshua also the Yom Kippur sacrifice (Hebrews 9:11-14)? Did He die on Yom Kippur? What about the week-long Feast of Matzah? What about Sukot? Didn’t Yeshua fulfill these as well?
It’s a common misnomer that Yeshua died at the exact moment the Pesach lambs were being slaughtered. It’s great imagery, but you’re right—it doesn’t fit with the Scriptural time line. The good news is, it doesn’t need to.
So the Pesach lamb was prepared the afternoon of the 14th, eaten that evening during Passover, then Yeshua died on the afternoon of the 15th, on the first day of the Feast of Matzah.
Does that answer your question?
I think the only word left to say here is “Amen”! Thank you for sharing this beautiful message, Kevin! May you and your family have a blessed and beautiful Easter!