Jeremiah 31: 27-34
27 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will plant the kingdoms of Israel and Judah with the offspring of people and of animals. 28 Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, and to overthrow, destroy and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the Lord. 29 “In those days people will no longer say,
‘The parents have eaten sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’
30 Instead, everyone will die for their own sin; whoever eats sour grapes—their own teeth will be set on edge.
31 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
and with the people of Judah.
32 It will not be like the covenant
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
though I was a husband to them,”
declares the Lord.
33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
after that time,” declares the Lord.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
34 No longer will they teach their neighbour,
or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the Lord.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”
Luke 22: 7-20
7 Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. 8 Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.”
9 “Where do you want us to prepare for it?” they asked.
10 He replied, “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, 11 and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 12 He will show you a large room upstairs, all furnished. Make preparations there.”
13 They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.
14 When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15 And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”
17 After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. 18 For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
20 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.
Did you ever have an embarrassing school report card? Rodney could try harder. Mary would do better if she talked less. If Scott continues to ignore his teachers, he will be suspended.
Let’s look at Israel’s embarrassing report card from the last three weeks.
God calls elderly Abraham and Sarah to uproot and found a nation that would be a blessing to the whole human race. He teaches them to trust him. Yet Israel constantly refuses to trust God by relying on alliances with stronger neighbours. Fail!
God calls Moses to bring the 12 tribes to become a nation through marrying God. Yet Israel constantly breaks its wedding vows to God by following other gods. Fail!
God calls David to found an everlasting dynasty and promises to treat the kings as sons, including disciplining them. Yet king after king ignores God and misleads the people. Fail!
Fail! Fail! Fail! Three strikes and they were out!
The Israelites and their kings had been constantly warned by a succession of prophets and had continually ignored them, so inevitably the axe fell with the Destruction of Jerusalem, Temple and all, and the Babylonian Exile. They experienced pain like they had never experienced pain before, summed up in the book of Lamentations – the most excruciating book of the Bible.
But it didn’t mark the end of the Old Testament story of God and his people. Rather, it was the prelude to a wonderful new beginning! Let me explain:
The Bible takes a positive spin on pain: C S Lewis famously wrote, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
And it just kept getter better. Jeremiah and Ezekiel declared God’s crowning promise, “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbour, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.”
God promised the gift of a Spirit-led conscience, internal moral compass, an appreciation of his love and goodness, and a sense of security in his love.
600 years later, Jesus was born and fulfilled these promises made through the prophets of the Exile, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. At the Last Supper, Jesus said as much when he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” He dealt with our guilt problem by his death on the cross and then dealt with our need for a new heart seven weeks later by sending the Holy Spirit on all his people.
Let’s make it perfectly clear how Jesus has revolutionised how we relate to God:
- God does not punish us for the sins of our ancestors. Anyone who teaches that there are ancestral or generational curses, is stuck in the Old Testament and hasn’t grasped what Jesus achieved by dying on the cross.
- We don’t need to confess our sins because we are guilty, because Jesus dealt with our guilt on the cross. Rather, we confess our sins and seek God’s help so we can continue to grow to be more like Jesus.
- God in his love has put his Spirit in you to help you live and grow as his child.