And after taking the cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood, the blood of the covenant, that is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Matthew 26:27-28 NET
As Jesus celebrated a last Passover meal with his disciples, he gave new meaning to two of its elements. He identified the bread as his body, broken for them. And he took one of the cups of wine and identified it as his blood; the blood of the covenant poured out for the forgiveness of sins.
In the years since this, the Church has remembered Jesus’ broken body and shed blood in what has come to be called, among other names, the Lord’s Supper. We celebrate this meal in different ways and assign different meanings to the elements. But it is always done in remembrance of what Jesus did for us (1 Cor. 11:23-26).
Of particular significance is the cup. Jesus identified this cup as containing the blood of the covenant. But which covenant was Jesus referring to here?
God established a covenant with Israel when they came to the foot of Mt. Sinai after leaving Egypt. In Exodus 24:8, Moses used the same words that Jesus did here when he sprinkled the blood of a sacrifice on the people and called it the blood of the covenant.
Israel repeatedly broke the terms of this covenant. And the prophets foretold a time when God would establish a new covenant with them—a covenant whose terms would be written on their hearts rather than stone (Jer. 31:31-34).
And this is the covenant that Jesus was pointing to when he passed around this cup. A covenant established at the cross where his shed blood became an atoning sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins (Rom. 3:25). A covenant that we enter into through faith in Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:22, Eph. 2:8-9).
When you take the cup at the Lord’s table, remember his blood poured out for the forgiveness of your sins. And give thanks to him for this covenant of grace that he has called us into.
