Wednesday, November 4, 2009

The Blood of Jesus: Divine or Human?

For centuries, there has been a view of Christ's blood that has been taught and preached which goes something like this:

Jesus' physical blood was not human, but was only divine, derived directly from God the Father and not from Mary, his mother. The main verse that is used for this teaching is Acts 20:28: "Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which HE obtained with his own blood."

The final two phrases are the issue here--"to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood." Those who espouse the view that Christ's blood was purely divine and not human, say that it was God's blood, which, they argue, this verse proves. It was the blood of the Father, the blood of God, and thus, was not human blood at all.

According to this view, Christ did not derive his blood from Mary through the physical developmental process in the womb. He did not get his blood from Mary, because, it is argued, that would mean it would have been corrupted; so they argue that God the Father gave the Son divine and pure blood which was not human.

Such preaching goes something like this: "The blood of Jesus!- it was holy and pure because it was God's blood-- God's blood-- it wasn't human in origin-- it was God's blood-- God the Father put special, newly created divine blood in His Son which was only of divine origin, so he would be pure and holy--it wasn't from Mary--it was from the Father-- God's holy blood!"

Such preaching excites the undiscerning and causes them to think that the deity of Jesus and his holiness is being honored by this view. Such a view is still around and is often expressed by conservative and fundamentalist preachers who think they are protecting the purity of Christ. It has amazed me for a long time to hear professing evangelical preachers put forth this idea about Christ's blood. But the fact is, to put it in simple terms, this teaching is heresy at its worst. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The physical blood of Jesus Christ was fully and truly human, derived from Mary, his mother. If not, then we have no salvation.

A couple of main thoughts:

1. The phrase in Acts 20:28 'the church of God' is just as easily translated 'the church of the Lord'; the word 'Lord' is proper here, equally as much as the word 'God'. But even if one says that it is the church of 'God', that in no way means that it is referring to the God the Father particularly.

2. To say that the blood of Christ was divine and not human is to deny the true humanity of Christ. Jesus had to be fully human in every way, which means his physical body and blood, and his human nature in totality, was received from Mary. Everything about him physically and humanly, body and soul, were derived from Mary. In every way, he was made like us in all things (sin excepted).

The wrong view says that his blood could not have been derived from Mary or it would have been corrupt, fallen, impure, etc; but blood is purely physical and not moral. The logic is very weak, at best. If his blood would have been impure if it came from Mary's body, then anything else he derived from her would have been as well, which includes his true physical body and his human nature. Thus you would not have a human Jesus at all. In other words, if one part of Jesus' humanity (his blood) was not fully derived from Mary, then none of his humanity could have been and he would fail to be truly human in every way.

If Jesus could not have derived his physical blood from Mary because he would have received corruption from a human parent, then we must also say that none of his human nature and physical body could be derived from Mary. But if his physical body and human soul came from Mary and the entire process was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit (see below), then there is no problem about his blood coming from his mother. If you deny one aspect of Christ's humanity as being human, then you are denying and rejecting the true humanity of our Lord. And if you do not have a fully human Jesus, in every way like us, then you do not have the Christ of the New Testament.

Obviously, his blood was pure and perfect, but not because it was the blood of God, but because of the work of the Holy Spirit in His overshadowing work in the conception of the Saviour. We must remember that the Holy Spirit "overshadowed" the conception and birth of the baby Jesus. This divine and miraculous work would have protected and kept anything sinful or fallen of Mary's nature from being imparted to the baby Jesus. If we believe in the supernatural nature of Christianity, it is no problem at all that the Holy Spirit created the human person of Jesus, body and soul, from Mary's body and person, and then preserved his human person from all impurity and kept any effects of original sin from being passed down to Jesus.

The truth is, Jesus Christ the divine Son, eternally one with the Father as God, became a true human being-- physical body, physical blood and human soul, receiving all this from his mother's body and her human nature. He was fully God and fully man without limitations. His rue humanity, in its totality, came fully from Mary's body and her DNA. His blood was true human blood just like ours, made of a woman. To deny this is to evidence a clear lack of understanding of the full humanity of our Lord.


So if you ever hear anyone say that Jesus' blood was divine and was the blood of God, don't believe it and don't be fooled. Quickly say to yourself, "Whoa--error! that is not accurate and not biblical." Be discerning. Such a view changes the biblical person of Christ and it thus changes even our redemption. To be our faithful and merciful High Priest, he must qualify for that office. And to qualify to be the High Priest in the redemption of all His people, He has to be one of us fully, made like us in all things, in order to redeem man. Only a true and fully human Man can redeem human sinners.

The true and full humanity of the man Jesus is so wonderful, so glorious, and so essential, that you do not have a true gospel without it and you do not have true salvation without it.

"Behold the Man!"-- Jesus, our kinsman Redeemer

- Mack Tomlinson

24 comments:

Unknown said...

The male seed caries the blood line,not the female. Adam passed his corrupted seed to every child born into the world, excerpt one. GOD planted a Holy seed in the womb of a virgin, and Gabriel told Mary that His name would be called Jesus. He was conceived Holy, and was born Holy. Every moment through out His sinless life He was pure and Holy. There was no sin nature within Him at any time! I would wager my eternal soul that the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us from all sin, was, is,and always will be Divine.

Carla Gade said...

Very well explained. Be blessed!!

mnwpe.blogspot said...

Nice try....it has been proven that babies get their blood from their father-not their mother...so Jesus did NOT have Mary's blood flowing through him. If he had human blood flowing through him then you must also blog about how Mary was not a virgin- because scientifically it would be impossible. He was human because he was born in a human way.

mnwpe.blogspot said...

Nice try....it has been proven that babies get their blood from their father-not their mother...so Jesus did NOT have Mary's blood flowing through him. If he had human blood flowing through him then you must also blog about how Mary was not a virgin- because scientifically it would be impossible. He was human because he was born in a human way.

Unknown said...

funny, but my son and I were discussing this very subject yesterday. and the discussion stemmed from hims saying that because Jesus Christ is the eldest son, the other sons of Mary and Joseph, therefore, had his human DNA.
I explained that therefore, following that logic (which he based from recent DNA researches, not yet established as scientific fact) then his siblings were half-Gods.
lol.
the theory went down the drain.

Unknown said...

To be born a male child,women should receive Y chromosome from father only,mother have only XX chromosomes,so scietifically to give birth to male child is impossible.so JESUS conception was purely Divine,through his blood was drawn from Marry, it it was divine,virgin birth it self is a divine act.So His blood is pure.

Unknown said...

To be born a male child,women should receive Y chromosome from father only,mother have only XX chromosomes,so scietifically to give birth to male child is impossible.so JESUS conception was purely Divine,through his blood was drawn from Marry, it it was divine,virgin birth it self is a divine act.So His blood is pure.

Unknown said...

Jesus blood was human but his blood didn't come from his mother. We know this because man became mortal after the fall in the garden. Jesus was immortal ...John 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:. Think of it this way, Adam was also immortal before the fall and his blood didn't come from a woman but was fully human.1 Corinthians 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

PedanticDan said...

1) Children get their blood from both parents: http://www.canadiancrc.com/paternity_determination_blood_type.aspx

The "knowledge" that children get their blood from their father and NOT their mother has no basis in Biology.

2) One of the proof texts for the divine blood idea is Hebrews 2:!4a "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took PART of the same; "

Folks make a big deal about the statement that He "took PART" and not all, i.e. human FLESH but not human BLOOD.

However, "took part" in that verse is a single Greek word that means "shared in" and it proves beyond any doubt that Jesus had human flesh and blood, and thus was fully human.

He was not part God and part human -- fully God and fully human.

Unknown said...

Biology tells us that 100% of a fetus' blood comes from the father; that the baby in the mother's womb has a separate blood supply from its mother. The mother's blood does not pass to the child through the placenta. Christ Jesus inherited genetic material from His mother, Mary, in order to be fully human, born of a woman, the seed of Abraham, in the line of David.
And according to Scripture, original sin is passed through the father's bloodline, the first being Adam. GOD withheld the original sin from entering Christ, for GOD, His Holy Spirit, was Christ's Father. Therefore, since GOD, His Holy Spirit, was Christ's Father, Christ Jesus' Blood was Pure, Perfect, and Eternal, and Christ was the Perfect and Ultimate Sacrifice for the Atonement of all humanity's sin. Christ Jesus was fully GOD; fully man. {COL1:15-23; JOHN1:1-3; HEB2:14; JAMES1:13}.

PedanticDan said...

Biology tells us that 100% of the fetus' blood comes from the the fetus. Not one drop of the father's blood is passed on to the child.

Neither an egg cell nor a sperm cell contain any blood whatsoever. The father passes on half of his DNA, and the mother passes on half of her DNA. The combination results in complete DNA for a new and unique person. This new person's blood will be their own blood, neither the father's nor the mother's. This blood will have elements from the mother's blood and elements from the father's blood. This can be learned from googling "blood type."

Ezekiel 18 makes it clear that "original sin" is not passed from parent to child. We do not inherit guilt, we earn it ourselves (Rom 3:23-26).

Hebrews 2:14a: "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of [share in] flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part [shared in] of the same;"

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, had human flesh and human blood, according the Hebrews 2:14 (as I explained in my previous comment).

The "Divine Blood" doctrine is bad biology AND bad theology.

Unknown said...

"In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was with GOD, AND THE WORD WAS GOD.
He was in the beginning with GOD, without Him not even one came to be that came to be."
{JOHN1:1-2}.

Christ Jesus is the WORD made flesh...the Great I AM in the flesh. This is most important to understand if we truly Believe in the Way of Christ Jesus, if we as Christians Believe in His Teachings and Instructions, that He Fulfilled (completed) the Old Covenant and established the New Covenant, Redeeming and Saving humanity from the sin that separated them from GOD.

GOD came to earth, Incarnated as the Son of GOD, the WORD made flesh, in order to restore humanity back to Him. We cannot begin to understand the Agape Love our Heavenly Father has for us until we understand Who Christ Jesus really is and what He really accomplished for us.

Thank You GOD; Thank YOU Christ Jesus for the Sacrifice and Blood shed for us at the Cross!
Through Your Blood and Sacrifice we once again can return to You, and our sin is no more. Any sin committed by our earthly father, strongholds, curses, no longer have any hold on us.
Through Your Blood and in Your Holy Spirit we are Born From Above (Born Again), and made a New Creation in Your eyes!

Christ Jesus was part man and part GOD. His Divine Blood that came from His Heavenly Father allows us to "wash our robes white in the Blood of the Lamb", and through Christ Jesus' Pure, Holy, Immortal, and Divine Blood, and His Ultimate Sacrifice, we are Cleansed and made righteous, to once again stand before the Throne of our Heavenly Father. Death (separation from GOD) and the grave is defeated through Christ Jesus, His Divine Blood, Faith in Christ Jesus is the Door through which all must enter in order to return to Almighty Father.

100% of a person's blood comes from the father - the father's bloodline, as Scripture tells us.
It is only after the male sperm enters the ovum that blood can develop.
The male sperm adds life to the female egg, and "life is in the blood".
The male sperm is the source of the blood or "the seed of life".

The baby in the womb has a separate blood supply from its mother from the very beginning.
The mother's blood is not a part of the baby, only her genetic material (50%),
and the mother's blood does not pass to the child through the placenta.

Furthermore, the sins of the father are passed down for 4 generations. It is in Scripture and backed up by Science.
In other words, the spiritual act of sin gets passed down genetically through the physicality of our DNA. Science can't explain how sin alters and changes our DNA, but they have documented it. Scripture tells us exactly how sin alters and changes us, our DNA, the physical essence of who we are.
Scripture backs this up in numerous places starting with Adam and Eve "where through one man (Adam) sin entered into the world", and another example being the son of Noah, Ham, how because of Ham's sin his bloodline was cursed through his son Canaan, and their DNA altered. Ham was the father of the nephalim and rephaim, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, etc.
There are many other examples in Scripture of the effects of sin, curses, strongholds on the bloodline of a family which is established through the father, not the mother.

These links explain it in much more depth:

http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/BTP/Dr_MR_DeHaan/Chemistry/04.htm


https://carm.org/questions/about-jesus/if-jesus-god-flesh-why-did-he-not-inherit-original-sin

PedanticDan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
PedanticDan said...

You didn't address anything I said.

You said, "The mother's blood is not a part of the baby, only her genetic material (50%)"

The same is true of the father's blood: The fathers's blood is not a part of the baby, only her genetic material (50%).

This is a medical fact. The father's blood is not part of the baby.

I had already read Dr. DeHaan's article, which may have made sense in the 1920s, when he went to medical school. But, the fact remains: The father's blood is not part of the baby.

It doesn't really matter how may links you provide. Hebrews 2:14 is quite clear that Jesus had human flesh and human blood. His blood has nothing to do with His being the Son of God, or with His being sinless.

Why did Jesus call Himself "The Son of Man" and not "The Son of Woman" ?

Because "sin is inherited from the father, not the mother" is a false doctrine.

Unknown said...

Christ Jesus was fully GOD and fully man. Scripture tells us in JOHN1:1-2....."In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was with GOD, AND THE WORD WAS GOD..." It doesn't get clearer than that. Christ Jesus' Divinity is throughout Scripture. Christ Fulfilled (completed) the Old Marriage Covenant with the ancient Hebrew people exactly as prophesied, and He 'cut' the New Covenant on the Cross with the Hebrew people first, then the Gentiles grafted in. Do you understand what a Covenant is and how the Hebrews entered into Covenant with the Creator of the Universe? The issue of the embryo's blood in the mother's womb, and the embryo's genetic material is separate and distinct. Why are you confusing the two? There are some, even in the Body of Christ, that will deny Christ Jesus' Divinity and will refute the facts of science that back up Scripture in order to take away from the Work Christ accomplished on the Cross. If you do not understand that the bloodline is determined through the father's blood, and you think Christ Jesus' Blood has nothing to do with His being the Son of GOD or with His being sinless, then really there is nothing else to discuss. The Truth is the male's seed carries the bloodline, not the female, and when the male's sperm fertilizes the female's egg, life begins, and 'life is in the blood'. The male's sperm is the source of the blood, 'the seed of life', so the embryo's blood comes from the father until around day 21 the embryo starts production of its own blood; the mother's blood remains separate the entire time. Peace.

owner said...

This is a teaching of Les Feldick.
http://www.lesfeldick.org/lesbk16.html
This is one of many references to this heresy.
It diminishes the humanity of Christ, It makes Him not able to sympathize with us humans, with mere human blood.
It also makes His sacrifice on the cross, not a fully human sacrifice.
If the blood of Christ Jesus is not fully human blood, then Then He cannot be our High Priest, making propitiation for us,
Then He really was not tempted and cannot help us in our temptation
Hebrews 2

Unknown said...

Have no idea who Les Feldnick is, but we do have the Scriptures, the Word of GOD, that attest to the fact that Christ Jesus was fully man and fully GOD.

MATT1:18-23:

"Now the birth of Christ Jesus took place in this way. When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be WITH CHILD OF THE HOLY SPIRIT...

"Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, FOR THAT WHICH IS CONCEIVED IN HER IS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT; she will bear a son, and you shall call His Name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."

"All this took place to fulfill what the LORD had spoken by the prophet: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and His Name shall be called Emmanuel, WHICH MEANS GOD WITH US."


Christ Jesus' Father was GOD, His Holy Spirit, as Scripture states,
so Christ Jesus' Blood that flowed through his human body was Divine, (from His Father).
Christ Jesus is fully man and fully GOD, the perfect and ultimate Sacrifice.


By diminishing Who Christ Jesus is, then His Ministry on earth, His Work on the Cross, and His Resurrection, Ascension, and Fulfillment of the Old Marriage Covenant, and establishment of the New Marriage Covenant, is denigrated and diminished.

Christ Jesus, the WORD made flesh, is the Great I AM in the flesh {JOHN1:1-3}. The WORD was Incarnate into the flesh as Christ Jesus, the Son of GOD.

1JOHN4:1-3:

"...By this you know the Spirit of GOD; every spirit which confesses that Christ Jesus HAS COME IN THE FLESH is of GOD,
and every spirit that does not confess that Christ Jesus HAS COME IN THE FLESH, is not of GOD.
This is the spirit of anti-christ, of which you heard that it was coming, and now it is in the world already."


Christ was fully able to sympathize with us humans and died a fully human death on the Cross.
Christ Jesus came in the flesh, and was tempted by satan, and by the religious leadership of the day, yet no sin was found in Him nor was there any guile in Him. He proved to be the Lamb of GOD, only He is worthy.

If the Pure, Holy, and Eternal Blood that Christ shed on the Cross was not Divine, meaning His Blood was not of His Father, then He cannot be the propitiation for all sin, from those before, during, and after Christ's Ministry on earth; then His Blood would not be Eternal.

Scripture tells us that Christ Jesus' Blood was Pure, Holy, and Eternal and that Christ was Incorruptible...that He was the Perfect and Ultimate Sacrifice for the sins of all humanity.

There are some that refuse and reject the fact that our Holy and Living GOD came to earth in the flesh, the WORD made flesh, and died for us so that we can be restored to Him; that our Living GOD came in the flesh to be our propitiation for our sins; the Old Fulfilled, and the New Covenant 'cut' on the Cross between our Living GOD and man, through the flesh of the Messiah.

All will understand the Truth on their Last Day when they bow before their Judge, Christ Jesus.

"I and the Father are One..." {JOHN10:30; JOHN17:21-22}

Recovering Baptist said...

Everyone in this thread has forgotten that even His SALIVA healed (cf. Mark 7:33, 8:23).

Homeland Enterprise, LLC said...

Jesus the Christ, the last Adam, received His blood from the same Source (God) that Adam received his blood. Adam did not have a human father or mother but did that stop him from being fully human before the Fall? After God breathe the breath of Life in him (Adam), he became a Living Soul (human being [Gen. 2:7]). Jesus is 100% fully God (No one takes my Life but I lay it down [John 10:18]). The Life that is in the blood [Lev.17:11]) and Jesus is 100% man (He died [Matt. 27:50 Emphasis Added]) and that includes His Fully Divine/Human BLOOD. -Min Marvyn Sterling

Homeland Enterprise, LLC said...

Jesus the Christ, the last Adam, received His blood from the same Source (God) that Adam received his blood. Adam did not have a human father or mother but did that stop him from being fully human before the Fall? After God breathe the breath of Life in him (Adam), he became a Living Soul (human being [Gen. 2:7]). Jesus is 100% fully God (No one takes my Life but I lay it down [John 10:18]). The Life that is in the blood [Lev.17:11]) and Jesus is 100% man (He died [Matt. 27:50 Emphasis Added]) and that includes His Fully Divine/Human BLOOD. -Min Marvyn Sterling

Unknown said...

"The Word was God, the Word was with God and the Word became flesh" God is a spirit,He does not have organs bone or blood. Never setting aside HIS Deity, He was able to be Fully God and Fully man. The God-man.Everything about the conception of Jesus was divine. Trying to put this into the same perspective as how humans are conceived is impossible. Furthermore, if a child gets 100% of it's blood from the father,how can a child have it's mother's blood type?It takes both parents to fertilize the egg, and a fetus has it's own blood separate from the mother. Through omosis the fetus get it's oxygen from the mother, through the blood vessel walls, but it has it's own blood separate from hers. The umbilical cord is used for nourishment and excretions of waste. God is God,how He does what He does is beyond us!!!!

Recovering Baptist said...

It is fascinating to ne that we know from the Shroud of Turin that Jesus had the rare AB blood type. A blood donor website said that tbose with AB blood can give the UNIVERSAL gift of life to people!

nikkolayebba said...

You made some respectable points there. I regarded on the web for the issue and located most individuals will go along with along with your website. casino blackjack

Unknown said...

Neither parents blood is transferred to the baby at all. Each parent contributes traits and genes (23 chromosomes each / 46 total) that collectively result in a unique human being. The baby develops it's own blood from it's own bone marrow. I really wish people would refrain from running their mouths in ignorance. In Jesus' case, He was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary. God prepared Him a human body and it developed bone marrow and produced blood just like any other human. Jesus Christ had to have human blood to be our represenitive man on the cross, otherwise He would not have qualified to redeem us. Without the shedding of blood, there is no redemption on sin. If you say Jesus did not have human blood, you are denying His flesh; and it is blasphemy against the Word of God to deny the humanity of Jesus' flesh. "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. (1 John 4:1-3) All Glory to the Lamb of God who was slain. Jesus Christ our Lord.