Day 11 of 14 — The New Covenant

Yesterday, we saw two acknowledgments of Jesus put side by side. First, a woman poured what amounted to a year’s wages over His head in an act of worship. Second, Judas walked out and sold Him for thirty pieces of silver. By the end of the day, the plan to betray Jesus was progressing. Jesus knew all of this, even down to the most minute detail. Then He sat down to eat the Passover with the men He chose, including the one who already agreed to betray Him.

John tells us something about that evening,

“Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet.”
(John 13:3-5)

John makes a point of telling us that Jesus knew, in that moment, that the Father had given all things into His hands, and He knew where He came from and where He was going. He was fully aware of His divinity, and with that awareness, He knelt and washed the feet of twelve men, one of whom was about to betray Him. This was deliberate, everything Jesus did was intentional, but this particular act is something that ought to humble every single one of us. Jesus took the position of a servant the night before His crucifixion, and He did it with the full knowledge that He was the Lord over everything.

Peter protested,

’Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” Simon Peter then said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.” Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” (John 13:8-10)

John says Jesus said this because He knew who would betray Him.

Jesus washed the feet of Judas, knowing full well what Judas already set in motion. The same hands that would be nailed to a cross within twenty-four hours knelt down and humbled Himself to wash the feet of the man who sold Him.

Then came the meal, and what Jesus said changed the meaning of the Passover forever.

“And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, ‘Take this and share it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.’ And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.’” (Luke 22:17-20)

For centuries, Passover was a reminder. Israel would sit every year and look back to the night when the blood of a lamb on the doorposts saved their firstborn from the judgment of God. That was the meal Jesus and His disciples were eating. And in the middle of it, Jesus took the bread and the cup and changed the entire meaning. The bread was His body, and the cup was His blood. The Passover lamb Israel had been sacrificing every year since the night they left Egypt was sitting at the table with them, and He told them He was about to fulfill everything the Passover had been pointing toward.

“This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.”

Every thread we’ve traced over the last two weeks runs through that sentence. The promise in the garden and the substitute on Moriah, the blood on the doorposts, and the voices of Isaiah and David, all of it comes together at this table where Jesus, on the last night of His life, told His disciples that the new covenant God promised would be established through His death. The lamb’s blood that once saved Israel from judgment in Egypt would now be replaced by the blood of the Lamb of God, poured out for the sins of the world.

Tomorrow is Good Friday.