For Christians the holiest time of the year is the commemoration of Jesus’ death and the resurrection. They understand Jesus’ willing
and perfect sacrifice satisfied God’s justice for Adam’s disobedience that brought the condemnation of sin and death upon all mankind. Through Jesus’ acceptable sacrifice, in due time the curse of death would be lifted and a resurrection of the dead would take place. “For since by man [Adam] came death, by man [Jesus] came also the resurrection of the dead.”—1 Cor 15:21
To redeem Adam, Jesus had to become flesh and as a perfect man, take Adam’s place in death. He would need to be a ransom for Adam—a perfect life for a perfect life. “The Son of man came … to give his life a ransom for many.”—Matt. 20:8
The night before his death, Jesus and his apostles gathered in an upper room to celebrate the Passover supper which commemorated Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian bondage. This deliverance came via the tenth plague God brought upon Egypt—death of the firstborn. Jesus desired to eat this Passover with them knowing this would be his last night on earth with his apostles. He still had lessons to teach them before he returned to the Father.—John 16:12
In one lesson Jesus washed his disciples’ feet showing them to care and sacrifice for one another. (John 13:3-17) Another lesson was to love one another as he had loved them. (John 13:34,35) That same night Judas betrayed Jesus to the Jewish leaders who had him arrested, tried, and put to death. It was a life-changing night for the apostles and all those who would become followers of Jesus.
The Passover supper Jesus and the apostles celebrated foreshadowed Jesus’ death the next day. This fulfilled Jesus’ statement: “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) Jesus was “the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.”—John 1:29
Following the Passover supper, Jesus instituted a new feast for his disciples to observe. (Matt. 26:26-28 New American Standard Bible)
“While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’ And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.’”
Jesus’ mission to die as a ransom for Adam was about to be completed. He was the fulfillment of the Passover lamb whose blood protected the Jewish firstborn from the tenth plague. While the tenth plague led to Israel’s release from Egyptian bondage, Jesus’ sacrifice would release Israel and mankind from the penalty of sin and death. “As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Cor. 15:22) Through Christ’s sacrifice, all that are in the grave will hear Jesus’ voice and come forth to an opportunity for everlasting life.—John 5:28,29
Jesus instituted this new feast in remembrance of his death. “Do this in remembrance of me.” (1 Cor. 11:25 NASB) Remembering Jesus’ actual death would replace remembering the Passover lamb which pictured Jesus.
What was the meaning of the bread and the cup which our Lord used in this new feast? These symbols mirrored the flesh and blood of the Passover lamb and Jesus’ statement in John 6:54-56 (NASB): “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. … He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.” The bread and cup represent the benefits Jesus’ sacrifice and death made available to all mankind.
The bread represented Jesus body or flesh. “This is my body.” (Matt. 26:26) But how do we eat Jesus’ body? The Passover lamb’s flesh was eaten by Israel during the Passover night. This gives us a hint. Additionally, Jesus said in John 6:63 (NASB): “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” We cannot eat Jesus’ literal flesh but we can feast on his words and example. Jesus abides in us through his word. “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.” (Col. 3:16 NASB) If Jesus words and example abide in us, we will bring forth much fruit.—John 15:5,7,8
The second part of this new feast was the drinking of the cup. What was in the cup? Jesus’ blood of the new testament [covenant]. (Matt. 26:28) But how do we drink Jesus’ blood? The Passover lamb’s blood was splashed on the doorposts and lentils of the Jewish homes in Egypt protecting their firstborn from the 10th plague. This gives us a hint. It is the blood of Jesus that cleanses us from all sin and protects us as members of the church of the firstborn. (1 John 1:7; Heb. 12:23) By accepting Jesus as our Savior, we are justified or made right in God’s sight by his blood. (Rom. 5:9) This is how we abide in Jesus, by maintaining our faith in his blood as the ransom for Adam.
What is meant by the new covenant in Jesus’ blood? (Luke 22:20 NASB) When the Israelites rejected Jesus, their house was “left unto them desolate.” (Matt. 23:38) But God promised them a future, new arrangement in Jer. 31:31-34. “‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, … ‘I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. … for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,’ declares the LORD, ‘for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.’” Israel was to be the first blessed under the covenant and an example to the other nations who would then flow unto her to learn of God and be blessed as well. “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘In those days ten men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’” —Zech. 8:23 NASB
God sent Jesus, the promised Messiah, to redeem mankind and especially his chosen people the nation of Israel. (Amos 3:2) By Jesus’ willing and faithful sacrifice, the promise of restoring God’s chosen people to favor and life could be fulfilled. No longer would Israel be condemned under the Law Covenant because their fallen flesh could never keep its law perfectly. Under the New Covenant, God would write his law in their hearts and make them his people. Under the New Covenant, God would give to them a pure language so they would turn and worship God and he would bless them and be their God.—Zeph. 3:9
As the world observes Israel’s blessings under the New Covenant, they will come to the LORD to be blessed as well. “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.”—Isa. 2:2,3
The blood of Jesus, pictured by the cup, was an offering for sin. As a sin offering, Jesus took Adam’s place taking Adam’s condemnation of sin and death upon himself. (2 Cor. 5:21) Jesus knew that his suffering and death as a man was required to provide for man’s and Israel’s redemption. (Isa. 53:4-6) His perfect human life, pictured by his blood in the cup, made it possible for the New Covenant to become operational in the Heavenly Father’s due time.
Why not put the New Covenant into effect immediately after Jesus was resurrected? God’s plan was that Jesus would have associates in administering the New Covenant. “For even as the body is one and yet has many members, … so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. … Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it. (1 Cor. 12:12-13,27 NASB) By offering the bread and cup to his apostles, Jesus was offering to them the opportunity to become part of this group, his body. This opportunity is still open. All who come into covenant relationship with Jesus, by faith in his shed blood and being baptized into his death, thereby participate in his sacrifice and become members of his body. “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?” (Rom. 6:3 NASB) “It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; If we endure, we will also reign with Him.”—2 Tim. 2:11,12 NASB
The Lord is using the time between his first and second advents to select and develop his body members in preparation for the New Covenant. “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” (Rom. 8:16,17) These will become a spiritual priesthood that will bless Israel and the world of mankind under the New Covenant, being prepared as “able ministers” of the New Covenant. (2 Cor. 3:6) This priesthood will be a sympathetic one, having had the same experiences as men, but having been obedient to God’s commands as was their head, Jesus. The entire priesthood, Christ and his body members, will then be able to teach mankind how to conquer iniquity in their hearts so they can become God’s people under the New Covenant and pass the test for everlasting life. Then, the human family will once again be in harmony with their God.—1 Cor. 15:24-28
This is the reason why our Lord Jesus gave up his heavenly position, was made flesh and then suffered and died—to redeem Adam and all his descendants from sin and death. He “brought life (for Israel and mankind under the New Covenant) and immortality (through baptism into Jesus’ death) to light through the Gospel. (2 Tim. 1:10 NASB) As we remember the great sacrifice of Jesus, “Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Cor. 5:8 NASB) Let us abide in Christ through faith in his blood and have his words abide in us that we may bear much fruit. (John 15:4,57) Let us humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God and let us partake worthily of this new feast set before us by our Lord and Master Christ Jesus.
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