The Lord's Supper and The New
Covenant
What is a
covenant?
A covenant
is a treaty or binding agreement between two parties. The Hebrew word berith which is translated covenant
literally means cutting, implying the fact that a covenant was confirmed with the
shedding of the blood of a sacrifice. This meant that a covenant was a blood
oath.
The New
Covenant is primarily stated in contrast to the Old (Mosaic) Covenant. These
two covenants are the only conditional covenants God makes in the scriptures.
God’s promises in the covenants are eternal, but the agreement itself depends
upon men accepting the terms of agreement.
What are
some of the differences between the New and Old Covenants?
- The Old
Covenants terms/rules had to be learned (Exodus
24:12)
- The Old
Covenant had to be obeyed according to the ability of men (Romans 7:5)
- The Old
Covenant was confirmed with the blood of animals (Exodus 24:8)
- The Old
Covenant had severe consequences for failure to obey (Deuteronomy 28:15-68)
- The New
Covenant is Holy Spirit taught (Jeremiah
31:33-34)
- The
ability to obey the New Covenant is empowered by the Holy Spirit of God (Hebrews 9:14)
- The New
Covenant is confirmed by the blood of the Son of God (Matthew 26:28)
- The New
Covenant is crowned with God’s mercy and forgiveness for those times men fail
to obey (Hebrews 8:12)
The first Lord’s Supper was a
Passover observance by Jesus and His disciples. (Matthew 26:19-20) It was also the institution of the
New Covenant. It makes sense for us to honor the New Covenant on Passover.
During the
Passover observance, it was customary for the head of the feast (Jesus in this
case) to lead the table in remembrance of the four great “I WILLS”, promises of
God to Israel as stated in Exodus 6:6-7.
These were memorialized by the taking of a cup of wine for each declaration.
The four promises and cups were:
- I WILL
bring you out (the cup of sanctification)
- I WILL
bring you out of bondage (cup of deliverance/praise)
- I WILL
redeem you (the cup of redemption)
- I WILL
take you to me for a people (cup of acceptance/praise)
On the night of the first Lord’s
Supper, Jesus took the first three cups with His disciples. The last cup, the one in which He
said “this is my blood of the new testament (covenant) which is shed for many
for the redemption of sins” (Matthew
26:28) was the cup of redemption. Redemption (Hebrew gaal) means to be
purchased out of slavery, or to pay a ransom and free. It had to be done by
someone who was a kinsman (family). Jesus paid the purchase price (His blood) to
redeem us from slavery to sin (Romans
6:12-16).
Paul used
three different words to describe what redemption accomplishes for the
believer. The first, agorazo, meant to purchase out of the
market.
(Gal. 3:10) This was
describing the purchase of one who was a slave.
The second
word, ekagorazo, meant to purchase
and take home. (Gal. 3:13) This described
the extension of redemption beyond simply purchasing our freedom. The Lord then gives the believer a place to
call home, which He has provided.
The third
word is lutroo, and it meant to
purchase and give freedom. (Tit. 2:14, Gal. 5:14) The idea here is that the redeemed has now
been granted citizenship.
The
completion of this process is found in
Galatians 4:4-7, where we are told that redemptions final stage is
“adoption”, (uihothesia), where the
one who was once a slave is now legally and spiritually a child of the One who
purchased their redemption.
Jesus
refused to take the fourth cup (the cup of acceptance) because Israel had not
yet accepted Him as Messiah. (Matthew
27:20-25, Zechariah 12:10). The next time that He takes the cup will be
with all believers and redeemed Israel at the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:7-9).
Some notes
on the Lord’s Supper taken from the early church -
- Important
passages for meditation before taking the Lords Supper include Matthew 26:26-28, John 6:22-71 and 1
Corinthians 11:20-34.
- The Lord’s
Supper was done weekly, sometimes with every meal
- The Lord’s Supper is a spiritual and
physical blessing to all who take it worthily
- The Lord’s
Supper brought sickness and death to believers who took it unworthily (1 Corinthians 11:20-34)
- Unleavened
bread (symbolizing purity) and red wine sometimes mixed with water were
normally used
- Because
the Lord’s supper was normally done in small groups, personal confession was
often practiced before taking it, to cleanse the conscience and help the
believer take it in a worthy manner
- The point
of the Lords Supper is to remember what Jesus did for us (Crucifixion) and to
remember our commitment to the New Covenant with Him
Understanding
the vital importance of taking the Lord’s Supper in a worthy manner, the key
phrase to focus on is found in Luke
22:19, where Jesus said that this act is done in “in remembrance of
Me”. To take the Lord’s Supper in a
worthy manner means to remember Jesus Christ and all He has done for us. His sinless life, His personal sacrifice,
everything. This is to take the Lord’s
Cup in a manner that is worthy.
