Today in Holy Week marks when Jesus washed the Disciples’ feet and shared The Last Supper. It was on this day that the Lord Jesus showed His followers they must serve and that The New Covenant had now come in His blood, “When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it,l and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given/broken for you; do this in remembrance of me.”In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.,” (Luke 22:14-20) that the Prophet Jeremiah foretold, “Jeremiah 31:31-34
The New Covenant
[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, [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. [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. [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. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”” (Jeremiah 31:31-34). For many churches this instituted the Eucharist, and the Apostle Paul does command us to observe The Last Supper till Jesus Returns, “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).
It is on Holy Thursday that Christ makes sense to people baffled by what He said in Capernaum, “So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.” (John 6:53-59). That He meant a spiritual feeding, not cannibalism. That He means break His flesh and pour out His blood to cleanse us of our sins at the cross. It is here that at last a better covenant is revealed, “But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises,” (Hebrews 8:6), “Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant,” (Hebrews 7:22), and that the old covenant has passed away, “By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.” (Hebrews 8:13).
Maunday Thursday is when Jesus began changing the whole dynamic of what it means to follow the Lord, instituting a New Covenant, a New Yoke that is easy and light, where Christ did the heavy lifting and difficulty at the cross and saves us through faith in Him and his finished work at the cross and tomb. It is a moment when everything is beginning to be made new, “And the One seated on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Then He said, “Write this down, for these words are faithful and true.” (Revelation 21:5, Berean Literal Translation).
I suggest to commemorate that you get some crackers and grape juice; wine if you don’t have an addiction to it and participate in the Communion. After all, we are suppose to be doing this till Christ returns. Amen.
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