The Messiah and the Covenants of Israel

The Messiah and the New Covenant

That the death of the Messiah provided the basis and ground for the implementation of the New Covenant can be ascertained from the events that took place the night before His execution. In conformity to the historic command of Moses to celebrate the Passover on the 14^th of Abib (Nisan) He hosted the remembrance meal for His disciples. The table was furnished with the roast meat of a lamb that had been killed in the Temple, and every aspect of the celebration had been meticulously followed, including the provision of unleavened bread and wine. They had drunk from the cup of thanksgiving, and eaten of the bitter herbs, dipping them in salt water, and haroset. They had feasted on the lamb, reclining at table as free men. It was when they were due to drink the third cup of wine, the cup of blessing, that the Messiah introduced a new aspect to the festival. Taking some of the unleavened bread He “gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’” (Luke 22:19) In a similar fashion “He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you’” (Luke 22:20; see also Matt.26.28; Mark 14.24; 1 Cor.11.25). In anticipation of His execution the following morning, He informed the future leaders of the Church that His death was ground for the commencement of a new dispensation, a dispensation of grace, a dispensation that would be founded on the New Covenant. It is His death that permits the implementation of that aspect of the New Covenant that grants forgiveness for sin. And it is His resurrection that points to the implementation of the Davidic Covenant, and it is His ascension that furnishes the Holy Spirit under the terms of the New Covenant to indwell His followers.

But how can we explain the implementation of the New Covenant as it was practiced in the early Church, for it stands in contrast to the Jeremiah text which points it directly to the houses of Judah and Israel and clearly anticipates it being activated for the nation as a whole? Paul, a minister of the New Covenant[1] and apostle of the Messiah with a special remit to go to the Gentiles, offered to them the benefits of the New Covenant without requiring their conversion to Judaism. Moreover, the book of Hebrews spends a great deal of time developing the argument that the New Covenant, that had been activated by the death, resurrection and ascension of the Messiah, is substantially better that anything provided in the Mosaic Covenant.[2] On the face of it this does not present any problem, but in light of the Jeremiah prophecy, it is slightly off centre because the Hebrew letter is directed, not to the nation as a whole but to those who have individually recognized the Messianic claims of Jesus of Nazareth.

The foundation text in Jeremiah[3] speaks of the New Covenant being activated for the nation as a whole, but in the early Church it was activated for individual Jews as well as individual Gentiles.

How so? Let’s find answers to this conundrum. (Next Time)

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[1] 2 Cor.3.6

[2] See Heb.7.22; 8.6-13; 9.15; 10.16,29; 12.24; 13.20

[3] Jer.31.31-34