On the night He was betrayed, Jesus took the cup and said to His disciples, “Drink from it, all of you. Jesus shed His blood on the cross to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29) and ratify the new covenant between God and man. Jesus came to establish a “better covenant” (Hebrews 7:22), a “new covenant” that Jesus said was in His blood. “For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second” (Hebrews 8:7, ESV). The Old Covenant never provided a full, complete sacrifice for sin. For every sin, the process was replicated, day after day, month after month, year after year. Under the Old Covenant, the same inadequate sacrifices were constantly repeated. But, as Scripture says, “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4). The Old Covenant required repeated, daily sacrifices of animals as a reminder of the people’s sin. The Old Covenant required blood sacrifices, but it could not provide a final sacrifice for sin. The New Covenant was predicted in Jeremiah 31:31–33. The Old Covenant established laws and ceremonies that separated the Jews from the other nations, defined sin, and showcased God’s provision of forgiveness through sacrifice. The “ new covenant” that Jesus spoke of is in contrast to the Old Covenant, the conditional agreement that God had made with the Israelites through Moses. With these symbolic actions Jesus instituted the ordinance of communion, or the Lord’s Table. Moments before, the Lord had broken the bread and given it to His disciples with the words, “This is my body given for you do this in remembrance of me” (verse 19). At the Last Supper, Jesus took a cup and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you” (Luke 22:20).
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