Jesus Institutes the New Covenant

June 2, 2019 Background Scripture: Mark 14:12 – 31; Hebrews 8 Lesson Passage: Mark 14:17 – 25; Hebrews 8:6, 7, 10 – 12 This next series of studies will focus on the New Covenant. During the days of the patriarchs of Israel, people were tribal and often entered into pacts or agreements that were binding between the covenant groups. With no general laws governing all people, other than the laws of nature, such as survival of the fittest, these mutual agreements were very important for the safety and well-being of families. Covenants were important for families and tribes who lived in close proximity to other tribes. It was during the time of the patriarchs that God entered into covenant with the Hebrew, Abram. God made grand and eternal promises to Abram and his offspring after him. This was remarkable on many levels. First, it was unheard of that God would enter into a covenant with a man—or people for that matter. Secondly, the covenant covered the offspring of Abram, who at the time was aged and without a single child. The covenant even covered that as well. There were a number of provisions in the covenant that were somewhat obscure and some seemed impossible to fulfill. One of those provisions stated that all families of the earth would be blessed through Abram’s seed. This unique covenant remained relatively unchanged for about two thousand years. Then came the incarnation of the Christ-child. A baby was born to a virgin and declared to be the Messiah who would bring fulfillment of the covenant God made with Abram. After thirty years of remaining rather inconspicuous, the man, Jesus, was introduced to Jewish society through the preaching of John the Baptist. Jesus had a three-year public ministry whereby he gave overwhelming evidence of his true identity. He was unlike anyone known to Israel throughout their history as a people descended from Abram. Jesus did what Israel’s prophets of old did and more. What Jesus did not do was confront the Roman Empire as a military leader of Israel. A military leader is who the Jewish leadership was looking for at that time. Nevertheless, Jesus demonstrated that he met all of the provisions of God’s promise to Abram and he was now presenting himself to Israel as their long-awaited Messiah. The Jewish leaders convinced the Jews to reject Jesus as one who did not meet their expectations of how God would fulfill His promises. It was this rejection that led to the events in our text. The rejected Messiah would now become the sacrificial lamb who would lay down his life for the salvation of many. On the night that he was going to be betrayed and arrested, Jesus established a memorial for his followers to observe in remembrance of him. He used some leftovers from the Passover Supper that he and his disciples had just shared in. The Passover Supper commemorated the deliverance of the Jews out of Egypt and it was a required meal for Israel. In Egypt, the Passover lamb was killed and its blood applied over the doors where the Jews resided in Egypt. The blood kept the death angel from entering their dwellings the night the Egyptians were punished into setting the Jews free. The Passover lamb foreshadowed the offering of Jesus in exchange for the sins of the world. As the Passover Supper was ending, Jesus took some of the unleavened bread and wine and used them as elements to institute a remembrance of him. This was the institution of the New Covenant. Robert C. Hudson May 10, 2019