New Covenant

Good intentions

God had good intentions when he delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. The LORD told Moses, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of the land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:7-8). God spoke to the people of Israel from heaven and gave them the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20), but a short while later, the Israelites made a golden calf and worshipped it. The people “turned aside quickly out of the way” that God had commanded them (Exodus 32:1-7). Psalm 78 conveys God’s good intentions toward his chosen people and the Israelites continual rebellion against him. It says in Psalm 78:9-12:

The Ephraimites, armed with the bow,
    turned back on the day of battle.
They did not keep God’s covenant,
    but refused to walk according to his law.
They forgot his works
    and the wonders that he had shown them.
In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders
    in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.

The psalmist indicated that the descendants of Joseph, Jacob’s favorite son, who was born to Rachel after many years of not being able to have children, refused to walk according to God’s law and forgot the extraordinary things he did to deliver them from slavery. The psalmist said, “He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap. In the daytime he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a fiery light. He split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep. He made streams come out of the rock and caused waters to flow down like rivers” (Psalm 78:13-16). In spite of this, the psalmist said:

Yet they sinned still more against him,
    rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
They tested God in their heart
    by demanding the food they craved.
They spoke against God, saying,
    “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?
He struck the rock so that water gushed out
    and streams overflowed.
Can he also give bread
    or provide meat for his people?” (Psalm 78:17-20)

The people of Israel’s rebellion against God was rooted in their bitterness toward him for taking them away from Egypt. The people complained about their misfortunes (Numbers 11:1) and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at” (Numbers 11:4-6).

God responded to the Israelites’ complaining by giving them what they asked for (Numbers 11:31-32). God continued to have good intentions for the people of Israel and provided for all of their needs, even after they refused to go in and take possession of the land that he had promised to give them (Numbers 14:1-10). Even when God was angry, he still did what was best for his chosen people, whom he loved and thought of as his treasured possession (Deuteronomy 7:6-8). It says in Psalm 78:21-25 regarding God’s response to the Israelites’ complaining:

Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of wrath;
    a fire was kindled against Jacob;
    his anger rose against Israel,
because they did not believe in God
    and did not trust his saving power.
Yet he commanded the skies above
    and opened the doors of heaven,
and he rained down on them manna to eat
    and gave them the grain of heaven.
Man ate of the bread of the angels;
    he sent them food in abundance.

God’s wrath against the descendants of Jacob was a result of their unbelief. Hebrews 3:12-19 explains that unbelief is a condition of the heart that comes from an individual’s willful refusal to be persuaded by the gospel of Jesus Christ. It states:

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said,

“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

Falling away from God means that we have withdrawn from his presence, deserted him, rather than the other way around. After God spoke the Ten Commandments to the people of Israel, it says in Exodus 20:18-19, “The people were afraid and trembled, and they stood afar off and said to Moses, ‘You speak to us, and we will listen, but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.’”

God’s good intentions for the people of Israel were mentioned in a letter that the prophet Jeremiah wrote to the exiles in Babylon. Jeremiah wrote:

“For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.” (Jeremiah 29:10-14).

God’s plan of salvation was intended to give the Israelites a future and a hope that included restoration of their relationship with him. God’s goal for the people of Israel was for them to seek him with all their hearts.

Jeremiah 30:3 – 31:26 talks about God’s restoration for Israel and Judah in the context of Israel’s Messiah. “This passage promises not only the Israelites’ return from exile but also their ultimate restoration (Jeremiah 31:12)” during the Messiah’s millennial reign on earth. “Before this blessing, however, will come the great tribulation, described here as ‘a time of distress for Jacob’ (Jeremiah 30:7). This will be brought about because of Israel’s sin (Jeremiah 30:11-15), but ultimately the nation ‘shall be saved out of it’ (Jeremiah 30:7). Following this time of trouble will be the reign of the Messiah (Jeremiah 30:9, 21). The manifestation of God’s ‘everlasting love’ (Jeremiah 31:3) will be seen in his rebuilding of the nation (Jeremiah 30:17-20; 31:4-7, 28, cf. Jeremiah 1:10). Within this declaration of judgment and blessing is the prophecy of Herod’s slaughter of the infants at the time of Christ’s birth (Jeremiah 31:15, cf. Matthew 2:18)” (note on Jeremiah 30:3 – 31:26).

Jeremiah 30:3 – 31:26 is followed by a discussion of the New Covenant that Jesus established with his disciples the night before his death on the cross (Matthew 26:26-29). “This is one of the most important passages in the Old Testament and contains several specific aspects of the new covenant. It is a covenant with the whole, reunited nation of Israel, not the church which is ‘grafted in’ to Israel’s promised covenant (Romans 11:17-27). The realization of the covenant for the nation of Israel is still future (Jeremiah 31:27, 31, 38; 32:42; 33:14; Ezekiel 37:26, cf. Hebrews 8:8). The covenant is based upon the full and eternal atonement secured by Christ’s death (cf. Matthew 26:26, 27; 1 Corinthians 11:24, 25; Hebrews 9:15), which is the only means by which God can forgive sins and remember them no more (v. 34). The Covenant will be based on an individual, personal knowledge of God (vv. 33, 34) and characterized by the indwelling of God’s Spirit (Ezekiel 36:26, 27; 37:14). It will be an everlasting, eternal covenant of peace, administered by the Prince of Peace who is in the line of David (Isaiah 9:6; 55:3; Ezekiel 34:23-25; 37:24-26). Jeremiah prophesied about this covenant:

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

God said the new covenant he was making with Israel was not like the old one that had to do with delivering his chosen people from slavery in Egypt. God said he would put his law within them and would “write it on their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33). God writing his law on our hearts means that he has placed within us the ability to live as he intended us to, doing what is good instead of evil (Matthew 12:33-37).

Jeremiah 31:33 is cited in Hebrews 10:16 in the midst of a discussion on the topic of sacrifices and offerings for the forgiveness of sins (Hebrews 10:1-18). Hebrews 10:11-14 states, “And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” The Greek word that is translated perfected, teleioo (tel-i-oˊ-o) is “used in the epistle to the Hebrews in a moral sense meaning to make perfect, to fully cleanse from sin, in contrast to ceremonial cleansing. Moral expiation is the completion or realization of the ceremonial one (Hebrews 7:19; 9:9; 10:1, 14)” (G5048). God’s good intentions for the Israelites, as well as, for everyone who has accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, was for them to be sinless, just as Christ was when he died for the sins of the world. Jesus said, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:16-17).

God’s messenger

The link between the Old and New Testaments of the Bible is sometimes difficult to grasp because of the differences between the Old and New Covenants that govern their content. The Old Covenant was “made with Israel as the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and as the people the Lord has redeemed from bondage to an earthly power.” It was “a conditional divine pledge to be Israel’s God (as her Protector and the Guarantor of her blessed destiny); the condition: Israel’s total consecration to the Lord as his people (His kingdom) who live by his rule and serve his purposes in history” (Major Covenants in the Old Testament, p. 16, KJSB). The Mosaic Law was given to the Israelites so that they would be aware of and follow the standard by which God would measure their devotion and obedience to him. At the end of his life, Moses told the people of Israel, “For the commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it? Neither is it beyond the seas that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it? But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart so that you can do it” (Deuteronomy 30:11-14). The Old Testament ends with God rebuking Israel’s priests for turning aside from the way that he had established for them to worship him (Malachi 2:8), and a declaration that Judah had profaned God’s covenant by marrying the daughter of a foreign god (Malachi 2:11). God announced his intention of establishing a new covenant through the prophet Malachi. God said, “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold he is coming says the LORD of hosts” (Malachi 3:1)

The New Covenant was “an unconditional divine promise to unfaithful Israel to forgive her sins and establish a relationship with her on a new basis by writing His law ‘in their hearts’—a covenant of pure grace” (Major Covenants in the Old Testament, p. 16, KJSB). Grace was not a new concept to the people of Israel, but they didn’t seem to understand how it worked. Jesus talked about grace in terms of a “benefit” or “credit” that one might receive for doing a good deed (Luke 6:32-34), and then said, “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:35-36). The Apostle Paul told the believers in Ephesus that it is “by grace that you have been saved…For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:5, 8-9). The Greek word that is translated works in Ephesians 2:9, er-gon (erˊ-gon) is speaking “of works of the law, meaning works required or conformable to the Mosaic moral law and required by the law” (G2041). Paul indicated that a person might be inclined to boast if he was able to live according to the Mosaic Law. Therefore, God chose to give salvation to us based on our faith in Jesus Christ.

God said of his messenger in Malachi 3:1, “he will prepare the way before me.” The Hebrew word derek (dehˊ-rek) is used figuratively to refer to “a course of life or mode of (action)” (H1870). When God said that his messenger would prepare the way, he meant that his messenger would focus people’s attention on the way they were living. Zechariah’s prophecy about his son John touched on this very point (Luke 1:76), and indicated that John would, “give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of sins because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:77-79). The idea that God’s grace can guide our feet into the way of peace is based on the fact that the Holy Spirit is able to convict us of our sin and cause us to repent (John 16:8). It says in Matthew 3:1-3:

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
    make his paths straight.’”

The Greek word that is translated repent in Matthew 3:1, metanoeo (met-an-o-ehˊ-o) means “to think differently or afterwards, i.e. reconsider” (G3340) and has to do with changing your mind. Paul describes repentance as a time-limited, opportunity in Hebrews 12:17 where he says of Jacob’s brother Esau, “For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.” John the Baptist’s preparation of the way for those who wanted to receive Christ as their Savior was also a time-limited opportunity. Not long after Jesus launched his ministry, John was arrested (Matthew 4:12), and a short while later, he was beheaded by Herod the tetrarch (Matthew 14:10). Jesus said of John, “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matthew 11:11).

Jesus’ declaration that the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist (Matthew 11:11) was based on the fact that John was not a born again believer. Jesus prefaced his statement about John with the stipulation “among those born of women.” Jesus explained to a man named Nicodemus that “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:5-6). Jesus distinguished between the two types of birth that a person could experience and stated that a spiritual birth was required for entrance into God’s kingdom. Throughout the New Testament, the Greek word that was used to refer to John as God’s messenger, aggelos (angˊ-el-os) is translated as angel or angels. Aggelos is derived from the word ago (agˊ-o), which is used metaphorically in Romans 2:4 to refer to leading (ago) someone to repentance. Paul asked, “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” It seems likely that God’s messenger, John the Baptist was perceived by most people to be an angel of kindness. John brought hope to those who were sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death through his message about God’s forgiveness of sins. It was the religious hypocrites who hated John and wanted to stop him from leading people to the light of Jesus Christ.

Jesus’ parable about tenants who killed their master’s son so that they could have his inheritance explains the reason why God replaced the Old Covenant that he made with Abraham’s descendants with a new one. Jesus stated:

“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

“‘The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing,
    and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” (Matthew 21:33-44)

The issue that caused a conflict between the master of the house and his tenants was possession of the fruit from his vineyard. When the master’s servants came to get his fruit, the tenants “beat one, killed another, and stoned another” (Matthew 21:35). What we’re not told is whether or not there was any fruit, and if there was, what the tenants did with it. Jesus’ solution seems to indicate that the tenants hadn’t produced any fruit. Jesus said the kingdom of God would be taken away and given to a people producing or bringing forth its fruits (Matthew 21:43).

Jesus talked about bringing forth fruit in many of his lessons and parables and explained in his parable of the sower that it’s not just hearing the word of God, but understanding it that causes fruit to be produced in the heart of a believer (Matthew 13:23). Jesus said understanding with the heart causes a person to be converted (Matthew 13:15). To be converted means that you reverse your direction in life and “become another kind of person e.g., to become like children” (G4762). Jesus told his disciples, “Unless you turn (strepho, G4762) and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). The first step in the process of being converted is to repent. John the Baptist told the people who came to him when he was preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3:1-2) and later, Jesus told the religious hypocrites who wanted to see a sign from him, “The men of Ninevah will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold something greater than Jonah is here” (Matthew 12:41).

Unchangeable

An important characteristic of God when it comes to salvation is what is referred to as his immutability. It says in Hebrews 6:17-18, “Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.” The Greek word translated immutability, amethatetos (am-et-ath’-et-os) means unchangeable (G276). Amethatetos has to do with decision making and at a deeper level deals with loyalty to a particular person or viewpoint. The immutability of God’s counsel refers specifically to his will, the things that he intends to accomplish and uses his power to control.

The Old Covenant which dealt with Abraham’s descendants being brought into an eternal relationship with God was the primary reason Jesus came to Earth and died for the sins of the world, but even before Jesus was born, God said that he was going to establish a New Covenant that would finish the work of salvation that began with Abraham (Jeremiah 31:33). Whereas the Old Covenant was a conditional covenant, meaning there were conditions that had to be met in order for it to be fulfilled, the New Covenant was enacted by God as “an unconditional divine promise to unfaithful Israel to forgive her sins and establish His relationship with her on a new basis by writing His law ‘in their hearts’ — a covenant of pure grace” (Major Covenants in the Old Testament, p. 16).

The writer of the book of Hebrews explained God’s New Covenant in the context of the Mosaic Law. The Jews had been living according to God’s commandments for hundreds of years, but were told, “If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change of the law also” (Hebrews 7:11-12). God’s standard of perfection was never meant to be attained by humans. The Mosaic law had to do with physical requirements that could extend one’s physical life; keeping the commandments was not expected to result in eternal life (Hebrews 7:16).

The writer of Hebrews determined that the Mosaic Law merely paved the way for something better that would accomplish what God originally intended, the restoration of his relationship with mankind (Hebrews 7:18-19). He said, “by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant. Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood” (Hebrews 7:22-24, NKJV). Basically, what this means is that Jesus has made it possible for the God’s work of salvation to continue uninterrupted. It is an eternal ministry that will never come to an end. The reason this is important is because sin can only be eliminated if it is permanently deleted from God’s record. The temporary covering that was originally accomplished through the sacrifice of animals was replaced with a perpetual, unchangeable atonement by the blood of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 7:27).

Cast aways

God’s purpose in establishing a new covenant was not to get rid of his chosen people, but to make room for everyone to enter into his kingdom. Paul told the Romans, ” Because the Jews have been put aside, many other people in the world have been saved from the punishment of sin. Think what it will be like when they are also gathered in. It will be like the dead coming back to life!” (Romans 11:15, NLV). Paul explained that the Israelite’s spiritual blindness was the result of an intentional effort on God’s part to integrate the Jewish and Gentile populations. Paul described it as a grafting, the technique whereby tissues of plants are joined so as to continue their growth together. He stated, “But some of the branches (who are the Jews) were broken off. You who are not Jews were put in the place where the branches had been broken off. Now you are sharing the rich root of the olive tree” (Romans 11:17, NLV).

Paul used the illustration of petrified rock to convey the Jews spiritual condition. Even though God claimed responsibility for hardening the Jews’ hearts, Paul made it clear that it was their unbelief that caused God distance himself from the his chosen people. Paul told the Romans, “It is true. They were broken off because they did not put their trust in Christ. And you are there only because of your faith. Do not be proud. Instead, be afraid. God did not keep the first branches (who are the Jews) on the tree. Then watch, or He will not keep you on the tree” (Romans 11:20-21, NLV). Paul went on to say, “God has said that all men have broken His Law. But He will show loving-kindness on all of them” (Romans 11:32, NLV). The end goal of God’s plan of salvation was to show mercy on everyone. That’s why he let the Jews go their own way for a period of time, so that we can benefit from what is now referred to as the age of grace.

Paul concluded his explanation of God’s casting away of the Jews with a doxology, a natural outpouring of his praise to God. Paul rejoiced by stating:

“God’s riches are so great! The things He knows and His wisdom are so deep! No one can understand His thoughts. No one can understand His ways.” The Holy Writings say, “Who knows the mind of the Lord? Who is able to tell Him what to do? Who has given first to God, that God should pay him back?” Everything comes from Him. His power keeps all things together. All things are made for Him. May He be honored forever. Let it be so. (Romans 11:33-36, NLV)

Paul was truly amazed by God’s ability to figure out a way to save both Jews and Gentiles with a single sacrifice, the death of Jesus on the cross. Paul referred to God’s grace as great riches. The combination of God’s wisdom, his practical skill and his knowledge or complete and absolute understanding of how the world works made it possible for him to devise a plan of salvation that was perfect in every way. Therefore, it is inevitable that the Jews will one day return to God’s favor as predicted by many of the Old Testament prophets (Romans 11:24-25).



The Last Supper

Jesus’ last meal with his twelve apostles was a critical event that marked the end of his three year ministry on Earth. The objective of this special event was threefold. First, it was supposed to be a celebration of the Jewish Passover Feast that was instituted by Moses at the time that the Israelites were delivered from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 12:11). Second, it signified the institution of Jesus’ New Testament or Covenant with the Jews (Matthew 26:28; Jeremiah 31:33-34). According to the Apostle Paul, the Lord’s supper was to repeated periodically until Christ’s return (1 Corinthians 11:26). Finally, The Last Supper symbolized restored communion between God and man and became a ritual known as the Eucharist that represents for believers Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross.

A central point of The Last Supper was Jesus’ recognition of his betrayer, Judas Iscariot. Matthew recorded, “Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve. And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me” (Matthew 26:20-21). The reason Jesus may have wanted his disciples to know that he was aware of who would betray him was so that they wouldn’t be shocked when it actually happened. Jesus definitely wasn’t caught off guard and didn’t even seem to be slightly disappointed that Judas was planning to betray him. It appeared as though Jesus was actually encouraging Judas to do what he thought he needed to when he told him, “What you are going to do, do quickly” (John 13:27, ESV).

The words that Jesus spoke as he passed the bread and wine to his disciples are recorded in three of the four gospels, but there are some variations that suggest his words were not remembered or recorded exactly as he spoke them. Matthew’s account is likely the most reliable since he was present when the words were spoken. He said, “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to his disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it, for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom” (Matthew 26:26-29).

Jesus’ association of the bread with his body and the wine with his blood may have been a spiritual metaphor that was intended to draw his disciples attention to the act that he was about to complete. Although some people may have been taught that Jesus’ words were meant to be taken literally, there is no indication that the bread the disciples ate and wine they drank was anything other than normal food and beverage. It could be that the symbolic nature of Jesus’ last supper was intended to be evident in his instruction to “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19, ESV). The Greek term that appears in the phrase translated “remission of sins” in Matthew 26:28, aphesis (af´-es-is) indicates a legal transaction is taking place in which the sinner is being pardoned and/or set free from captivity.