Blood is the red fluid that flows through the bodies of people and animals.
In the Bible, the word "blood" has several meanings beyond its physical definition. Sometimes, it describes the color red: “The sun will be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood” (Acts 2:20). It can also mean wine, as in Deuteronomy 32:14 ("wine" here is literally "the blood of grapes" in the original Hebrew).
When the Bible uses the phrase "flesh and blood," it means ordinary human beings. For example, when Jesus told Peter that "this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by My Father in heaven” he meant that no ordinary person told Peter (Matthew 16:17; see also 1 Corinthians 15:50; Galatians 1:16; Ephesians 6:12). It came from God. After betraying Jesus, Judas recognized that he had “sinned by betraying innocent blood” (Matthew 27:4). In these passages, “blood” means a natural life rather than a spiritual or divine life.
The Connection Between Blood and Life
“Blood” is also used in the sense of shedding blood, as in murder. Psalm 9:12 speaks of an “Avenger of bloodshed.” Genesis 37:26 refers to the brothers who cover up Joseph’s blood, meaning to murder him. To be “burdened by bloodguilt” means to be guilty of murder (Proverbs 28:17). Before Jesus was crucified, Pilate said, “I am innocent of this man’s blood" (Matthew 27:24–25). So, the idea of violent death is regularly connected with blood.
This logic makes sense because blood and life are connected. Three passages in the Old Testament show a connection between blood and life:
“But you must not eat meat with its lifeblood still in it” (Genesis 9:4)
“For the life of the flesh is in the blood" (Leviticus 17:11)
“Only be sure not to eat the blood, because the blood is the life” (Deuteronomy 12:23).
God creates all life, so shedding blood is serious. Blood is sacred, which is why it is forbidden to eat (see Acts 15:20). Blood symbolizes the life that God gives us.
Blood in Sacrifices
Blood was very important in religious sacrifices because it represented life. On the Day of Atonement, priests would sprinkle bull and goat blood on the altar (Leviticus 16). Blood (life) was poured out at death. The animal's life was given up for the life of the people. The people's sin was transferred to the animal through sacrifice, and full judgment and amends could now be made. This idea of transfer is also shown by the scapegoat in the same ceremony (Leviticus 16:20–22). In the first Passover, the blood had the same meaning (Exodus 12:1–13). Animal blood on the door meant a death had already taken place, so the angel of death could pass over.
Blood also becomes the best offering to God. In Exodus 24, after the people agreed to the covenant (or agreement), Moses poured half of the sacrificial blood on the altar and the rest on them. He did this while saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words” (Exodus 24:8). When blood was sprinkled on both the altar and the people, it showed that God and the Israelites made an agreement together (this is called a "covenant relationship").
In Israel's religious ceremonies, blood had several meanings. It could represent:
Death (the end of natural life)
Judgment (when God decides if someone has done right or wrong)
Sacrifice (giving a gift to God)
Substitution (one life given to save another)
Redemption (being set free from sin)
Life with God was made possible by blood.
The Blood of Christ
In the New Testament, other than references to medical issues (for example, Matthew 9:20) and murder (for example, Acts 22:20), the focus is on the blood of Christ. This is a reference to Old Testament ideas. The synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) say that at the Last Supper, Jesus spoke about his blood as a new covenant (Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20). This shows that his death was a sacrifice. Jesus shows that his death had a redemptive meaning. The Gospel of John shares this idea but describes it in different terms: “Unless you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man, you have no life in you” (John 6:53). Believers participate in Jesus's death and resurrection through faith (see also 1 Corinthians 10:16).
Paul’s letters also connect blood with Christ’s death. When he used the words "blood" or "cross," he was talking about Jesus's death and how it saves people. For example, he wrote that Jesus's "blood on the cross" brought peace (Colossians 1:20). He also wrote that people who were once far from God "have been brought near through the blood of Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 2:13). This meant that both Jewish and non-Jewish people could now have a relationship with God through Jesus's death.
Paul was thinking about the sacrifice of the Day of Atonement when he said that God made Christ an atoning sacrifice (making things right between people and God) by his blood (Romans 3:25). He uses the language of Leviticus 16, which describes the most important Jewish sacrifice.
Peter also speaks about the "blood of the covenant" (a reference to Exodus 24) when he wrote about Christians being sprinkled with Christ’s blood (1 Peter 1:2). He promises that Christians are redeemed by Jesus's blood (1 Peter 1:9). He calls Christ "a lamb without blemish or spot," probably thinking about the servant in Isaiah 53 or the Passover lamb. Both of these texts have redemptive meaning. The writer of Hebrews says Christ fulfilled the Old Testament system of sacrifices because his death was the greatest sacrifice (Hebrews 9:7–28; 13:11–12).
The New Testament references to Christ's blood show the complete redemption God achieved in the death of his Son (Hebrews 10:20). Justice and justification (being made right with God) were both accomplished (Romans 3:26). The blood of Christ is the “once for all” means of redemption (Hebrews 9:26).