Week 12: The New Covenant in His Blood (Luke 22:14–20 with Hebrews 8:6–13)

The Big Idea

On the night before he died, Jesus took bread and a cup at the Passover table and gave them new meaning. The cup, he said, is the new covenant in his blood. Everything we have traced, from Noah's rainbow to Abraham's pieces, from Sinai's blood to David's throne to Jeremiah's promise, comes together in him. The God who binds himself binds himself to us at the cost of his own Son.

Before You Read

Passover was the yearly meal remembering God's rescue of Israel from Egypt (Exodus 12), the rescue that began when God remembered his covenant (Week 4). Jesus shares this meal with his apostles in Jerusalem, knowing he is about to be betrayed and crucified. Hebrews was written to believers, many likely from a Jewish background, who were tempted to drift back from Christ. Chapter 8 quotes Jeremiah 31:31–34 in full to show that Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant Jeremiah promised. One more note: the New Testament was written in Greek, but its word for covenant is the word the Greek translation of the Old Testament used for berit. The same covenant story continues.

Read

Read Luke 22:14–20 and Hebrews 8:6–13 slowly, twice, once aloud. As you read Hebrews 8, you will recognize Jeremiah's words from last week.

Observe

1. In Luke 22:15, how does Jesus describe his desire to eat this Passover? What does he say is about to happen?
2. What does Jesus say about when he will eat and drink this meal again (vv. 16, 18)?
3. What does Jesus do with the bread, step by step? What does he say it is, and for whom is it given?
4. What does Jesus tell his disciples to do in verse 19, and why?
5. What does Jesus call the cup in verse 20? Who is it poured out for?
6. In Hebrews 8:6, how does the writer describe Christ's ministry and the covenant he mediates? What is it enacted on?
7. According to Hebrews 8:8, with whom did God find fault?
8. In Hebrews 8:13, what does the writer say about the first covenant now that a new one has been named?

A Word to Notice

Berit (beh-REET), covenant, the word we met in Week 1, comes full circle. Back in Genesis 9, God bound himself to every living thing and set his bow in the cloud. In Genesis 15, he passed alone between the pieces. At Sinai, Moses threw the blood of the covenant on the people. Now Jesus lifts a cup and says it is the new covenant in his blood. Every time God bound himself in the Old Testament, he was moving toward this moment, when he would bind himself to his people not with the blood of animals but with his own life. The new covenant Jeremiah promised is not just an idea. It has a body and blood, and a name: Jesus.

Interpret

1. Why do you think Jesus chose the Passover meal to institute the Lord's Supper? What connections do you see between the Exodus and the cross?Consider: Passover celebrated rescue from slavery through the blood of a lamb. Jesus presents himself as the fulfillment of that rescue: a greater deliverance, from sin and death, through his own blood (1 Corinthians 5:7).

2. Compare Jesus' words over the cup with Moses' words in Exodus 24:8 (Week 5). What does Jesus intend his disciples to hear?Consider: Moses spoke of the blood of the covenant; Jesus speaks of the new covenant in his blood. He is deliberately echoing Sinai and announcing that Jeremiah's promised new covenant begins with his death.

3. Jesus said, "Do this in remembrance of me." How does that connect to the theme of remembering we've seen throughout this study?Consider: God remembered his covenant and acted. Now God's people are called to remember Christ, not by merely recalling him, but by receiving and proclaiming what he has done (1 Corinthians 11:26). Remembering is a covenant act.

4. Hebrews says God found fault with them, the people, not with his own faithfulness. How does that fit with everything we've seen across these twelve weeks?Consider: Hebrews says the first covenant was not "faultless" (8:7), but the fault it names is with the people, and with sacrifices that could never take away sin (10:4). God was never unfaithful. Over and over, God kept faith while his people broke it. The new covenant deals with an unfaithful heart and provides a once-for-all sacrifice. In Christ, God does from both sides what we could never do.

5. Cross-reference: Read 1 Corinthians 11:23–26. How does Paul pass on what Jesus did at the Last Supper? What does he say we proclaim each time we share it?Consider: Paul received this tradition and handed it on to the church. When we eat the bread and drink the cup, we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. The Supper looks back to the cross and forward to his return.

Apply: Let the Text Read You

• Jesus earnestly desired to share this meal with his friends, knowing what was coming. What does that tell you about his heart toward you?
• When you take the Lord's Supper, what usually goes through your mind? How might this whole study change the way you come to the table next time?
• Looking back over these twelve weeks, which picture of God's covenant faithfulness has stayed with you most: the rainbow, the fire pot between the pieces, the blood at Sinai, the name in Exodus 34, the house for David, the lament in Psalm 89, the new heart? Why that one?
• God has bound himself to you in Christ. What fear, shame, or doubt do you need to bring to that promise today?

Pray

Lord Jesus, you took the cup and called it the new covenant in your blood. You gave yourself for me. Thank you that every promise of God finds its yes in you. When I come to your table, help me remember you, receive you, and proclaim your death until you come. Amen.

For Groups (optional)

• Discussion starter: Go around the group and have each person share one thing from this series that changed how they see God.
• If your group is able, consider closing this final session by reading Luke 22:19–20 together and praying in thanks for the new covenant. (Follow your church's practice regarding the Lord's Supper itself.)
• Talk about what comes next. Which of these passages would you like to keep reading slowly in the weeks ahead?

---

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.