Most of you know that I love finding connections between Old Testament and New Testament Scripture. Well, here’s one that I think will give you a much deeper meaning of the New Testament passage of Luke 22:20 when Jesus was instituting the Last Supper or Holy Communion.

²⁰ Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. 

 The final or fourth cup of the Passover meal – Jesus is saying represents my blood, the blood of the New Covenant. There are a number of covenants in the Old Testament including the Abrahamic Covenant where God promised Abraham a son and to bless him with so many descendants, he would not be able to count them. There is the Mosaic Covenant where God gave Moses the Law, and the Davidic covenant where God promised that a descendent of David would always be on throne – the Messiah. In the culture of the Old Testament era a covenant required the shedding of blood. The required blood of this New Covenant was the blood of Christ himself.

To get some background on this New Covenant we need to turn back to the Old Covenant or Testament to Jeremiah Chapter 31 and verse 31.

³¹ “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, (That day came when Jesus raised that cup) ³² 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. (This New Covenant is not going to be like the Law that Israel could not keep) ³³ 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. (We don’t need the written Law, for it is written on our hearts) ³⁴ 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. (It won’t be necessary to teach God’s law, because everyone will have it in their hearts and will inherently know right from wrong) For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (He will forgive our sins and forget them like they never happened!)

A few things we can glean from this passage:

1. The law is written on our hearts.
2. We will have a personal relationship with God.
3. God will forgive our sins and remember them no more.
4. In the Seder or Passover meal the fourth cup symbolizes the completion of God’s promises and anticipation of God’s redemption.
5. Jesus didn’t drink the fourth cup, but stating He would drink it anew with his followers in the Father’s kingdom. This signifies the full and final redemption to come when Jesus returns.

God has an intricate plan that unfolds before us with the passing of each day, don’t miss it.