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Luke 22:19-20
19 And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me"
20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.
When Jesus spoke, His disciples, the twelve, did not ask what He meant by His statement. This indicates they fully understood what He meant. Then Jesus said:
John 6:53-54
53 Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.
54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
Still His disciples understood and didn't argue or question like many of the others did. You see, they already knew He was the
Son of God that would give His life, and, they also understood
Blood Covenants. If you study primitive religions you will find all people, from ancient times practiced Blood Covenants. Even today you can read where it is still in use in Africa, India, China etc.
The Hebrew word for covenant means "to cut", it suggests "an incision from which blood flows". So communion is based upon something they well understood. Let me explain further the reasons men cut covenant with each other and it will help our understanding of what
Passover and communion really means to us today.
a. If a strong tribe lived by a weaker tribe and there was danger of the weaker being destroyed, the weaker would seek to cut covenant with the stronger so they could be preserved.
b. If two parties entered into a business partnership, they would cut covenant to ensure neither would take advantage of the other.
c. They exchanged gifts. This was to symbolize that all one party had belonged to the other if they had a need.
How is it done? An incision is made in the first party's wrist and his blood is dripped into a cup of wine. The second party then allows an incision to be cut in his wrist and his blood is dripped into the same cup of wine. The cup is stirred, the bloods are mixed, and the
cup is handed to each to drink. Many times after this they put their incisions together so their blood mingles, or they will touch their tongues to each other's wounds. Now they are true blood brothers. This
covenant between man is very rarely broken no matter what the provocation. It is, and always has been, totally sacred. If broken, the offender was many times killed by his own family as they cursed the very ground he walked on. The covenant was so respected that children to the third and fourth generation revered it and kept it. The vilest enemies become trusted friends if the covenant is cut. In other words, it was
a perpetual covenant, indissoluble and could not be annulled. Another important feature of the covenant was that this was almost always officiated by a priest of some kind. This priest would speak horrible curses that were to come on anyone that broke covenant. This is much like Deuteronomy 27, where we find the blessings and curses of those that kept or broke the covenant God made at Sinai with Israel after delivering them from Egypt.
The Abrahamic covenant was God's irrevocable pledge made to, not only Abraham, but to
his descendants as well. This covenant was forever. God swore this covenant into being by His own being.
Genesis 15:12
12 Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him.
Genesis 15:17-18
17 And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces.
18 On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying:
"To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates
There was no government or law however at the time of Abraham, so
God established the law and priesthood or
government through Moses. Old Israel
broke the laws,
disobeyed and doubted the priesthood,
lawlessness and
Korah were the spirits of the day, so they lost their covenant position with God and He divorced Israel.
Jeremiah 3:8
8 Then I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also.
Who would benefit from the promises if man so disappointed the Lord? God had a plan.
Ephesians 1:4-6
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
Also in verse 11 it says:
Ephesians 1:11
11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,
How would He do this? Jesus
allowed Himself to be the sacrifice. Or we could say it this way, God allowed Himself to be sacrificed through Jesus to
re-establish the
right to the promises of the Abrahamic covenant for those who would enter into the new covenant with Jesus as
a born again creature. This is why correct baptism is so important.
Leviticus 17:11
11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul."
So, Christ's life, or Christ's blood, is in the wine that Jesus made from the baptism water. We therefore actually are
born blood kin, His blood brothers and sisters at baptism and all is sealed and then kept in remembrance, through communion. We do
not want to break covenant to become as Adam, cursed and dis-fellowshipped again!
By experiencing the new covenant we become eligible to receive the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant because we, as
new creatures in Christ, are Abraham's seed and his heirs. In the new covenant also we are given the
legal right as children of God, as
His family, to use His name. We also have the legal right to this earth and dominion over all on it, health and the prosperity promised by the Abrahamic covenant as well. Satan has stolen this truth from us. We can't have the faith to act if we are unaware of the promises. The right to the covenant is not entirely because of our faith however, or our works, nor even our belief, but it is our
legal right through the rebirth.
Galatians 3:27-29
27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Jesus made possible entrance to the Kingdom as a new creature and heir to all that is His, on the cross for us. As we begin to really comprehend
who and what we are as new creatures, our love for God, and appreciation, gratitude, and love for what God has provided will grow as well.
In closing, as the covenant of Christ gave us new life and made us Abraham's seed, His kin, the Abrahamic covenant bound Abraham and his descendants by
indissoluble ties to God, and it bound God to Abraham and his descendants by the same solemn covenant. We are double blessed by these two covenants.
God had a plan and purpose all along.
Ephesians 1:11
11 In Him (our Passover Lamb) also we have obtained an inheritance (we are God's family and heirs as His children), being predestined (Father planned this long ago) according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,
Here is the heart of our Father.
Psalm 89:34
34 My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.