The Blood of the Covenant - Mark 14:12-26

In today’s business climate, one of the sage words of advice that you will hear time after time is, “Make sure you get it in writing.” Make sure you have everything in writing before you put your signature on any contract. That’s how we make a contract valid today. Our signature is our statement of intention to keep our part of the contract. It wasn’t always that way. There was a time when handshake was good enough to seal the deal. Someone’s word was the guarantee that they could be trusted. In ancient times people had another way of sealing a contract or a covenant with one another. It involved the shedding the blood of an animal. In fact, two parties would actually cut an animal in two and walk between the pieces as a sign of their agreement or covenant. Actually the Hebrew word for covenant comes from the idea to cut. That might explain the origin of the term, “To cut a deal.” The closing of a deal or making a covenant always involved the shedding of blood.

That gives a special meaning to the words that Jesus spoke in our text for this Maundy Thursday about His blood of the covenant which is poured out for many. This was a new covenant between God and man. A new covenant was needed because the people of God made a real mess of the old covenant. When God made His covenant with the people of Israel at Mt. Sinai, it was a covenant based on God’s promises and their obedience. It was a covenant sealed with the blood of countless animals that were sacrificed on the altar of the tabernacle, the tent church that served them until the temple would be built in Jerusalem many years later under Solomon. When the people heard the commandments of the Lord they proclaimed that everything that God commanded they would do. I can imagine that God smiled a knowing smile when they said that. He knew that they would never be able to keep their word. To remind them of the covenant that He made with them, that He would be their God and they would be His people, He gave them a system of sacrifices. Through that blood, their covenant would be sustained until the time when the Messiah would come who would rescue them from their sin.

When the Messiah came, there would be a new covenant, a new way of doing things, a new relationship between God and His special creatures. The new covenant would be sealed with blood, not the blood of animals as in the old covenant, but with the blood of His only begotten Son. It would be a covenant not based on obedience, but a covenant based on faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The reality of our sin made it clear that mankind could never keep their end of God’s covenant based on obedience to His will. Because of our sinful human nature, we are spiritually blind, spiritually dead and enemies of God. The people of Israel demonstrated that throughout their history as we read the Old Testament. They were constantly tempted to wander away from the true God and turn to the false gods of the people around them. Even when they followed some of the ceremonies and observed the festivals, they did it with hearts that were concerned with only carrying out the requirement and there was no repentance and no love for God. Time after time the prophets of God tried to call the people to repentance but they didn’t listen. God used foreign nations to punish His people in order to bring their hearts back to Him in sincere worship. They rebuilt the temple but it didn’t take long for some of the old, sinful ways to come back.

St. Paul tells us that when the time was right, the Messiah was sent into the world. That Messiah was the Son of God, the Word made flesh, born of the Virgin Mary. His message was still the same. “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” He called His people to turn from their sinful ways and turn to God for forgiveness and new life. He knew that He had come into the world to bring the new covenant, a covenant that would sealed with blood, a covenant that would be based on faith and trust in His sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins and the new life that would be part of this new covenant.

It is that new covenant that brings us to this point in the season of Lent, the time that we call Holy Week. This week began with Jesus making His triumphant entrance into Jerusalem. It included some of the most intense times of teaching in the short ministry of Jesus. It also included the events that occurred on that Thursday evening, that night that we now call Maundy Thursday from the Latin word “mandate” that means “command.” Jesus gave His disciples a new command. From that time forward they were to make use of some of the elements of the Passover meal that they were celebrating and through them receive His body and His blood for the forgiveness of their sins, for the strengthening of their faith and for the power to carry out His will in their lives.

His body and blood were about to be offered as the sacrifice for our sins. They were also going to be the seal of the new covenant between God and man. In the words that Mark used to describe this important event Jesus took the bread, the unleavened bread that was a part of the Passover meal, broke it into pieces so that it could be distributed to each of them and said, “Take; this is my body.” He took the cup and when He had given thanks he gave it to them and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.” His body and His blood are given in, with and under the bread and wine as a seal of the new covenant. It is His body and blood that would be sacrificed on the cross that makes the new covenant possible. The sin that separated us from God is forgiven, washed away through the blood of the true Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

The new covenant, sealed with blood, is now a covenant based on God’s sure and certain promises and our faith, which itself is a gift of God through the power of the Holy Spirit working through the Means of Grace, the Word and the Sacraments.

Through the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, we receive the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. Our sins are forgiven because Jesus is our Advocate with the Father. He took the punishment that we deserved because of our sins. He went to the cross to suffer and die as the payment for all sins. When we receive the Sacrament, we are reminded of the sacrifice that was made on the cross. Our faith is strengthened and the blessing of that forgiveness is ours.

We also are given life. We can think of that in two ways. We have new life now and life forever in the presence of God in heaven. The new life that we have now helps us to turn our lives around from the selfishness that is a part of our sinful nature to a life of love and service to our Lord and to those around us. The new life does not try to hide from God but instead looks forward to growing closer and closer to God throughout this life and yearns for the life of perfect happiness in heaven.

Right along with forgiveness and life, we have the promise of salvation. Salvation implies that we are saved from something. Actually through God’s grace we are saved from our slavery to sin. In connection with that we are also saved from the eternal punishment that we deserve because of that slavery to sin. Not only are we saved from that horrible fate but we are saved to joyfully serve our God with our whole lives.

As we observe Maundy Thursday, this is really a time for us consider the wisdom of God in making His plan of salvation known to us throughout the Bible. When we look at it closely, we can see the connection between the Children of Israel being rescued from their slavery in Egypt and our rescue from the slavery to sin. We can see the connection between the shedding of blood as a seal of a covenant in the Old Testament and the shedding of Jesus’ blood as a seal of the new covenant for all true believers. We have a loving God. He loved us so much that He provided a way for us to be with Him forever in heaven in spite of our sin. He had to send His own dear Son to make it possible through His suffering and death. He has given us a great gift in the Sacrament of Altar. May we come to the Sacrament with repentant hearts, receive it with thanksgiving and return with new strength, peace in our hearts, and joy for our lives ahead. Amen

And the peace which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen