The Body is for doing, the Blood is for living
Step back for a moment and just think about a body and blood; any body and any blood. What comes to mind when you think about blood? We know that the Bible teaches in the Old Testament that the life of the flesh is in the blood. Blood is all about life.
23Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life; you may not eat the life with the meat. ( Deuteronomy 12:23).
When a member of one’s body, say a thumb or a toe, does not get blood flow, that member will die. The blood supplies each member of one’s body with sustenance, support, nourishment, or just plain life. The blood supplies every member with everything it needs to survive and do what it needs to do. We must understand that the meaning of the blood in this context is not lifestyle, but life in the sense of a source of nourishment and support.
Now let us think about the body, anybody’s body. What comes to mind when we think of a body? Consider Hebrews 10:5-7.
5 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said:
"Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,
But a body You have prepared for
6In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin
You had no pleasure. 7Then I said, "Behold, I have come--
In the volume of the book it is written of Me--
To do Your will, O God."' Hebrews 10:5-7
Jesus was given a body. In Hebrews 10:7 Jesus declares the purpose for His body; "...To do Your will, O God." A body is for doing. Each member of one’s body "does" something. Now, a body can sin or a body can do the will of God.
Thus, from the above paragraphs, we can begin to see why Jesus separated His body and His blood in the Lord’s Supper. The body has to do with the issues of doing, doing sin or doing God’s will. The blood has to do with the issues of life (meeting the needs of the body); experiencing death or experiencing life. The Lord’s Supper also directly shows us that He delivered us from our sin through His body given for us, so that we can do His will. He delivered us from death through His blood shed for us, so that we can experience His life (support, nourishment).
In other words, eating the bread also means that we want to do His will like He did with His own body. Drinking the cup also means that we want to draw life from Him like He drew life from His own blood. When we eat the bread, we might be also thinking about certain things we should be doing. When we drink the cup, we might also be thinking about areas where we need to believe Him to be our source and provider.