New Covenant

NEW COVENANT

On the night before His crucifixion, the Son of God sat down in an upper room on Mount Zion. It was Passover, and like all observant Jews, Jesus had assembled with His followers to observe the Passover.

Luke describes the event this way, NKJ Luke 22:14-15 When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. Then He said to them, "With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer;

OR IN THE NIV

NIV Luke 22:14-15 When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.

The lambs that were slain in Egypt that first Passover didn't die in vain. When, by faith, the blood was applied to the door-posts and headers, the firstborn of each family experienced redemption.

This reflection would provide Jesus the most vivid reminder and testimony that His suffering and death, which would occur the very next day, would not be in vain. Through His sacrificial (surrendered, yielded), vicarious (acting of suffering for another), and substitutionary (one that is substituted for another) death, many sons and daughters of Abraham would experience redemption.

It was during the Passover meal that Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples saying: “Take, eat; this is my body.” The bread was “unleavened bread.” This bread, along with the Passover lamb and the bitter herbs, comprised three essential elements of the Passover. Exodus 12:8 'Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.

For 1500 years, from Moses until Christ, the Jewish people killed and ate the Passover lamb as a memorial of that first Passover. Jesus realized that on the next day He would die as “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”

Jesus' death would be infinite in worth and eternal in duration. It would never need repeating. Matthew 26:26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body."

Since the lamb would no longer be necessary, “unleavened” bread would be the perfect replacement. The idea was: Take, eat; this unleavened bread replaces the Passover lamb and represents My body which will be broken for you.

NOTE: The concept of transubstantiation (a change of one substance into another substance) – that somehow the “bread” becomes the literal body of Christ – is not supported by Scripture. Such thinking comes from an attempt to interpret the New Covenant in isolation from the Abrahamic, Mosaic, and Davidic Covenants of the Old Testament.

Jesus then directed His attention to the red wine which was the traditional beverage for the Passover. Matthew 26:27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you.”

Four cups of wine were part of the Passover observance. The significance can be traced to the exodus from Egypt. In speaking to the nation through Moses, God said:

Exodus 6:6-7 "Therefore say to the children of Israel: 'I am the LORD; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 'I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

The four “I Wills” formed the Rabbinic basis of four cups of wine used in the Passover Seder ceremony. They are called:

#. The cup of sanctification - “I will bring you out”

1. The cup of praise - “I will rescue you”
2. The cup of redemption - “I will redeem you”
3. The cup of acceptance - “I will take you”

It is the fourth cup of acceptance which in in view of Matthew's Gospel:

Matthew 26:27-29 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. "For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. "But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom."

Jesus did not drink of the fourth cup because it was the cup of acceptance, and His nation, Israel, did not, at that time, accept Him as their Messiah. Only later, at the end of the age, when Israel recognizes who He is and enters into the provision of the NEW COVENANT, will Jesus drink of this fourth cup.

The KEY to understanding the concept of the NEW COVENANT is found in a brief statement in Hebrews:

NKJ Hebrews 9:17 For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives.

OR

NLT Hebrews 9:17 The will goes into effect only after the person's death. While the person who made it is still alive, the will cannot be put into effect.

In the death of Christ, man and God are eternally united.

Some of the important truths which come out of an understanding of God's covenants are:

THE LAW COVENANT was a shadow of things to come.

The NEW COVENANT is the substance.

Under the LAW COVENANT, the payment for sin was anticipated.

Under the NEW COVENANT, it is realized.

Under the LAW COVENANT, the sacrifices were provisional and recurring.

Under the NEW COVENANT, the sacrifice through Jesus' death is eternal and totally sufficient.

Under the LAW COVENANT, men's lambs could only cover sin, but under the NEW COVENANT, God's Lamb is able to take away sin.

The NEW COVENANT totally and forever superseded the OLD COVENANT (MOSAIC LAW/COVENANT). The ABRAHAMIC and DAVIDIC COVENANTS are unconditional and still in effect.

The NEW COVENANT did not cancel or replace the ABRAHAMIC of DAVIDIC COVENANTS. These covenants still continue in full force.

Believers today are not under a LAW SYSTEM. We are not restricted to a Sabbath day's journey. We don't bring an animal to the Temple to sacrifice at Passover. We don't have a high priest sacrifice a goat for us on the DAY OF ATONEMENT. We don't stone adulterous women as required under the Mosaic Law.

The NEW COVENANT has a better priesthood (MELCHISEDECAN), a better high priest (JESUS), a better sacrifice (THE LAMB OF GOD), and rests upon better promises.

Hebrews 7:19 for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.

The NEW COVENANT provides a perfect righteousness. It perfectly and eternally unites men with God. The LAW never could. The apostle John summed it up best when he said:

John 8:36 "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.