What do Catholics celebrate on the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ?

Without a doubt, the Blood of Jesus Christ is the most precious gift our Heavenly Father has given to His church. However, few Christians understand its value and its power. Christians often sing about the power of the Blood. Indeed, the sacred hymn of the church became the words: “Power, miraculous power in the precious Blood of Christ.” But most believers so rarely use the power of this Blood.

We simply do not understand the great significance of the Blood. For example: we always “recognize the Blood” as some kind of mystical form that can protect us. But only some Christians can explain its great glory and its beneficial effects.

If I were to ask you, “What does the power of the Blood mean?” - You would probably answer: “This means that my sins are forgiven, that I am free from all bonds of iniquity, and all my sins are covered.” Yet, besides forgiveness, what meaning does the Blood of Jesus Christ have for you (From the sermons of David Wilkerson).

Effective Properties of the Blood of Jesus

I want to give you a fuller understanding of the preciousness of the Blood of Christ - and what an amazing difference it can make in your life.

1. Scripture speaks of two types of blood: shed blood and sprinkled blood!

Most Christians know about the Blood of Jesus shed for us. When, during the last supper, Christ took the cup, He said: “This cup is the new covenant in My Blood, which is shed for you.” (Luke 22:20).

We remember His sacrifice every time we break bread. But for most Christians, this is where all knowledge about the Blood of Jesus ends.

We only know about the shed Blood - but we do not know about the Sprinkling Blood!

The first biblical account of sprinkling of blood is recorded in the book (Exodus 12:22)

The Israelites were told to take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood of a slain lamb, and anoint it on the lintel and both posts of their doors. That night, when the angel of death struck Egypt, he saw blood on the door and passed by.

Please understand that while the blood was in the vessel, it was inactive; it was simply shed blood collected in a vessel. The blood had the power to save only when it was taken from the vessel and anointed with it!

Why couldn't the Israelites take this jar of blood and put it right on the doorstep and say, “It doesn't matter what we do with it. After all, blood is blood?” What if they placed it on a table covered with a tablecloth or inside the house near the door?

I'll tell you what would have happened in that case: the angel of death would have struck this house! The blood had to be drawn from the vessel and placed on the door for its protective effect to take effect. Described in the book of Exodus 12th chapter. blood is a type of the Blood of Jesus. The Blood flowing on Calvary was not shed in vain - it did not fall to the ground and disappear. No, this precious Blood was collected into a heavenly fountain.

There is one gospel hymn in which it is sung: “The fountain of Blood flows, and whoever of the sinners plunges into its flowing stream will be free from guilt and vice!” However, this concept is not scriptural; we do not plunge into the Blood and do not swim in it. No - we are sprinkled with it!

If Christ is the Lord of your life, then the doorposts of your door—your heart—have been anointed with His Blood. And this Blood is not only for the forgiveness of sins - but also for protection and protection!

When you are anointed, then you are completely protected by the Blood of Christ against all the destructive forces of the devil. When his armies see the Blood of Christ on your doors, they will surely pass you by. They cannot touch you - because they cannot touch anyone who has been sprinkled with the Blood of Christ!

Therefore, as you can see, much more can be said about the Jewel of the Blood than just forgiveness. The blood of Jesus did not remain in the vessel - it flowed out of His body and sprinkled on your heart. She is waiting to be anointed on the doorposts of the hearts of people around the world!

V. Holy Righteous John

from the book “My Life in Christ”

“Is it surprising that the Lord offers you His Body and Blood for food and drink?

Whoever gave you the flesh of the animals He created for food, He finally gave Himself for food and nourishment. Who fed you with your mother's breasts, He finally Himself undertook to feed you with His Flesh and Blood, so that, just as with your mother's milk you absorbed into yourself the known properties of your mother, her spirit, so with the Body and Blood of Christ the Savior you would absorb Him into yourself spirit and life.

Or, just as before in infancy you fed on your mother and lived on her, her milk, so now, having grown up and become a sinful person, you feed on the Blood of your Life-Giver, so that through this you would be alive and grow spiritually into a man of God, a saint; in short: so that just as then you were the son of your mother, so now you would be a child of God, raised, nourished by His Flesh and Blood, and moreover by His Spirit - Flesh and Blood are His spirit and life - and become the heir of the Kingdom of Heaven, for which you and created for which you also live.”

Covenant with Israel

In Exodus 24:1-11

sprinkling of blood is also mentioned. In the event described here, God made a covenant with Israel. He promised: “If you do all My words, I will be your God and you will be My people.” After Moses read the law to the people, the people responded, “We will do it.” They entered into a covenant with the Lord.

Now this covenant had to be established - ratified and put into effect - and this could only happen through the sprinkling of blood on it. The book of Hebrews says that Moses “took the blood and sprinkled it both on the book and on all the people” (Heb.

9:19).

The shed blood of the burnt offering was collected in a cup. Moses took it and sprinkled it on the altar. He then took hyssop, dipped it in the blood, and sprinkled it on the twelve stones (representing the twelve tribes of Israel). And finally he dipped hyssop in the blood and sprinkled it on the people. The blood that covered the people seemed to put a seal on the covenant! From this scripture it is clear that the sprinkling of blood gave the Israelites full access to God with joy. Now they were cleansed and sanctified - which means they were able to abide in the presence of the Lord.

After this, Moses, Nadab, and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up to the mountain and saw God there. The Lord appeared to them, walking on clear and pure sapphire. Scripture concludes that they were free, comfortable, and without fear of condemnation in God's presence: “And He did not stretch out His hand against the elect of the children of Israel. They saw God and ate and drank.” (Ex. 24:11)

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This is simply amazing! These people could eat and drink in the presence of God himself - whereas just before that they were trembling in fear for their lives. And all because they were sprinkled with blood - and they understood its protection, its strength and their safety. And they lost all fear!

Beloved, today we are in a New Covenant with Jesus Christ—a covenant sealed with His own Blood. It is the same today: His precious Blood sprinkles your soul, both for communion and cleansing. So that you can boldly - freely and without fear - enter the Lord's presence to communicate with Him. You have been granted access to Him without any judgment. You are free to talk with God and enjoy His presence!

Important!

One of the most important events of sprinkling of blood was performed by the high priest. Once a year he entered the Holy of Holies to cleanse the sanctuary, which means “reconciliation.” This ministry was intended to cleanse people from their sins so that they could be reconciled and once again have fellowship with their heavenly Father.

II. Prot. Alexander Men

In ancient times, it was believed that when a person invites friends and they have a meal with prayer, the Divine is invisibly present there. Sacrifice and meal always merged. And so Christ established the table of the New Testament, He concluded the New Union of Heaven and earth through His death, which was indicated by this meal. And He said: “Do this in remembrance of Me.” This is not just remembrance and remembrance, but this is the eternally repeating Last Supper. She is always with us.

When we raise the cup and bread on the throne in the Church, it means that Christ comes again and the night of the Last Supper begins again. He connects us with each other and connects us with Himself. The sacrament of the meal is the sacrament of unity with God and people among themselves. This is what “flesh and blood” means.

throne of grace

The High Priest brought into the Holy of Holies full handfuls of incense, a full censer of burning coals from the altar, and a vessel with the blood of the slain calf. Inside the Holy of Holies stood the Ark of the Testimony, which was covered with a golden lid. This was the throne of grace on which God Himself “sat”; His presence was there. On the lid were two golden cherubs with wings spread over the lid.

Read more about the Ark of the Covenant here!

After a ceremony of thoroughly cleansing himself, the priest entered the Holy of Holies with great fear and trembling. He put incense on the fire, which gave off a pleasant aroma, and incense was performed. (This represents the prayers of Christ interceding for His people. Jesus now sits at the right hand of His Father and intercedes for the saints.)


The priest sprinkles blood on the mercy seat

Then the priest took the blood and sprinkled it with his finger on the lid seven times: “And he will take the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the lid in front and in front of the lid, and sprinkle the blood with his finger seven times.” (Lev 16:14).

When the blood was sprinkled on the lid, then the forgiveness of all sins was accomplished, and all the past sins of the people were covered. When the priest came outside, the people knew that God had accepted the sacrifice and their sins had been forgiven. Israel never doubted this!

Beloved, we also have a High Priest – our Lord Jesus. And He is our High Priest not only once a year, but for all time - until the end of the age! Jesus took His own Blood and brought it to the true throne of grace—the presence of God, the Holy of Holies—and presented it as atonement for all sins, for all believers, for all times. This was the final sprinkling!

Scripture says it this way: “For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.”

(Hebrews 9:12)

“How much more will the Blood of Christ cleanse our conscience from dead works, to serve the living and true God!” (v. 14). “to appear now for us before the face of God.” (v.24).

Important!

For our sake, Jesus ascended into heaven with His own Blood! And it is not kept there simply as a reminder. To this day all who come to Him in faith are sprinkled with it!

2. How does the Blood of Christ sprinkle the heart?

It is simply a tragedy that so many believers are not content with the power of the Blood of Christ. Scripture makes clear that it is important for us to know how the Blood sprinkles our hearts. This is done in two ways:

1) The blood is sprinkled on us by the Spirit of Christ living in us.

Jesus sprinkles His Blood on us when we accept in faith the salvation He accomplished at Calvary. This is not a physical sprinkling; it is a legitimate spiritual act. The sprinkling of the Blood of our hearts by Christ occurs as a response to our faith. And until we truly believe in the power of His sacrifice on Calvary, the Blood of Christ can have no effect in our soul! “Whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood through faith” (Rom. 3:25)

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Supper

All over the world, churches regularly take part in the breaking of bread. However, Paul warns us not to “drink the cup unworthily.” This is not talking about partaking of the Lord's Supper after you have sinned in some way; we know that if we repent of our sin, Jesus forgives us and cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

No - I believe what Paul is saying is that we should make good discernments about the body of Christ. He says that we are approaching the Lord's table, drinking from a cup symbolizing His Blood - and, however, we do not believe in the power of this Blood! This shows us being in fear and condemnation - in not believing that the Blood of Christ has justified us in the sight of God.

Many believers are therefore deprived of this wonderful experience of the Lord's Supper because they do not approach His Blood in faith. Paul goes on to say, “No wonder there are so many sick among you. You remain powerless because you do not believe in the complete victory of the Blood of Christ!” Such Christians are essentially saying: “I know that it is good to be justified by the Blood of Jesus Christ. But it’s hard for me to believe that the Lord considers me righteous. After all, I am still so far from righteousness. I’m still struggling.”

Important!

Beloved, the surest evidence of faith is peace! If you believe with all your heart, then your conscience and soul are completely at peace. And when you come to the Lord's Supper and take the bread and the cup, you have the right to say: “I believe that I am saved, forgiven, healed, because I believe in the Blood!”

2) The Blood of Jesus Christ sprinkles our soul through preaching with the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

When you hear a sermon in the power of the Holy Spirit, exalting the name of Jesus and His holy Blood, you can be sure that the sprinkling of the Blood is taking place!

When Philip preached to the eunuch, the man's heart was caught up in the Word. He immediately asked for baptism. Philip told him: “If you believe with all your heart, you can.” (Acts 8:37)

. Likewise, when you take to heart a sermon anointed by the Holy Spirit, when you cry out: “Lord, let me know all Your truth,” you are sprinkled by faith with the Blood of Christ!

At this point, you may be wondering, “How can I know that the Blood of Christ is anointing my heart?” You can verify this in the following three ways:

1) If you are now walking in the light and allowing the Holy Spirit to expose every darkness within you, you can be sure that you are covered by the sprinkling of the Blood. “If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7)

John clearly speaks of such a person who loves the Word, is not afraid of reproaches - who says: “Lord, illuminate every crevice of my heart with Your divine light. I want to walk in the light.” If you love light, then this is a sure sign that you have been sprinkled with the Blood!

2) If you are under attack from the enemy and you are proclaiming the power and authority of the Blood of Jesus, you can be sure that you are covered by the sprinkling of the Blood.

Very often, people in trouble call a friend or a consultant, or wallow in fear and doom. But those who are washed in the Blood are immediately established on the Blood of Jesus!

In our Christian circles we often hear the expression: “Call for the Blood.” But this verbal term does not correspond to Scripture. The word urge here means “to argue”; it contains the meaning of begging, entreaty. And this is already a defensive position.

I believe our attitude must be stronger than this. We are warriors - bought by the Blood, saved by the Blood, conquerors in Christ Jesus! We do not fight the devil in the courtroom where we plead our case.

No - we are winners! Jesus won the victory for us; His Blood prevailed. And I believe that our victory cry should be: “I declare the victory of the Blood of Jesus! I'm washed in the Blood, bought in the Blood, justified in the Blood, protected in the Blood, and redeemed in the Blood. And I declare the victory of the Blood of Jesus!”

3) If you are so securely protected by the cleansing and righteous Blood that your conscience no longer condemns you, you can be sure that you are covered by the sprinkled Blood.

If your conscience does not awaken you, does not excite you and does not encourage you to accept the Gospel, then it does not work well for you and thereby only causes harm. But it also causes harm if it unnecessarily condemns you, accuses you, constantly reminds you of your failures before God, causing oppression and fear.

But when you rest entirely in the cleansing power of the righteous Blood of Jesus—when you have control of your conscience in the Spirit—then your conscience no longer acts as an accuser, but rather works as a defender. And when the devil begins to stir up and raise false accusations, your conscience declares the victory of the Blood!

“Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience” (Heb. 10:22).

A peaceful, clear conscience is a sign of the sprinkled Blood abiding in you!

III. Yuri Ruban, Ph.D. n.

From the manuscript “History of the Divine Liturgy”, St. Petersburg, 2005

Why did Christ choose a meal, eating food together, as a form of closest unity with his followers? (After all, the Liturgy is a joint meal, only extremely simplified).

This is a big topic - the theology of the Eucharist, on which there are excellent works by Archimandrite. Cypriana (Kerna), oo. John Meyendorff, Al. Schmemann and others. Now I ask you to take a break from our Americanized “way of eating,” often in a hurry, and pay attention to the following fact. Christianity appears in the East, so it is important for us to take into account the Eastern view of the meal: any meal, especially a shared one, is sacred. Christ, as the head of the community, blessed the bread and wine at every joint meal (like any head of the family). The same thing happens at the Last Supper, but now Christ breaks the bread - and calls it his Body, and the wine in the cup - his Blood. At the same time, he himself partakes of this Eucharistic bread (this is not a piece of flesh separate from Him!). And when a person eats, then, figuratively speaking, he turns this bread into his body. When people eat and drink together at a Eucharistic meeting, they become relatives in flesh and blood.

Therefore ap. Paul calls the Church (in the Greek text - Ekklesia, which means “Assembly”!) “Body” of Christ (see Eph. 1:23 and parallel passages, as well as in the texts of his other Epistles). It is important that the Greek term “soma” is used here - a living organism (a whole human personality), and not sarksili kreas (individual pieces of meat of a dismembered, dead body).

“The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a communion of the Blood of the Lord? Is not the bread that we break a communion of the Body of Christ? There is one bread, and we are many - one body; For we all partake of one bread (metechomen)” (1 Cor. 10:16–17). In the latter case, the word metekhomen is used; This is a form of the verb metekho - to have a share, to take part, to participate, to be involved. We often emphasize the material form of the sacrament - “eating”; here Paul draws attention to why this is done, what happens to us behind it.

What blessed effect does the Blood of Christ have on the heart sprinkled with it?

1) The blood of Jesus delivers us from sin and the power of darkness. “In whom we have redemption through His blood” (Eph. 1:7)

We no longer live under judgment or fear!

Many people have been redeemed and justified by the Blood - but they do not know the joy of its effects because they live in fear and condemnation. They gave their faith to the Lord - but did not enter into the glory experienced in justification by the Blood.

They are like a person who is deeply in debt and cannot pay it off. His rich boss comes to the rescue and pays his bills without even telling him - and then calls him in to give him the good news.

That man sits down in a chair with a folder of his business accounts handed to him and begins to leaf through them, wanting to know how much the amount of his debt has increased. At the same time, he thinks: “There is no way I can pay all this. They will definitely throw me in jail!”

Seeing the horrified expression on the man’s face, his boss becomes perplexed and asks: “Sorry, but did you pay attention to the first page?” He returns to the first page, and on it it is written: “Everything has been paid.”

Many Christians are like this man: they do not know that their sins are covered, that they have been paid for in full! We must enter into this knowledge by faith in order to have this special blessing, which is peace with God!

2) The entire Church of God was purchased at the price of the Blood of Jesus. “to shepherd the Church of the Lord and God, which He purchased with His Blood.” (Acts 20:28)

Important!

Church of Christ is not for sale! Satan's plan to destroy the Church of Christ will not take place. Don't wring your hands and moan, "Oh, the church is going to hell." No way - her path lies in the sky! Why? But because she was bought forever at the price of Blood!

3) The blood of Jesus breaks down all walls

“But now in Christ Jesus you, who once were far away, have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He is our peace, having made both one and destroyed the barrier that stood in the middle.” (Eph 2:13-14).

This is of great importance in our church. Representatives of more than seventy different nationalities come here for services, but our church has neither walls nor national divisions. We are all one in Christ - the Blood-sprinkled Church. Truly, among those sprinkled with the Blood of Christ, there are no longer any walls. They are all destroyed!

4) The Blood of Christ Sanctifies Us “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7) This should put a smile of faith on your face. You are sanctified - cleansed by sprinkling! This is the ongoing work of the Spirit.

5) The blood of Christ defeats Satan and causes him to flee. “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony” (Rev 12:11)

What is the word of our testimony? Simply, it is: “I believe in the Blood! I testify to the overwhelming, victorious power of the Blood of Jesus—and I declare its complete victory!”

If you want to defeat the enemy, hold fast to the Blood - and proclaim its power!

6) The Blood opens for us entrance into the Holy of Holies - to our heavenly Father - without reproach or blame.

“Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter into the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus Christ, in a new and living way” (Hebrews 10:19) We must come to our Father boldly - without fear!

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