A New Covenant
Matthew 26:26-30
July 19, 2009
Note: The ME/WE/GOD/YOU/WE format is from Andy Stanley’s book, "Communicating for a Change."
Me: I grew up Catholic, as most of you know, and there is something that all Catholic kids go through, usually in the second grade or thereabouts.
Anyone know what that is? Any other former Catholics in the room? (If so, ask if their parents are talking to them again yet…)
It’s called “First Communion.” It’s that time when children are allowed to take communion, or the Eucharist as it is called.
I think I was in second grade – I don’t really remember, but I do remember that about that same time I was given something that only us mature second-graders got – a box of offering envelopes.
I guess they figured that second-graders could hold jobs that would enable us to tithe or something. Or that we would be able to convince our parents to give us money – if we weren’t already getting an allowance, which I didn’t get back in those days.
You had to go to Catechism in order to be able to take your First Communion, and that was where we were supposed to learn about what Communion was all about and why it was so special.
To be totally honest, I don’t remember if I really appreciated all that stuff. I may have, because even at that young age God was working on my heart to love Him.
But I do remember thinking how cool it would be to taste real wine – again, something all cool Catholic second-graders got to do.
I think I can guarantee that I didn’t gain much of an understanding of the significance of Communion, or what is also called the Lord’s Supper, until I came to Christ in college.
We: Would it be fair to say that I’m not the only one here who didn’t really get it about Communion in the second grade?
In fact, I would say that there are lots of people who have been adults for a long time who still have some things to learn about what Jesus started that night, just hours before He was arrested.
As we talk about this important event in Jesus’ life, my hope is that everyone here will grow in understanding of it.
But more than that, I hope that that understanding will move us all toward actions that are in line with loving Jesus like we claim to.
God: We’re continuing to work our way through the gospel of Matthew, and we’re basically entering the last 24 hours of His earthly life.
And we come to that famous event known as the Last Supper. It’s during this time that Jesus institutes a new sacrament that His Church will celebrate from then until now, and until Jesus returns.
Matthew 26:26-30 (P. 703) –
17 On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?"
18 He replied, "Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ’The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’"
19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.
I don’t want us to go farther without recognizing what Jesus says right here:
“My appointed time is near.”
We’ve already discussed the fact that Jesus had told His disciples that He was going to be handed over to be crucified, and recently He told them it would be during the Passover that was coming up.
In just a few verses He’s going to tell them that one of them is going to be the one through whom He is arrested and crucified.
My point here is that Jesus was totally well aware of what was coming. And He began to be intentional about preparing both Him and His disciples.
Then we come to the part we discussed last week, verses 20-26 –
20 When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. 21 And while they were eating, he said, "I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me."
22 They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, "Surely not I, Lord?"
23 Jesus replied, "The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. 24 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born."
25 Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, "Surely not I, Rabbi?"
Jesus answered, "Yes, it is you."
And now we come to the portion we’re going to look at today, here in verses 26-30 –
26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body."
27 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom."
30 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
There are a number of very interesting things from these five verses, and we could literally take another 2 or 3 weeks going through them.
But today I want us to focus on Jesus’ words in verse 28, and we may even take a couple weeks to get through this, because it is critical, in my opinion, that we understand this as much as possible.
We may also take some time in the next couple of weeks to talk about other aspects of this, like why Jesus uses bread instead of the lamb that was served at the Passover meal, the significance and timing of the cup Jesus used during this Passover “service,” and why Jesus says He won’t drink wine until they are together in the Father’s kingdom.
But today, we’re looking at verse 28 –
“This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
The word, “covenant,” is especially significant. But for us to really get something of what Jesus was trying to communicate, we need to look at the covenant that was in place up to that point.
So we’re going to do a little comparing and contrasting of the two covenants, okay?
The old covenant was put into place after God had delivered the Hebrews from the Egyptians during that first Passover, when the Hebrews, following the instructions of God, put the blood of a lamb or a goat on their doorframes so the angel of death would pass over their homes during that plague in which God took the lives of all the firstborn children and animals of Egypt.
When they made their way to Mt. Sinai, God gave them this covenant.
By the way, you’ve noticed that you can tell a tourist or a new person to South Dakota by how they pronounce “Pierre,” right? (For those reading this sermon, native South Dakotans pronounce it "Peer," not like the French pronunciation)
Well, you can also tell that a person is from the Brooking/De Smet area by how they pronounce “Sinai.” Most people pronounce it “Sinai.” Those from the Brookings and surrounding area pronounce it “Sineeai.”
Living in Brookings for about 17 years, you have no idea how hard it is for me to say, “Sinai,” and not “Sineeai.”
Okay – back to the covenant stuff…
In the old covenant, God had agreed to forgive people’s sins if they would bring animals for the priests to sacrifice.
When this sacrificial system was put into place, the agreement between God and human beings was sealed with the blood of animals.
But animal blood did not in itself remove sin, and animal sacrifices had to be repeated day by day and year after year.
It wasn’t a “once-for-all” kind of thing.
Here at the Lord’s Supper, Jesus instituted a new covenant, or agreement, between humans and God.
Under this new covenant, Jesus would die in the place of sinners.
Unlike the blood of animals, Jesus’ blood would truly remove the sins of all who would put their faith in him.
And Jesus’ sacrifice would never have to be repeated; it would be good for all eternity.
Let me also point out very quickly three other facts regarding the old and new covenants:
#1, the old covenant was in place mainly to point to the new covenant that Jesus was bringing.
The old covenant was a shadow of the new covenant, pointing forward to the day when Jesus himself would be the final and ultimate sacrifice for sin.
This means that, #2, the new covenant doesn’t replace the old covenant, it completes it. Does that make sense?
#3 – In the old covenant, people could approach God only through the priests and the sacrificial system. Now people can personally approach God and communicate with him.
You: One of my bosses in Brookings used to say, “There are three types of people in the world – those who can count and those who can’t.”
The fact of the matter is that there are two types of people in the world, and only two types of people in this room: those who have the new covenant in place in their lives and those who don’t.
Those who accept Christ’s sacrifice and believe in him have the new covenant in place. They receive forgiveness and a home in heaven.
But if you haven’t put your faith in Him and His sacrifice, then you don’t have of sins, you don’t have the assurance of heaven when you leave this earth.
It doesn’t matter how religious you are, it doesn’t matter what your background it, it doesn’t matter how good of a person you think you are, at least compared to others, it doesn’t matter how many old ladies you help across the street, it doesn’t matter if you were an altar boy growing up, or if you were baptized as an infant or child.
None of that matters. All that matters is where your faith is.
You see, heaven isn’t an automatic deal for anybody. Contrary to what some would like to believe, not everyone is going to heaven.
Jesus says –
This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Notice Jesus doesn’t say that His blood is poured out for all for the forgiveness of sins.
That’s pretty significant in my book.
Obviously Jesus is implying that there will be some who are outside of the forgiveness Jesus bought with His blood on the cross.
So who are the “many?”
All those who put their faith in Christ and what He did on the cross.
It’s those who recognize that Christ came to give them eternal life and that outside of Him there is no hope for that.
Those who refuse Christ, who refuse to believe in Him and His sacrifice will find themselves facing God and being denied entrance to heaven.
And there’s only one other place – hell.
Jesus came so that we could escape the punishment we deserve for our sins.
And everyone in here can have that escape by putting your faith in Christ.
If you’re sitting here today, and you’re wondering if you’ll make it into heaven, let me assure you that Jesus wants you to be in heaven.
And if you want to walk out of here today knowing that your sins are forgiven and that you are guaranteed heaven, then I want you to pray with me right now.
I’m going to say a prayer that you can say along with me in your heart. If you really want Jesus to save you from what your sins deserve, then I invite you to pray with me right now.
(Prayer) – Eyes open to me.
For those who have already taken Christ for themselves, your application is that you would approach the Communion sacrament with not only a greater understanding of what happened during that special meal, but also a greater appreciation and a greater commitment to live for the One who died for you.
We: I wondered early on, and even while I was finishing up the message, whether or not we should take Communion today.
We’d have the time, because this message is a bit shorter, and we didn’t have it on the first Sunday of the month as we usually do.
But that’s not a good reason for Communion, is it?
We’re going to be taking some more time looking at this whole deal about Communion over the next few weeks, and so we’ll save it for our regular Sunday in three weeks.
In the meantime, I hope that all of us would contemplate the fact that Communion isn’t just a time to remember the Last Supper.
It’s a time to commemorate the fact that Jesus gave us something new – a new covenant that would be sealed in His blood in less than 24 hours from this time with His disciples in the upper room.
So let’s all leave here today with a renewed appreciation for what Christ signified in that meal, and what He played out for real the next day.
Let’s pray.
