Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
In Mark 14:24b, Jesus states, “This is My blood of the new testament which is shed for many.” Yesterday, we touched upon this “new testament,” or new covenant or promise. In Exodus 24:1-8, we find that the Israelites agreed to the covenant of the Old Testament Law: “And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, ‘Behold, the blood of the covenant which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words’” (verse 8). Jesus fulfilled “all these words” of that “covenant” (Matthew 5:17-18). Thus, He could then provide the promise found in Jeremiah 31:31-33: “ ‘Behold, the days come,’ saith the LORD, ‘that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them out of the land of Egypt, which My covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them,’ saith the LORD: ‘but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; after those days,’ saith the LORD,’ I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be My people.’” Verse 34a then affirms that this covenant will extend beyond the Israelites: “And every man shall teach no more his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD.’” This section concludes with a lovely expression of the fullness of God’s forgiveness: “ ‘For they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them,’ saith the LORD: ‘for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more’” (verse 34b). Thus, the remembrance of the Passover becomes also a remembrance of Jesus’ work of eternal salvation. It is also a remembrance that our Savior God “will remember [our] sin no more.” This “new testament” makes all things new, indeed.