Newlife

The Covenant Meal

The meal that Jesus shared with his disciples, just before his death, was the Jewish Passover meal (Luke 22:7).  Jesus celebrated the Passover – full of rich and relevant meaning – to signify its fulfilment through his imminent sacrifice as the ultimate Passover lamb (John 1:29; 1 Cor 5:7: 1 Pet 1:19).  Through the sharing of this Passover meal, Jesus also instituted the New Covenant.

A covenant is a legally binding contract.[1] In Old Testament times, covenants were made between contracting parties of men, but also between God and man.  From the Book of Genesis (and from secular sources), we can see that ancient Covenants had several common elements.

(1) There were promises or commitments, to which the parties bound themselves.[2]

(2) The terms of the covenant would be clearly communicated and understood.

(3) The covenant would be sealed, or ratified, with a solemn, ceremonial act that almost always involved a blood sacrifice.

(4) Sometimes this ceremony also included a meal, as in Genesis 31:54 and Exodus 24:4-8, 11.[3]  A meal between the parties affirmed the friendly and peaceful acceptance of the terms of the covenant.

(5) “There was also a memorial, some kind of physical token of the oath, which served to remind the parties of their commitments.”[2]

(6) There were curses attached to the covenant for the one who might break it.

(7) Moreover, “There was always a sense of solemnity in the making of a covenant, for it was a serious step of commitment.”[2]

When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper we are again renewing our acceptance of, and participation in, the New Covenant that Jesus Christ has made on our behalf.

The promise of the New Covenant is the forgiveness of sins and eternal life in relationship with God.

The terms of the contract, on our part, are believing in Jesus as the Saviour; while unbelief results in the curse of judgement and condemnation (John 3:16-18).

The tokens of the oath, which serve as reminders, are the unleavened bread and the wine – the symbols of Jesus sinless body and his “blood of the covenant” (Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:19-20)

Jesus has purchased the means of eternal life and ratified the covenant with the sacrifice of his lifeblood (Acts 20:28b; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:18-19).

When we accept Jesus’ terms of the covenant and willingly decide to enter into it, then we can share in the Covenant Meal.  This meal is called by various names by different churches; names such as: the Lord’s Supper, Communion or the Eucharist.  In most church gatherings it has become a simple, stylised and symbolic “meal”.  Every time we take Communion we reaffirm our participation in the enduring, eternal New Covenant as grateful recipients of salvation and redemption (1 Corinthians 10:16).

While we may not always be aware of it, Jesus is always present when we meet together in his Name (Matthew 18:20).  Jesus is also present, through his Spirit, whenever we remember his death during the Lord’s Supper.  We eat this meal in his presence with Jesus reaffirming his side of the Covenant as the Saviour and Redeemer who rescues us from the power of sin and death.

At the Lord’s Supper we do not merely commemorate Jesus’ death, we renew our commitment to the New Covenant of new life; and while we are already beneficiaries of this Covenant, we look forward to the time when we will receive our full inheritance (Ephesians 1:13-14; Colossians 1:12-14).

Endnotes

[1] Legal documents today often still have covenants attached to them, specifying certain details of a legal contract

[2] Bob Deffinbaugh “The Magnificent Meal on Mt. Sinai” (Exodus 24:1-18) From Exodus: The Birth of a Nation at Bible.org

[3] This is unclear in the NIV translation of Exodus 24:4-8

© 5th of July, 2009; Margaret Mowczko

Tags: Communion, Covenant, Eucharist, Lord's Supper, Passover

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 5th, 2009 at 6:54 pm and is filed under Christian Theology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.