Introduction

Scripture declares that the blood is the source of life. Leviticus 17:11 states:

For the life of the creature is in the blood.

Up until about the 1880s, sick people were often bled in an attempt to heal them and many died from the practice. In fact, George Washington, the first president of the United States, may have died through the loss of blood. He was feeling poorly and his physicians bled him a total of five times and then he died.[1] It is now known that the blood is the source of life. We are composed of cells; muscle, skin, brain, nerve etc, and it is our blood that delivers to them their life-sustaining oxygen and removes their waste product of carbon dioxide. It carries all of the body’s regulating hormones, as well as essential vitamins and minerals. So, if you lose your blood, you lose your life as the Bible tells us.

The uniqueness of Christ’s blood

When Adam did what God said he was not to do and ate the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, God brought down judgement on Adam and Eve and all of their offspring. Their whole bodies, including their blood, became defiled and they died both spiritually and eventually, physically. The process that led to physical death was initiated the moment they ate. This process I believe, was the introduction of mutations. Our physical body is composed of cells and in each one is our unique DNA, segments of which, are called genes, which are constantly dividing and forming new strands of DNA. Each DNA molecule formed is an exact copy of the previous one; however, transcribing errors do happen despite mechanisms within the cell to remove mistakes, some get through, these are called mutations. Mutations have given us thousands of disorders[2] and the list is increasing. For more information on mutations, click here.

God’s punishment infected all of Adam and Eve’s offspring[3] and all succeeding generations. King David said that he was sinful from the moment of conception.[4] Christ was conceived uniquely by the Holy Spirit, and the human ‘Seed’ was incubated in the woman; Mary.[5] However, Christ was born without sin and of course, free from the judgement God placed on all humanity and as a consequence, scripture speaks of Christ’s blood as being different; it was His own,[6] precious,[7] justifying,[8] redeeming,[9] atoning,[10] purchasing,[11] overcoming,[12] bringing near,[13] covenanting[14], washing us free from sin,[15] etc. Admittedly, most of these statements about Christ’s blood are to be taken metaphorically, but there is no doubt that scripture makes clear that His blood is unique, so for this to be true, Christ’s pure blood as a fetus should not have mixed with His mother’s blood which carried her sinful nature in various ways, including mutations even though Mary was a courageous, faithful and obedient young girl, she was still a sinner and under God’s judgement.[16]

Amazingly, when a child is conceived, the mother’s blood is never mixed with that of her fetus. The two vascular systems are completely separate, and even though nutrients and waste products freely transverse the placental membrane, the two bloods never mix as the image shows. Image credit: https://sites.duke.edu/apep/module-5-alcohol-and-babies/content-how-does-alcohol-get-to-the-fetus.

In fact, in many cases the mother and her fetus have different blood groups, and the fact that the mother’s antibodies do not attack the fetus as they would any other foreign tissue remains a mystery.

Of course, as with many biological systems in this fallen world, they can break down and when a small amount of the baby’s blood leaks into the mother’s circulatory system and if the mother’s blood is Rh negative and her baby is Rh positive then the mother’s antibodies attack the baby’s blood. This is known as Rh Disease.

In King David’s great psalm of praise to God (139), he expresses how God knows his very being, his thoughts and even knew him while he was being formed in his mother’s womb. He goes on to state that; such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to obtain. David states that; he is fearfully and wonderfully made. We only need to consider this one little statement about our blood to throw us into awe of our Creator.

Conclusion

If Jesus’ blood was the same as His mothers,’ then the biblical metaphors that describe it, would lose their impact. But it was not. Even to the level of detail of an obscure point such as this, the Bible is found to be reliable and consistent.

[1] http://www.earlyamerica.com/early-america-review/volume-9/washingtons-death/

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_genetic_disorders

[3] Genesis 5:3.

[4] Psalm 51:5.

[5] Matthew 1:18–23.

[6] Acts 20:28.

[7] 1 Peter 1:19.

[8] Romans 5:9.

[9] Ephesians 1:7.

[10] Romans 3:25.

[11] Revelation 5:9.

[12] Revelations 12:11.

[13] Ephesians 2:12-13.

[14] Luke 22:20.

[15] Revelation 1:5.

[16] Romans 3:23, 1 John 1:8.