June 2 – Jesus Institutes the New Covenant

Sunday School Lesson

June 2

Lesson 1 (KJV)

Jesus Institutes the New Covenant

 

Devotional Reading: Jeremiah 31:31–34

Background Scripture: Mark 14:12–31; Hebrews 8

 

Mark 14:17–25

17. And in the evening he cometh with the twelve.

 

18. And as they sat and did eat, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, One of you which eateth with me shall betray me.

 

19. And they began to be sorrowful, and to say unto him one by one, Is it I? and another said, Is it I?

 

20. And he answered and said unto them, It is one of the twelve, that dippeth with me in the dish.

 

21. The Son of man indeed goeth, as it is written of him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man if he had never been born.

 

22. And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body.

 

23. And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it.

 

24. And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.

 

25. Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God.

Hebrews 8:6, 7, 10–12

6. But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

 

7. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.

 

10. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

 

11. And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

 

12. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

Key Verse

Now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.—Hebrews 8:6

Lesson Aims

After participating in this lesson, each learner will be able to:

 

1. Quote from memory Jesus’ words regarding the bread and cup of the last supper.

 

2. Explain how the lesson texts from Mark and Hebrews interrelate.

 

3. Develop a plan to make observance of the Lord’s Supper more meaningful.

 

HOW TO SAY IT

Abraham	Ay-bruh-ham.
Corinthians	Ko-rin-thee-unz (th as in thin).
Deuteronomy	Due-ter-ahn-uh-me.
Gentile	Jen-tile.
Isaiah	Eye-zay-uh.
Jeremiah	Jair-uh-my-uh.
Leviticus	Leh-vit-ih-kus.
Sinai	Sigh-nye or Sigh-nay-eye.
Zechariah	Zek-uh–rye-uh.

Introduction

1. A Monumental Explanation

Monuments need explanations. Sometimes a monument has a plaque or inscription that tells us what it commemorates. Always, though, a monument means that an important event took place, one to be remembered in joy or in sorrow. Customs can serve as monuments, reminding people who observe them of great events. Annual holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries include special ceremonies or meals to commemorate events that are important to us. We celebrate these together as families, communities, and nations to share the events’ importance.

 

What Do You Think? What are some ways to use secular “monuments” to enhance our commitment to Christ? Or is that even possible? Explain.   Digging Deeper Consider physical monuments (example: tombstone of a famous national leader) as well as those of a nonphysical nature (example: days on the calendar).

Israel’s greatest monuments were its annual feasts, celebrating God’s mighty acts of salvation (Leviticus 23:2–43). Passover was especially notable, commemorating God’s bringing Israel out of slavery in Egypt (Exodus 12:1–13:16; Deuteronomy 16:1–8). As time went on, it became customary to begin that feast with a question to introduce the epic story of Israel’s deliverance: “Why is this night different from all other nights?” The head of the family would then explain, telling the story of Israel’s deliverance.

1. Lesson Context

The story of Jesus eating the Passover meal with His disciples before His death is a turning point in the gospel story. After Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Christ in Mark 8:29, Jesus began warning His disciples of His coming death and resurrection (8:31; 9:31; 10:33, 34). Yet they did not understand these warnings (9:32). For them, the Christ must triumph over His foes militarily, replacing the rule of the Gentile nations with the rule of God (Acts 1:6). Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when He was given the welcome of a king before the Passover, must have been a high mark of that expectation. Surely Jesus was to be the one to renew David’s kingdom (Mark 11:7–10)!

The Passover that followed a few days later must have been tinged with this expectation. But Passover observances were always both joyous and solemn. Each of its elements was intended to remind participants of God’s triumph over Egypt. For example, bread made without leaven (yeast) was a reminder of the haste with which the meal was prepared in anticipation of leaving the land of slavery (Exodus 12:15, 17–20, 33, 34). The annual celebration of Passover affirmed for Israel that God had liberated them and made them His people (12:42).

The resulting covenant was the expression of God’s actions, promises, and expectations for His people. God’s covenant with Israel had begun with Abraham (then known as Abram; see Genesis 15:18–21) and was affirmed for the entire nation at Sinai (Exodus 24:1–8). But that covenant ended up being broken time and again. A new one was needed.

1. Covenant Anticipated

(Mark 14:17–25)

Jewish leadership schemed to arrest Jesus while He was out of the public eye. As our text opens, they have enlisted Judas to help find Jesus at such a time (Mark 14:1, 2, 10, 11).

1. Enacted Through a Betrayal (vv. 17–21)
2. And in the evening he cometh with the twelve.

 

The twelve disciples have accompanied Jesus from early days (Mark 3:13–19). It appears likely that Jesus deliberately chose 12 disciples to evoke the regathering of the scattered 12 tribes of Israel, a symbol of God’s bringing the promised new covenant. These 12 show themselves faithful but are often slow to understand or believe Jesus’ words (4:40; 8:31–33; 10:35–45). Yet Jesus intends to eat His final meal with these men, and only them, during Passover.

 

18. And as they sat and did eat, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, One of you which eateth with me shall betray me.

 

The disciples’ failure now approaches a climax in one of their own. Jesus begins solemnly with verily(a translation of the Greek word amen), an expression He uses when announcing warnings or promises (Mark 10:15, 29).

Jesus’ words reveal that the secret plot against His life is no secret to Him. Throughout the story of His arrest, trials, and death, Jesus is in control of events, willingly submitting and never taken by surprise (Mark 14:35–38; John 19:11). Repeatedly He has warned of His death (Mark 8:31; 9:30–32; 10:32–34). Now He anticipates a betrayal that is all too common in Israel’s history (compare Genesis 4:1–12; 37:12–36; Judges 16:18; 2 Samuel 15; 1 Kings 21:8–10; etc.). In this way, He again enters into the fullness of human experience, sparing himself no pain that can be experienced by a person (Philippians 2:8).

 

19. And they began to be sorrowful, and to say unto him one by one, Is it I? and another said, Is it I?

 

The disciples perceive themselves to be faithful to Jesus regardless of their prior lapses. Their repeated question reflects bewilderment. It is asked in a way that indicates the disciples expect the answer to be “no.”

 

20. And he answered and said unto them, It is one of the twelve, that dippeth with me in the dish.

 

In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus’ answer to the disciples’ question leaves all uncertain. Sharing the Passover meal at a common table, they all dip pieces of unleavened bread in the common bowls. John 13:26–30 makes clear who the traitor is, but Mark’s account seems to underline the idea that all of them are potential betrayers.

 

21a. The Son of man indeed goeth, as it is written of him.

 

Jesus refers to himself as the Son of man more than 80 times in the Gospels. It appears that He uses the phrase to connect His work to the figure in the vision of the prophet Daniel. There “one like the Son of man” establishes God’s rule and destroys the evil kingdoms that have dominated His people (Daniel 7:13, 14).

The phrase emphasizes Jesus’ authority and power as well as His humanity and humility (compare Philippians 2:6–11). Nearer the beginning of His ministry, Jesus used the phrase primarily when asserting His authority as the divine king (Mark 2:10, 11, 28). But after Peter confessed Him to be the Christ, Jesus began to use the phrase to warn of His coming suffering and death (8:31; 9:12, 31; 10:33, 34, 45).

Those predictions are about to be realized. This is in keeping with the prophets who spoke of one who was to be rejected and suffer as God’s servant (Isaiah 52:13–53:12; Zechariah 13:7). This, says Jesus repeatedly, is the climax and fulfillment of God’s plan.

 

21b. But woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man if he had never been born.

 

God’s purpose does not absolve the betrayer of guilt (see Acts 1:15–25). Judas is not compelled by God to do what God’s plan requires. Even so, the all-knowing, all-powerful God can use Judas’s evil act for good (compare Genesis 50:20). The betrayer, like all humans, remains fully responsible for his actions and so fully subject to God’s judgment.

But that holy judgment stands alongside God’s loving mercy. One disciple will betray Jesus, but all will abandon Him (Mark 14:27–31, 50). Those willing to receive His mercy can be welcomed back—and will be after the resurrection (16:7). The faithful are those who seek and receive Christ’s forgiveness, not those who never need it, as if such people even exist (2:17).

1. Celebrated as a Passover (vv. 22–25)
2. And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body.

 

In Jesus’ time, the host customarily takes the bread and distributes it to the others at the table. But Jesus does so with an unexpected declaration: this is my body. The dividing of a body suggests the cutting up of an animal offered as a sacrifice on the altar of the tabernacle or temple (see Leviticus 1:6, 12). Jesus is thus identifying himself as the supreme sacrificial offering for sins. He takes the place of the sacrificial lamb (compare Exodus 12:3–10, 21–23).

Jesus’ actions also echo His miraculous feeding of great crowds in the wilderness. As at this Passover meal, Jesus had taken the loaves and fish to bless or give thanks before feeding the people (Mark 6:41; 8:6). Those events in sparsely populated areas served as reminders of God’s provision for Israel when He sent manna to feed them in the wilderness (Exodus 16). Jesus’ actions also recall Israel’s expectation of a great feast that celebrates God’s reclaiming the world for himself (Isaiah 25:6–9; compare Matthew 8:11). Now all these events are tied together in Jesus’ impending death and resurrection.

 

23. And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it.

 

Jesus repeats His actions, this time with the cup, the content of which is “the fruit of the vine” (see Mark 14:25, below). At Passover, the host invokes God’s blessing on the guests’ drinking of this in celebration of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. Previously, Jesus had used the word cup as a figure of speech for His impending death. In so doing, He asked the disciples if they were ready to drink of the same cup (Mark 10:38). Now He offers them a literal cup, and the imagery is that they will receive the benefit of His death and follow Him in self-sacrificial service (8:34–38; 10:43–45).

 

What Do You Think? What are some ways your church can help people better understand and appreciate the significance of the Lord’s Supper?   Digging Deeper As you consider historical and doctrinal points to emphasize, think also of how to spot false analogies.

24. And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.

 

We easily imagine the disciples are startled as Jesus identifies the contents of the cup with His own blood. Hindsight tells us that shed for many indicates blood to be poured out as that of a sacrificial animal (compare Leviticus 4:7; 1 Peter 1:18, 19). This represents the animal’s life being given to make atonement (Leviticus 17:11). Thus does Jesus frame His looming death in terms that remind us of God’s promise in Isaiah 53:11, 12.

Blood is associated with the covenant that God made with Israel at Mount Sinai. Moses took a basin of blood from a sacrificial animal and sprinkled it on the assembled people of Israel as a sign of God’s covenant (Exodus 24:8). Now Jesus announces a testament (elsewhere translated covenant; see Luke 1:72) that fulfills the intent and promises of the earlier covenants God made with Israel (compare 2 Samuel 7:5–16; Ezekiel 37:24–25). This intent concerns, above all, the forgiveness of sin (Jeremiah 31:34). That forgiveness results in the promised restoration of God’s blessing and the establishment of His rule. All God’s promises converge here (compare Isaiah 2:2; 42:6; 49:6; etc.).

Food for the Holidays

Holiday celebrations often include specific foods as a part of the observance. For instance, in Great Britain on Guy Fawkes Night, British citizens light bonfires and snack on bonfire toffee. Americans eat pumpkin pie almost exclusively at Thanksgiving. In the Philippines, a traditional Christmas dinner includes a whole roasted pig. Some Christians celebrate Shrove Tuesday, the day before the fasting associated with Lent. Depending on where one is celebrating, pancakes, omelets, and various soups might be part of the local culinary tradition.

The Passover meal in first-century Judaism also required specific foods. These included lamb, bitter herbs, fruit of the vine, and unleavened bread. Jesus and His disciples certainly knew the meaning of the food eaten at His final Passover meal. But when Jesus took the bread and the cup, He replaced old significance with new. Are we sure we grasp the full import of that change?

—J. E.

25. Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God.

 

Jesus again summarizes the significance of His actions with the solemn invocation verily (see commentary on Mark 14:18, above). To forego the fruit of the vine suggests a significant interruption. What seems hidden from the disciples is clear enough to us in hindsight: Jesus is pointing to His impending death.

Further, Jesus is pointing beyond His death to the establishment of God’s promised rule of justice and peace over the world. Only then will He celebrate again: in the kingdom of God, with all His disciples. Jesus’ actions at Passover are pointing to the celebration in the future when God’s victory is complete and all His people are gathered in celebration (compare Isaiah 2:1–5; Micah 4:1–5).

 

What Do You Think? What are some ways we can deepen our awareness of God’s present and future reign while we participate in the Lord’s Supper?   Digging Deeper Consider further how that deepened awareness should influence your walk with Christ daily.

1. Covenant Described

(Hebrews 8:6, 7, 10–12)

The book of Hebrews was written to urge Jewish Christians not to abandon their faith in Jesus as God’s promised king. The book demonstrates how the new covenant in Jesus does greater things than God’s covenant with Israel could do.

1. Fulfilling Israel’s Covenant (vv. 6, 7)
2. But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

 

To say that Jesus has a more excellent ministry is to compare Him favorably with those who ministered before. He is the true mediator between God and humanity, a priest who is free from sin and so able to make an effective sacrifice of His own life for others (Hebrews 9:11–14).

Therefore, Jesus establishes a better covenant than what had come before. He does not merely point forward to God’s salvation; Jesus’ covenant actually accomplishes salvation (Hebrews 9:15). The promises fulfilled are thus greater as well. God’s people are led not just by God’s king or prophet but by God’s own Son (2 Samuel 7:11–14; Hebrews 7:17–25).

Lasting rest is now possible (see Revelation 14:13; 21:1–4). Such rest is not possible in earthly cities such as Jerusalem. But it is guaranteed in the heavenly Jerusalem, a city built by God. There God will dwell with His people forever (Revelation 21:9–27).

 

What Do You Think? How will your understanding of the benefits of God’s covenant promises help you overcome temptations to abandon the Christian faith?   Digging Deeper Consider various contexts in which that temptation might occur (examples: relationship crisis; health crisis; church conflict).

7. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.

 

God did not make a mistake in giving the first covenant. Neither did Moses or the other prophets who delivered and affirmed it. Rather, the old covenant’s problem was that by design it could not rescue people permanently from sin (compare Ezekiel 11:17–20). It was partial, pointing to something greater.

Israel’s failure to keep the old covenant demonstrates that it could not prevent the people from sinning and falling away from faithfulness. Because of their wayward hearts, the Israelites found themselves not blessed by the covenant but instead under the curse of exile (Deuteronomy 11:26–28). The greater covenant to come, brought by Jesus, carries the perfect fulfillment of God’s blessings. It provides the power by which people can genuinely fulfill His purposes in the world (John 14:12–17; 17:1–5).

1. Making a New People (vv. 10–12)
2. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.

 

Having introduced the concept of a greater covenant, the author of Hebrews quotes from Jeremiah 31:31–34. This text promised Israel that after its exile, God would establish a better covenant. By it we can experience the fulfillment of His purposes.

Jeremiah prophesied of laws written not on stone like the Ten Commandments but on hearts, internalized by covenant members. The lives of His people under the new covenant demonstrate that God is fulfilling His will in them. Christians are a people who show God’s light in a dark world that does not know Him (compare John 1:9–13).

Carry It with You

The early 1990s saw the release of a pocket-size resource titled The U.S. Constitution & Fascinating Facts About It. This booklet became a best-seller. In the weeks preceding the 2016 U.S. election, the demand for pocket-size copies of the Constitution was so great that over 100,000 free copies were distributed by a nonprofit organization. A college went a step further, offering not only free pocket editions but also a free online class on the U.S. Constitution.

As vital as the U.S. Constitution is to American citizens, words of greater importance exist: those of the new covenant. In the new covenant, God did more than make a small version of His laws available for us to carry in our pockets. He promised to write them on our hearts. How do you remember that you carry His covenant with you?

—J. E.

11. And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

 

Membership in Old Testament Israel was primarily, though not exclusively, a matter of family (Numbers 15:14–16). One was born into the covenant people, and the sign of the covenant, circumcision, was applied to male children eight days after their birth (Genesis 17:10–14). Though they were made covenant members by birth and especially by male circumcision, Israelites still required instruction in their faith (Deuteronomy 6:6–9).

In Jesus, by contrast, the gospel message is the means of incorporation. Those who belong to the covenant belong by faith in the Jesus who is proclaimed in the gospel (Romans 3:21–24; Galatians 2:15, 16). All covenant members are those who already know the Lord. The book of Hebrews of course does not rule out additional instruction for Christ’s followers. The letter itself is additional instruction! But the covenant promised through Jeremiah now has its fulfillment in the community of those who believe the gospel message. (Another viewpoint proposes that the phrase all shall know me points to an ultimate future in Heaven.)

 

What Do You Think? Which should be more important to our walk with Christ: knowing God’s laws in our mind, or feeling them in our hearts? Why?   Digging Deeper In what ways, if any, should your response take into account personality differences and/or spiritual maturity? Why?

12. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

 

The grace that God has always exercised comes to full fruit in this new covenant (Isaiah 43:25). The sin of all humanity has its answer here. By God’s mercy, made available through Christ’s sacrifice, all people can find forgiveness in this new covenant (Matthew 28:18–20; Acts 26:18).

Conclusion

1. How the Lord’s Supper Defines Us

As Passover defined Old Testament Israel as God’s covenant people, so the Lord’s Supper defines Christians. This feast is a way of remembering how God covered our imperfect lives with His perfect mercy by Jesus’ sacrificial death. It represents the connections of mercy, love, and service we have with one another as God’s people. It reminds us of the greater covenant by which we serve as God’s light in the world.

1. Prayer

Lord God, we are filled with thanksgiving to be called Your people! By Your Spirit, empower us to live and serve as those who have been forgiven by the blood of our Lord Jesus. In Jesus’ name, amen.

1. Thought to Remember

God’s fulfilled promises call us to lives filled with Christlikeness.

 

 

 

KID’S CORNER

Benefits of Believing the New Covenant

June 2, 2019

Mark 14:17-25 & Hebrews 8:6-13

 

Mark 14:17-25 & Hebrews 8:6-13

(Mark 14:17) When it was evening He came with the twelve.

Knowing He would spend His last Passover with His disciples, earlier that day Jesus sent two of His disciples to make preparations for the feast. A new day began at sundown, so a new day began on the evening Jesus went with His disciples to celebrate the Passover. After they celebrated the Passover, Jesus was arrested, tried, and murdered by the religious leaders.

(Mark 14:18) As they were reclining at the table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me—one who is eating with Me.”

The Passover celebrated the LORD leading the Hebrews out of slavery in Egypt. In Egypt, they ate hastily standing up. As people freed from slavery, the Hebrews ate the Passover slowly and reclined while eating. We need to read the other Gospels for a more complete account of Jesus’ Last Supper. Jesus knew who, how, and when He would be betrayed by one of His disciples (Judas). He announced the fact of His betrayal in advance so His disciples would know that He was not caught by surprise when Judas assisted in His arrest later than evening.

(Mark 14:19) They began to be grieved and to say to Him one by one, “Surely not I?”

With humility, the disciples knew that it was possible for sin and the devil to trick them into doing the despicable evil deed of betraying Jesus. Presumably, they went around the circle each carefully watching and listening to one another to see if the betrayer would be revealed. Perhaps only John knew that Judas was a thief and capable of betraying Jesus for money (see John 12:6).

(Mark 14:20) And He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who dips with Me in the bowl.

The Gospel of Mark is shorter than the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew reported that Jesus indicated during the feast of Passover that Judas would betray Him (see Matthew 26:25). Matthew, Mark, and Luke indicate that Judas received what we call Communion or the Eucharist or the Lord’s Supper with the other disciples, but that commemorative meal did not transform Judas morally or spiritually or deter Judas from betraying Jesus. In his gospel, John gives an extended report of what Jesus said that night.

(Mark 14:21) “For the Son of Man is to go just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.”

Regarding Jesus’ betrayal by one of His disciples, “It was written of him (Jesus)” or prophesied in Psalms 41:9 — “Even my bosom friend in whom I trusted, who ate of my bread, has lifted the heel against me.” During Judas’ lifetime, after Jesus was arrested, Judas experienced “woe” almost immediately when with regret he threw his thirty pieces of silver back at the religious leaders and went out and hanged himself. In John 17:12, when Jesus prayed about Judas, He said, “While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction (or “perdition” in KJV and NASB), that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” Judas was one of those who heard Jesus preach and who saw Jesus’ miracles, but who rejected the One who did not meet his political or selfish expectations. Truly, it is better to have never been born than to reject Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

(Mark 14:22) While they were eating, He took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My body.”

Jesus used two elements from the Passover meal to institute the Communion Service, the Eucharist, or the Lords’ Supper. God gave the Hebrews bread from heaven (manna) to eat in the wilderness to keep them alive. When we eat the bread during communion, we celebrate the fact that Jesus gave His body as the bread from heaven to make and keep us spiritually alive. Partaking of the Lord’s Supper can remind us that Jesus Christ has freed us (and lives to continually free us) from slavery to sin, death, and the devil; therefore, as His followers we can enjoy a special spiritual personal relationship with Jesus all the time.

(Mark 14:23) And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it.

Just as bread is used in the Passover feast, so is the fruit of the vine, which most probably was red in color. Following the Passover tradition, Jesus gave a prayer of thanks before giving His disciples the bread to eat or the cup to drink. They used a common cup, and they all drank from it. After they drank, Jesus told them the new significance that He was giving to their drinking the fruit of the vine.

(Mark 14:24) And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.”

Making a covenant required the shedding of blood, as in the case of the LORD’s covenant with Abraham and later with Moses when the LORD gave the Hebrews the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. When Jesus made the New Covenant, He used His shed blood instead of the blood of animals. As part of His covenant, He expected those who drank the fruit of the vine to love Him and obey His Commandments. Because God loves us, Jesus shed His blood so God could justly and mercifully forgive all who would trust in Him as Lord and Savior.

(Mark 14:25) “Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

After Jesus rose from the dead, He would drink again of the fruit of the vine. With these words, Jesus’ disciples would later recognize the fact that even though He shed His blood and died on the cross that He planned to (and did) live again in the kingdom of God after His death on the cross. During His last Passover meal, Jesus fully expected to be raised from the dead and live in a glorified human body that was fully capable of eating and drinking. As King Jesus, Jesus rose from the dead and fully established the kingdom of God in heaven and on earth, where He continues to reign at the right hand of God the Father.

Hebrews 8:6-12

(Hebrews 8:6) But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises.

Because of Jesus’ sacrificial death in obedience to His heavenly Father and His resurrection from the dead, His Father gave Him a ministry more excellent than that of the Levitical priests under the Old Covenant. Under the New Covenant, Jesus sits at the right hand of God and makes prayers of intercession to His Father for all His followers. Moses was the mediator between God and the Hebrews when through Moses God gave them the Ten Commandments, the feast days, and the priestly rituals, and promised to care for them if they obeyed Him. Jesus is the Mediator of the New Covenant. Unlike Moses, Jesus is fully God and fully man, and Jesus is the Mediator between His Father and all who will follow Him, whether they are Jews or not. God’s promises to those who will trust in Jesus are far better than the Old Covenant that declared in short, “I will care for you, if you keep my commandments. I will let you suffer the consequences and even discipline you if you disobey the Ten Commandments.”

(Hebrews 8:7) For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second.

The first covenant was perfect on God’s part, but it also pointed toward the need for a second covenant that God would make through His Messiah. Because those who lived in the kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah refused to obey the LORD and His commandments, the first covenant was not faultless. Furthermore, the first covenant provided only for the forgiveness of ignorant or incidental sins, not forgiveness for the high-handed rebellious sins that took place when a person intentionally broke one of the Ten Commandments as God’s people in Israel and Judea intentionally did. In accordance with God’s promises, the day finally came when Jesus Christ was born to save His people from all their sins (see Matthew 1:21) and establish the second covenant in His blood for the forgiveness of all the sins of His followers.

(Hebrews 8:8) For finding fault with them, He says, “BEHOLD, DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD, WHEN I WILL EFFECT A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH;

Though verses 8 and 9 are not included in the “official uniform lesson series,” in these verses the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews shows that the Prophet Jeremiah foretold that the LORD would establish a new covenant with Israel and Judah (see Jeremiah 31:31-34). Jesus fulfilled the Law and the prophets to rightly become our Lord and Savior.

(Hebrews 8:9) NOT LIKE THE COVENANT WHICH I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS ON THE DAY WHEN I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND TO LEAD THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT; FOR THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT, AND I DID NOT CARE FOR THEM, SAYS THE LORD.

God gave the moral law, the Ten Commandments, as an objective “written in stone” standard of behavior for all people, and the Hebrews were to obey and teach people of all nations to obey the moral law of God. A consequence of disobeying God was to forfeit God’s protection, care, or concern (as we see from the Old Testament when God’s people consistently broke the moral law of God and God punished them). Ritual performances could not take the place of obeying the moral law of God. When Jesus was tried and crucified the religious leaders were careful about remaining ritually clean while they broke the moral law of God by plotting the arrest, trial, and death of an innocent man, their Messiah. Their performance of religious rituals did not keep them from committing sins or cleanse them from sin.

(Hebrews 8:10) “FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS, AND I WILL WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS. AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.

Because Jesus died and rose again from the dead, He is alive and those who trust in Him as Lord and Savior can have a personal relationship with Jesus. He will put His laws into our minds as we read about His life and His laws written in the New Testament. His laws in our minds will make our conscience more effective when we are tempted. As we live our daily lives, He will help us specifically apply His laws when making decisions. Rather than write His laws only in a Book, the Bible, Jesus also writes His laws on our hearts (on our will, or the center of our personal being, that makes real moral choices). Jesus will be our God and we will be His people. To believers in Him, Jesus also gives the Holy Spirit to guide us in this life and help us live as Jesus would have us live in specific day-to-day situations.

(Hebrews 8:11) “AND THEY SHALL NOT TEACH EVERYONE HIS FELLOW CITIZEN, AND EVERYONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, ‘KNOW THE LORD,’ FOR ALL WILL KNOW ME, FROM THE LEAST TO THE GREATEST OF THEM.

The followers of Jesus will know the Lord Jesus personally and have a personal knowledge of Jesus (not a “I met him once” type of knowledge); therefore, believers won’t need to say to one another “Know the Lord.” The poorest and the richest, and the least and the greatest in the kingdom of God will know Jesus and be in a loving personal relationship with Him.

(Hebrews 8:12) “FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES, AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE.”

As the Mediator between God and His people, Jesus is alive and writing the moral law, the law of love, into our thoughts and choices. Jesus knows us and He will be merciful toward us if we sin. Equally important, God the Father and Jesus will not remember our sins. As we love and trust in Jesus, Jesus will enable us to obey our Heavenly Father and His commandments. Jesus died on the cross to make our forgiveness by God justly and mercifully possible and to put us in a right relationship with God. What God said through Jeremiah has come to pass. Because of the redeeming work of Jesus, Jesus and our Heavenly Father will forgive and forget all our sins.

(Hebrews 8:13) When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.

The Old Covenant became obsolete when Jesus established the New Covenant in His blood. The Old Covenant cannot do anything that the New Covenant through faith in Jesus Christ can do for believers. The Old Covenant vanished away when the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. and the temple sacrifices could no longer be made. Now, to receive spiritual transformation and be right with God, we must trust and know Jesus Christ personally as our Lord and Savior.

 

Benefits of Believing the New Covenant

June 2, 2019

Mark 14:17-25 & Hebrews 8:6-13

“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Hebrews 8:10).

In the verse above, the writer to the Hebrews quoted what the LORD promised in Jeremiah 31:33. The old covenant could not do what a new covenant promised; therefore, the LORD promised to send a Messiah, a promise the LORD fulfilled through Jesus the Messiah. Indeed, in Hebrews 8:13, the writer referred to the LORD’s promise and declared: “In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.” In AD 70, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple; then, the old covenant with its ritual sacrifices and Levitical priests vanished. Under the new covenant, those who trust in and follow Jesus the Messiah have God’s laws put into their minds as they learn more about and obey Jesus as revealed in the Bible. Jesus restores their conscience, and the Holy Spirit indwells them and helps them overcome temptations and conformity to this world. Day-by-day they understand the mind of Jesus Christ better as they seek to do what Jesus would do. Jesus also writes the law of God on their hearts, so they love God and others as themselves—as Jesus and the law of God commands. Through Jesus Christ, they know and enjoy a loving and personal relationship with God; therefore, the writer to the Hebrews could write that Jesus’ followers no longer need to say to one another, “Know the Lord,” for they know Him (Hebrews 8:11).

 

Thinking Further

Benefits of Believing the New Covenant

June 2, 2019

Mark 14:17-25 & Hebrews 8:6-13

Name _________________________________

1. Do you think the other eleven disciples suspected that Judas would be the one to betray Jesus? Give a reason for your answer.

 

2. How might you apply what Jesus said in Mark 14:21 today?

 

3. Give one reason Jesus may have chosen to institute His Last Supper during a Passover celebration?

 

4. Give one reason why the new covenant is better than the old covenant.

 

5. What are the benefits of the new covenant revealed in Hebrews 8:10? Begin or close your class by reading the short weekly International Bible

 

Questions for Discussion and Thinking Further

1. Do you think the other eleven disciples suspected that Judas would be the one to betray Jesus? Give a reason for your answer. No. The eleven thought it might possibly be one of them, and they had never thought about the possibility of Jesus being betrayed because they knew He was the Messiah.
2. How might you apply what Jesus said in Mark 14:21 today? It would be better for a person not to have been born than for that person to reject Jesus as their Lord and Savior; the One who came to give eternal life to all who would believe in Him.
3. Give one reason Jesus may have chosen to institute His Last Supper during a Passover celebration? His sacrificial death would free believers in Him from slavery to sin, the devil, and death. The Passover celebrated the LORD’s freeing His people from slavery in Egypt.
4. Give one reason why the new covenant is better than the old covenant. The new covenant is better because it was established on better promises.
5. What are the benefits of the new covenant revealed in Hebrews 8:10? Jesus will put His laws into their minds. Jesus will write His laws on their hearts. Jesus, their Lord, Mediator and Savior, will be their God. They will be His people

Word Search

Benefits of Believing the New Covenant

June 2, 2019

Mark 14:17-25 & Hebrews 8:6-13

Name _________________________________

 

G N I S S E L B D B Q F L Q E

Y D Q U H Q M I G U L S T V S

G K Z C I O P F C T H O L X E

W N H O D P C Y N U Y E O A S

Y D I G I B F A V C W B T D I

H B N N S D N T I T E K P F M

P I G K I E V M V T X S H W O

K M V X V L E Z R H O P E X R

S N Y O M D C A U R Z L N F P

U R C L I Z Y E R E M B O D Y

S O P A U Q K O R A H B T V Z

E X T Y D R W Q L T C R D J B

J E S Q O F T S B I S E P X D

S P K F U A O D F N X A T E A

C Z V L K F H J V G V D S X N

 

Twelve

Reclining

Eating

Truly

Betray

Sorrowful

Dipping

Bread

Blessing

Body

Blood

Covenant

Kingdom

Mediates

Promises

 

 

True and False Test

Benefits of Believing the New Covenant

June 2, 2019

Mark 14:17-25 & Hebrews 8:6-13

Name _________________________________

 

Circle the true or false answers. Correct the false statements by restating them.

1. At His Last Supper, Jesus had no idea who was going to betray Him. True or False
2. At the table, John and Peter both told Jesus that Judas was most likely the one who would betray Him, because He was a thief who stole from the common purse the disciples used. True or False
3. Jesus said that it would have been better for the man who betrayed Him if he had not been born. True or False
4. When making His covenant, Jesus used bread and the fruit of the vine to represent His body and blood. True or False
5. Jesus indicated that He would rise from the dead when He said He would drink the fruit of the vine new in the kingdom of God. True or False 6. Jesus’ covenant is better than the old covenant because His covenant is enacted on better promises. True or False
6. The first covenant was perfect, so there was really no need for a new covenant. True or False
7. The Book of Hebrews quotes Jeremiah who predicted that the new covenant would be with Jews and Samaritans. True or False
8. Jesus has put the laws of God into the minds of His followers and has also written them on their hearts. True or False
9. Though God remembers our sins forever, He will be merciful toward our iniquities. True or False

 

True and False Test Answers

1. False
2. False
3. True
4. True
5. True
6. True
7. False
8. False
9. True
10. False

 

Prayer

Lord God, we are filled with thanksgiving to be called Your people! By Your Spirit, empower us to live and serve as those who have been forgiven by the blood of our Lord Jesus. In Jesus’ name, amen.