One of the most moving, and often forgotten, stories about King David concerns the time when he was fighting the Philistines, who had occupied his native town of Bethlehem. Among David’s fiercely loyal fighting men he had three who were renowned for their bravery and their readiness to do whatever the king might ask. When David and his men were pinned down one day, David longed for a drink, and said out loud how much he would like to have water from the well at Bethlehem – which was of course inaccessible due to the Philistines. But that didn’t stop his three heroes. Off they went, broke through the Philistine army, got water from the well at Bethlehem and brought it back to David.

But David didn’t drink it. His shrewd sense of political judgment was even sharper than his thirst. “God forbid”, he said, “that I should drink the blood of these men, who went at the risk of their lives” (2 Sam.23:17). He didn’t want to be seen to profit from their readiness to put their lives on the line for him. He poured the water out on the ground.

One of the many Jewish regulations about food and drink was that blood was absolutely forbidden (Leviticus 17:10-14). The complex system of kosher butchering has its chief aim that no blood should remain in the animal and so risk being eaten or drunk. And this is why David used the phrase “God forbid that I drink the blood of these men.” To drink this water would be the equivalent of drinking blood. He wouldn’t – he shouldn’t – he couldn’t do it.

Jesus speaks of “drinking his blood” in our Gospel Lesson. He gives us an all-important clue to what he means. If we want to profit from what he’s doing we must “eat my flesh” and “drink my blood.” If we do this we’ll live forever. In the light of the David story, we can say that the deeper meaning of the passage is not that those who believe in him should become cannibals, still less that they should, in “eating” and “drinking” him, break the Jewish law against consuming blood.

What Jesus means is what David meant. David refused to “drink the blood” of his comrades – that is, to profit from the risk of their lives. Jesus, as the true Messiah, is going one better. Jesus will put his own life at risk. He will actually lose it. And his disciples will profit from that death. They will “drink his blood.” They will have their thirst quenched by his death and all that it means.