What is the biblical basis for the belief that the Lord Jesus Christ does NOT presently possess blood in his incorruptible body?

Question

Some Christians do not believe that the Lord Jesus Christ presently possesses blood in his incorruptible body. What is the biblical basis for such a belief?

For example, the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry (CARM) states on their website,

Jesus had shed His blood on the cross. It quite literally had drained out of His body. We see that when Jesus rose from the dead, He still had the holes in His hands and feet (Luke 24:39). Since He retained the characteristics of His bodily ordeal, it is logical to state that His blood, which was literally drained from His body, was likewise still shed. Therefore, His body could be raised, and the blood remained shed as the thing that "makes atonement": "For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement," (Lev. 17:11).

That is why after the resurrection--to prove that He had risen in the same body He died in--Jesus told people to touch His hands and feet because it was the hands and feet that had the holes in them. What more proof do you need to but see and touch the very same hands and feet that had the holes in them from the nails on the cross! Furthermore, in the same statement Jesus said that He possessed flesh and bones--not flesh and blood. He had risen!

Furthermore,

The Bible says that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 15:50). If this is so, then how could physical body have been raised? The answer is simple. After His resurrection, Jesus said, "Touch me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have," (Luke 24:39). You must note that Jesus did not say, "flesh and blood." He said, "flesh and bones." This is because Jesus' blood was shed on the cross. The life is in the blood, and it is the blood that cleanses from sin: "For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul," (Lev. 17:11). See also, Gen. 9:4; Deut. 12:23; and John 6:53-54. Jesus was pointing out that He was different. He had a body but not a body of flesh and blood. It was flesh and bones. I am of the opinion that Jesus' body had no functional blood in it. Remember, after the resurrection, He still retained the wounds in His hands, feet, and side. But, His blood was the thing that cleanses us of our sins: "but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin," (1 John 1:7). His body was raised, but it had no blood flowing through its veins. It was a glorified, physical body.

Answer 1

Adam in the Image of God

In Genesis 1:27:

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

We later learn that Adam had a body of flesh and bones (not flesh and blood) in Genesis 2:23:

And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

The first mention of blood in the Bible is after the fall, in Genesis 4:10—11:

And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.

And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand;

It can then be concluded that one of the changes to Adam and eve was the change from bodies of flesh and bones in the image of God to bodies of flesh and blood. Blood then becomes the source of life in the flesh (and not the Spirit) as explained in Leviticus 17:11:

For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

The Body of Christ

In Matthew 16:17, Christ explains that no one with a body of flesh and blood had revealed who Jesus was to Peter–thins knowledge came from a different source:

And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

In prophesying his future state (in Luke 13:32), He told the Pharisees to tell Herod:

Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected. [emphasis added]

After His resurrection, He distinguishes Himself from being only a spirit and having a body of flesh and blood in His testimony about Himself (Luke 24:39)

Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. [emphasis added]

Paul, in referencing the Christ, to the Ephesians reiterates that we will not become part of Christ's body of flesh and blood, but rather (Eph 5:30):

For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

Future State of Resurrection

In discussing the resurrection, Paul teaches the differences between mortal and immortal bodies (1 Cor. 15:44–54), he specifically states with blood will experience a change:

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

This change, to be consistent with the other immortal bodies we know about, would be bodies of flesh and bone.