All Christians know that Jesus’ death forgives us who believe in him of our sins and makes atonement between us and God. But Jesus’ death does much more than this. Jesus’ words at the Last Supper in Luke 22:20 bring another aspect of Jesus’ death to the fore: “And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.’”
Jesus’ death on the cross ratifies the New Covenant. By explicitly connecting his own shed blood with the New Covenant at the Last Supper in Luke 22:20, Jesus makes it clear that his death ratifies the New Covenant and brings those who are sprinkled with his blood into the New Covenant.
I. Luke’s Allusion to the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31:31–34
What Jesus says about his blood at the Last Supper in Luke 22:20 is almost the same as in Matthew 26:28 and Mark 14:24. However, Luke adds a key word from Jesus that Matthew and Mark omit. Let’s look at each recounting of Jesus’ blood:
- “this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many” (Matt 26:28)
- “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many” (Mark 14:24)
- “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:20)
Although the context of Matthew and Mark makes it clear that the covenant of which Jesus is speaking is a new covenant, it is only Luke who uses the term “new” (καινή). By explicitly calling the covenant a “new covenant” and withholding the phrase about forgiveness of sins, Luke is bringing the concept of a new covenant to the fore unlike the other Gospels.
By adding the term “new” to “covenant,” Luke is hinting at an allusion to an Old Testament passage. And it should not be surprising that there is only one passage in the entire Old Testament that speaks of a “new covenant”—Jeremiah 31:31–34.
| Luke 22:20 | Jeremiah 31:31 Jeremiah 38:31 in the LXX |
|---|---|
| τοῦτο τὸ ποτήριον ἡ καινὴ διαθήκη ἐν τῷ αἵματί μου τὸ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ἐκχυννόμενον. “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out on behalf of you” (Adam’s translation) | Ἰδοὺ ἡμέραι ἔρχονται, φησὶν κύριος, καὶ διαθήσομαι τῷ οἴκῳ Ισραηλ καὶ τῷ οἴκῳ Ιουδα διαθήκην καινήν. “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah” (Adam’s translation of the LXX) |
Whenever we speak of something “new,” we need to identify what the “old” is. Since Jeremiah and Jesus are speaking of a “new covenant,” we need to correctly identify the old covenant that the new is replacing. Thankfully, Jeremiah clearly identifies the old covenant as “the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke” (Jer 31:32). The Old Covenant is the Sinai Covenant (sometimes called the Mosaic Covenant) that is presented in Exodus 19:3–24:8.
Identifying the Old Covenant is important because it helps us understand the connection between covenants and blood, specifically between the New Covenant and Jesus’ blood that Luke brings to the fore in his Gospel.
II. Blood Ratifies a Covenant and Sanctifies Its Members (Ex 24:5–8; Luke 22:20)
To understand the connection between Jesus’ blood and the New Covenant, we must go back to the Sinai Covenant (mentioned in Jer 31:32) and understand its connection with blood.
“And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD. And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, ‘All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.’ And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, ‘Behold the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.’”
EXODUS 24:5–8
A. The Blood of the Sinai Covenant (Ex 24:5–8)
We learn a great deal about the presence and purpose of blood in relation to a covenant from Exodus 24:5–8. The first thing we learn is that the blood used is the blood of bulls and oxen (Ex 24:5).
Second, the shed blood is “sprinkled” (זרק; κατασκέδαννυμι) on the people with whom the covenant is being made (Ex 24:8).
Third, we discover that the blood ratifies the covenant (Ex 24:8). That is, the shed blood of the bulls and oxen begins the covenant; it makes the covenant official; it is the signing of the covenant between both parties; it binds both parties to the content and stipulations of the covenant. The sprinkled blood ratifies the covenant and marks the entry into the covenant. In Exodus 24:5–8, the sprinkling of the blood on the people ratifies the Sinai Covenant between both God and Israel and marks Israel’s entry into the Sinai Covenant. This is confirmed in Hebrews 9:18–20:
“Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, ‘This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.’”
HEBREWS 9:18–20
Fourth, the blood of the bulls and oxen sanctifies the people, making the people holy and setting them aside for service to God (Ex 24:7–8; Heb 9:13–14). To be God’s people and to have him dwell with you in a special way, you must be holy. The sprinkled blood from the burnt offerings and peace offerings makes the people holy so that God will not kill them because of their uncleanness. But it also sets God’s people aside for service to God as the full covenant makes clear (Ex 19:3–24:8) and as the people acknowledge when they say “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient” (Ex 24:7). Not only that but burnt offerings and peace/ordination offerings are used to set priests aside for service to God (Ex 29:15–34; Lev 8:18–30). It should not surprise us to see them here in setting God’s people aside for service to God because they are “a kingdom of priests” (Ex 19:5–6).
In sum, the four essential aspects of blood in relation to the Sinai Covenant are:
| Blood and the Sinai Covenant (Ex 24:5–8) |
|---|
| Blood comes from bulls and oxen (Ex 24:5) |
| The shed blood is physically sprinkled on the people with whom the Sinai Covenant is being made (Ex 24:8) |
| The blood ratifies the Sinai Covenant and marks the entry into the Sinai Covenant (Ex 24:5–8; Heb 9:18–20) |
| The blood sanctifies the people, making the people holy and setting them aside for service to God (Ex 24:7–8; Heb 9:13–14) |
B. The Blood of the New Covenant (Luke 22:20)
Understanding the purpose of blood in relation to the Sinai Covenant helps us understand Jesus’ blood in relation to the New Covenant. Jesus says, “And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood’” (Luke 22:20, emphasis added).
The first thing we learn from Jesus’ statement is that the blood of the New Covenant is not the blood of bulls, oxen, or any other animal like it is for the Sinai Covenant. The blood of the New Covenant is Jesus’ blood, the blood of the unique divine Son of God. The book of Hebrews confirms this:
“But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption . . . . Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. For where a covenant is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established.”
HEBREWS 9:11–12, 15–16, emphasis added
| Blood and the Sinai Covenant (Ex 24:5–8) | Blood and the New Covenant (Luke 22:20; Heb 8–10) |
|---|---|
| Blood comes from bulls and oxen (Ex 24:5) | Blood comes from Jesus, the Son of God (Lk 22:20) |
| The shed blood is physically sprinkled on the people with whom the Sinai Covenant is being made (Ex 24:8) | |
| The blood ratifies the Sinai Covenant and marks the entry into the Sinai Covenant (Ex 24:5–8; Heb 9:18–20) | |
| The blood sanctifies the people, making the people holy and setting them aside for service to God (Ex 24:7–8; Heb 9:13–14) |
Second, the blood of Jesus ratifies the New Covenant. It binds both parties to the content and stipulations of the covenant and it marks the entrance into the covenant. Not only do we learn from the Sinai Covenant that the shed and applied blood brings a person into the covenant, but we learn from the book of Hebrews that, yes, Jesus’ shed and applied blood brings God’s people into the New Covenant:
“Therefore he [Jesus] is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. For where a covenant is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. For a covenant takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”
HEBREWS 9:15–22, emphasis added; cf. Heb 9:23–26
So, Jesus’ shed and applied blood ratifies the New Covenant and brings God’s people into/under the New Covenant.
| Blood and the Sinai Covenant (Ex 24:5–8) | Blood and the New Covenant (Luke 22:20; Heb 8–10) |
|---|---|
| Blood comes from bulls and oxen (Ex 24:5) | Blood comes from Jesus, the Son of God (Lk 22:20) |
| The shed blood is physically sprinkled on the people with whom the Sinai Covenant is being made (Ex 24:8) | |
| The blood ratifies the Sinai Covenant and marks the entry into the Sinai Covenant (Ex 24:5–8; Heb 9:18–20) | The blood ratifies the New Covenant and marks the entry into the New Covenant (Heb 9:15–22) |
| The blood sanctifies the people, making the people holy and setting them aside for service to God (Ex 24:7–8; Heb 9:13–14) |
Third, like the Sinai Covenant, Jesus’ blood sanctifies the people, making God’s people holy and setting them aside for service to God. Once again, not only do we know this because of the Sinai Covenant, but the book of Hebrews confirms this very point:
“For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”
HEBREWS 9:13–14, emphasis added
“He [Jesus] does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all . . . . For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.”
HEBREWS 10:9b–10, 14, emphasis added
So, not only does Jesus’ death make holy those who have the blood of Jesus applied to them, but He has set them aside for service to God, “to serve the living God!”
| Blood and the Sinai Covenant (Ex 24:5–8) | Blood and the New Covenant (Luke 22:20; Heb 8–10) |
|---|---|
| Blood comes from bulls and oxen (Ex 24:5) | Blood comes from Jesus, the Son of God (Lk 22:20) |
| The shed blood is physically sprinkled on the people with whom the Sinai Covenant is being made (Ex 24:8) | |
| The blood ratifies the Sinai Covenant and marks the entry into the Sinai Covenant (Ex 24:5–8; Heb 9:18–20) | The blood ratifies the New Covenant and marks the entry into the New Covenant (Heb 9:15–22) |
| The blood sanctifies the people, making the people holy and setting them aside for service to God (Ex 24:7–8; Heb 9:13–14) | The blood sanctifies the people, making the people holy and setting them aside for service to God (Heb 9:13–14; 10:9b–10, 14) |
The only question that remains is, fourth, how is Jesus’ blood sprinkled on God’s people like the blood of bulls and oxen were sprinkled on those entering the Sinai Covenant? This is a major issue. Jesus’ death might have ratified the New Covenant, but unless it is sprinkled on God’s people no one will gain entrance into the New Covenant, no one will be made holy, and no one will be set aside to serve God! Jesus’ blood doesn’t just miraculously apply to everyone in the world, saving every human (i.e., universalism is not possible), just like the Sinai Covenant blood didn’t apply to every person and every nation.
So, how do you and I get Jesus’ blood on us? How do I lead a person into the New Covenant so that person receives all the blessings of the New Covenant, including once-for-all forgiveness of sins and eternal life?
The answer is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the one who applies the blood of Jesus to us, who sprinkles us with his blood, ushering us into the New Covenant and sanctifying us (i.e., making us holy and separating us for service to God). The clearest place this is mentioned is 1 Peter 1:1–2:
“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the predetermination of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.”
1 PETER 1:1–2, emphasis added
According to 1 Peter 1:1–2, God’s people (i.e., “those who are elect . . . according to the predetermination of God”) have been sanctified by the Holy Spirit. This sanctification by the Spirit is “for” (εἰς) obedience to Jesus and “into” (εἰς) the sprinkling with Jesus’ blood. The same εἰς preposition is governing both the obedience and the sprinkling, but should not be translated the same as the ESV does and many English translations do. We are not sanctified “for” Jesus’ blood, but “into” Jesus’ blood or even “by” Jesus’ blood. The point that Peter is making is that the Holy Spirit is the one who sprinkles God’s people with Jesus’ blood; the Holy Spirit is the one who brings and applies Jesus’ blood to God’s people.
The next logical question, then, is how does a person get the Holy Spirit to sprinkle them with Jesus’ blood, which ushers them into the New Covenant, makes them holy, and sets them apart for service to God? The answer is quite clear throughout the entire New Testament—repent of your sin and believe in Jesus, his death and resurrection. Belief in Jesus results in the Holy Spirit applying Jesus’ blood of the New Covenant to you, ushering you into the New Covenant, making you holy so that God can dwell inside you through the Spirit, and setting you apart for lifelong service to God!
| Blood and the Sinai Covenant (Ex 24:5–8) | Blood and the New Covenant (Luke 22:20; Heb 8–10) |
|---|---|
| Blood comes from bulls and oxen (Ex 24:5) | Blood comes from Jesus, the Son of God (Lk 22:20) |
| The shed blood is physically sprinkled on the people with whom the Sinai Covenant is being made (Ex 24:8) | The shed blood is sprinkled on the people by the Holy Spirit with whom the New Covenant is being made (1 Pet 1:1–2) |
| The blood ratifies the Sinai Covenant and marks the entry into the Sinai Covenant (Ex 24:5–8; Heb 9:18–20) | The blood ratifies the New Covenant and marks the entry into the New Covenant (Heb 9:15–22) |
| The blood sanctifies the people, making the people holy and setting them aside for service to God (Ex 24:7–8; Heb 9:13–14) | The blood sanctifies the people, making the people holy and setting them aside for service to God (Heb 9:13–14; 10:9b–10, 14) |
III. The Superiority of the New Covenant (Jer 31:31–34)
I want to conclude with some comments about the superiority of the New Covenant over the Sinai Covenant. First, Jeremiah 31:31–34 itself claims that the New Covenant is vastly superior to the Sinai Covenant:
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
JEREMIAH 31:31–34, emphasis added
Second, Hebrews 8–10 correctly extrapolates from Jeremiah 31:31–34 that the New Covenant is vastly superior to the Sinai Covenant and even makes the Sinai Covenant obsolete:
- “But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second” (HEBREWS 8:6–7, emphasis added; Hebrews then cites the entirety of Jeremiah 31:31–34).
- “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.” (HEBREWS 8:13, emphasis added).
- “Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant” (HEBREWS 9:15, emphasis added).
Third, the New Covenant is superior to the Sinai Covenant in that it cannot be broken because those who are under the New Covenant will be radically transformed from the inside out. Jeremiah 31:32 tells us what is the ultimate problem with the Sinai Covenant—God’s people broke it:
“not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD.”
JEREMIAH 31:32, emphasis added
The Sinai Covenant was broken because God’s people were faithless. They abandoned God for false gods and idols, not obeying God’s instructions (תּוֹרָה; νόμοι) and bringing God’s wrath upon them because of their iniquity and sin. This is what the exile was all about. The Northern Kingdom was obliterated by Assyria for their sin of idolatry and the Southern Kingdom was taken into exile by Babylon because of their sin of idolatry. Both kingdoms (Israel and Judah) forgot God; they did not “know” him. The Sinai Covenant was not able to stop them from forsaking God wholesale!
The New Covenant, however, rectifies this problem. The New Covenant will:
- Put God’s instructions (תּוֹרָה; νόμοι) on his people’s hearts: “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts” (Jer 31:33). There will be an internal change to God’s people in that they will know and obey God’s instructions!
- Permanently make Yahweh his people’s God and all those under the New Covenant Yahweh’s people: “I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jer 31:33). No more will God’s people go after other gods and no more will God cast off his people.
- Ensure that all of God’s people (i.e., those under the New Covenant) will permanently know God: “And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest” (Jer 31:34). God’s people will not forget Him like his people of the past did in almost every generation. The Old Testament is a terrible tale of God’s people forgetting Him and worshipping other gods. But under the New Covenant, this will not happen. All of those under the New Covenant will always know God, personally and intimately.
- Permanently forgive all iniquity and sin once-for-all and forever: “For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jer 31:34).
The problem with the Sinai Covenant is twofold. (1) There was no inward change to those under the Sinai Covenant; those under the Sinai Covenant were just as prone to sin and faithlessness as someone not under the Sinai Covenant. (2) The Sinai Covenant only temporarily dealt with the people’s sin until they sinned again. There was no permanent way to handle sin and obtain permanent forgiveness.
This all changed under the New Covenant. For those who have been sprinkled by the blood of Jesus and ushered into the New Covenant, there is a massive and permanent inward change that deals with sin and enables the child of God to adequately serve God. Here what the author of Hebrews tells us are the benefits of being under the New Covenant of which Jesus ratified: The child of God who is under the New Covenant . . .
- Has an advocate in Heaven with God (Heb 9:24).
- Has his sin permanently forgiven and put away (Heb 9:26; 10:12, 15–18).
- Receives eternal redemption from all sins and from transgressions committed under the Sinai Covenant (Heb 9:12, 15).
- Has his conscience cleansed/purified (Heb 9:14).
- Has been sanctified once for all (Heb 10:10).
- Has been perfected for all time (Heb 10:14).
- Is enabled to adequately serve God (Heb 9:14).
- Obtains the eternal inheritance (Heb 9:15).
The New Covenant is far superior to the Sinai Covenant in that it permanently forgives and puts away sin, permanently changes the person from the inside, enabling the person under the New Covenant to remain faithful to God all the days of his life and making it impossible for a person under the New Covenant to break the covenant, unlike the Sinai Covenant.
IV. Summary and Concluding Thoughts
At the Last Supper, Jesus told his disciples and us reading the account, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” (Luke 22:20). Jesus rightly understands that his death on the cross ratifies the New Covenant of which Jeremiah prophesied about in Jeremiah 31:31–34.
Therefore, if anyone wants to be a part of this New Covenant, that person must be sprinkled with the blood of Jesus. And the only way to be sprinkled with the blood of Jesus is to have the Holy Spirit enter into you and apply the blood of Christ to you. And the only way to have the Holy Spirit enter into you is to repent of your sin and believe in Jesus, his death and resurrection.
Once you have entered into the New Covenant, you will be sanctified. You will be made forever holy and permanently become part of God’s people. And you will be set aside for lifelong service to God.
The Sinai Covenant helps us better understand the New Covenant. But don’t go wandering back to the Sinai Covenant or leading people to it, for that covenant is now obsolete and has been obsolete for 2,000 years, because the New Covenant is here. The New Covenant was ratified 2,000 years ago by Jesus’ shed blood on the cross. Let’s lead people to the New Covenant through repentance of sin and belief in Jesus, his death and resurrection.
