Luke 22:14-38
Today's Passage: Luke 22:14-38
I read this and see that Jesus had been waiting for this specific moment for a very long time. Not just His earthly ministry, but since the plagues of Egypt and later when the Passover feast was instituted (Exodus 12 and Leviticus 23). The whole purpose was to foreshadow the sacrifice of the unblemished Lamb of God for the establishment of a New Covenant and the subsequent freedom of God’s people.
Jesus greatly desired to show them what the Passover feast truly represented! He replaced words in the normal ritual, which must have been shocking to those present. He tells of His institution of a New Covenant.
As a reminder, the Old Covenant was made between God and a group of people He had chosen. This group started with the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and God grew their descendants into the nation of Israel. Israel was supposed to follow God’s law and worship only Him, and in return He would bless them abundantly. God also established a sacrificial system in which they could be temporarily cleansed from their sin when they disobeyed or were made unclean, but even after that they couldn’t be in God’s presence, they had priests to represent them. Even with these accommodations, Israel did not obey, was unfaithful, and the nation was judged by God.
The New Covenant was prophesied in Jeremiah 31:31-34, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
The New Covenant is this: the Law is written on our hearts and we can obey because of the Holy Spirit, the sins of people are forgiven because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and people have direct, intimate access to God. Jesus was eager to tell them about what God had been planning since the dawn of time.
How does knowing that God had a plan from the beginning bring you comfort?
Written By: Kaitlin White
I read this and see that Jesus had been waiting for this specific moment for a very long time. Not just His earthly ministry, but since the plagues of Egypt and later when the Passover feast was instituted (Exodus 12 and Leviticus 23). The whole purpose was to foreshadow the sacrifice of the unblemished Lamb of God for the establishment of a New Covenant and the subsequent freedom of God’s people.
Jesus greatly desired to show them what the Passover feast truly represented! He replaced words in the normal ritual, which must have been shocking to those present. He tells of His institution of a New Covenant.
As a reminder, the Old Covenant was made between God and a group of people He had chosen. This group started with the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and God grew their descendants into the nation of Israel. Israel was supposed to follow God’s law and worship only Him, and in return He would bless them abundantly. God also established a sacrificial system in which they could be temporarily cleansed from their sin when they disobeyed or were made unclean, but even after that they couldn’t be in God’s presence, they had priests to represent them. Even with these accommodations, Israel did not obey, was unfaithful, and the nation was judged by God.
The New Covenant was prophesied in Jeremiah 31:31-34, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
The New Covenant is this: the Law is written on our hearts and we can obey because of the Holy Spirit, the sins of people are forgiven because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and people have direct, intimate access to God. Jesus was eager to tell them about what God had been planning since the dawn of time.
How does knowing that God had a plan from the beginning bring you comfort?
Written By: Kaitlin White
1 Comment
Great post Kaitlin!