A sermon on Exodus 24:1-11 for Maundy Thursday. Delivered by Pastor Caleb Strutz.

In the liturgy, and in church in general, there’s lots of words that we can see all the time but not really know what they mean. One such example is in the Sanctus, which we will sing shortly as part of our communion liturgy. “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth.” What’s a Sabaoth? This isn’t the word Sabbath, the day of rest, this is Sabaoth, the heavenly host, the mighty armies of angels. We praise God in His almighty power.

Now that one you can get a pass for, Sabaoth is Hebrew, not English. But there are even some English words that can be unfamiliar or used in an unfamiliar way. One such example is in the Words of Institution, certainly a focus tonight on Maundy Thursday. Jesus says, “this cup is the new testament in My blood.” What’s Jesus talking about here? What’s a testament? Usually we think of dividing the books of the Bible into the Old Testament and the New Testament but obviously something else is going on here. What’s the old testament it’s replacing? What makes this new testament new? And what does it mean for that to be in His blood?

Jesus is bringing in a lot of language and a lot of concepts that we’re not very familiar with. But Jesus’ disciples would have known what He was talking about. They were familiar with this language and these concepts and some things would be familiar but other things would be radically new. By turning to the Old Testament in the Scriptures, we can make sense of the new testament in Jesus’ blood.

I. Old Covenant

The first step to unlocking this is to clear some things up in translation. So in the Words of Institution in our liturgy, “this cup is the new testament in My blood.” But when we read from 1 Corinthians 11 in our Epistle, it was translated “This cup is the new covenant in My blood.” Now, there’s some distinctions that can be made and some ways in which “testament” is preferable, but, for now, knowing that this word can also be translated “covenant” can help us make some more connections.

Because you might have noticed some very similar language in our Old Testament lesson from Exodus 24. Moses said, “This is the blood of the covenent.” So Jesus is drawing on familiar language and familiar pictures, but what exactly are the points of comparison here?

Well, the first is this concept of a “covenant.” A covenant is a pact entered into by two parties who each agree to do something. And we see this language and this concept all throughout the Old Testament books, but there’s this really perfect example for us right here where you can see the two sides of this covenant.

God has delivered His people from Egypt, brought them out to Mount Sinai, and given them His law. Moses tells the people everything God has told him and they say, “All the words which the LORD has said we will do.” This is their half of the covenant. It isn’t explicitly stated here, but elsewhere in the Old Testament, God makes it clear that if His people obey His laws like they said they’re going to, then He will bless them and prosper them and be their God.

So when Jesus uses this covenant language, it means there’s this pact or agreement that’s being entered into. And this covenant is sealed with a sacrifice and with a meal.

That’s what we see here in Exodus and, again, this pattern is repeated elsewhere. Peace offerings of oxen are sacrificed and half the blood is sprinkled on the altar. The people repeat their commitment, “All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient,” and they are sprinkled with the other half of the blood. “This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you according to all these words.”

But the covenant ritual isn’t done just yet. Seventy of the elders of Israel go up on the mountain and eat and drink with God. This covenant relationship has been sealed with the blood of a sacrifice and with a meal.

And again, Jesus is drawing on these same concepts. “This is My body which is given for you,” “This is … My blood, which is shed for you,” (Lk 22:19-20) this clear sacrificial language. And this is all taking place in the context of a meal, the disciples are to eat this sacrifice, just like they would have for a peace offering. This is all familiar stuff.

But, of course, there has to be a disconnect somewhere, right? If the new covenant is exactly like the old in every respect, then there’s nothing new about it. So what was wrong with the old covenant? Why did it need to be replaced?

Well, the answer is sin. Maybe you could already see some of the flaws in the old covenant. Because a covenant is two-sided. It’s dependent on the people holding up their half, on doing what God said. And they didn’t. Most of the rest of the history of Israel from Exodus 24 on is them not obeying God’s law, but rejecting Him and going their own way.

Although we never entered that same covenant at Sinai, we are held under the same law. What God wants of us is not only written on tablets of stone but also on our hearts. And you need only to listen to your heart to see how you’re doing with your half. We are plagued with a guilty conscience. We still live with regret for things buried in the past. We have sinned against God’s law, broken that covenant.

Part of God’s law for the Israelites required regular sacrifices. Some would be offered every day, others based on the needs of the individual. But there’s a fundamental problem with a sacrifice like this. Because somehow, man has to present something acceptable to God. It’s up to man to bring the sacrifice.

Now, sure, you can find a flawless animal specimen, but you see the deeper problem here. Sure, you can find an animal, but what about the man? Our sin makes us unacceptable to God. We can never be worthy enough to enter His presence. Our sin disqualifies us. It is this barrier that cannot be overcome. We are unworthy, unacceptable, because we have broken His law, voided His covenant.

II. New Testament

The old covenant had its problems. Not that it was flawed, but that we are flawed. That’s why Jesus institutes this new testament, a new covenant.

God knew His people’s flaws. He knew their failings. So He promised, even in the Old Testament, a new covenant. We see this most explicitly in Jeremiah 31, “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel.” This is what Jesus is talking about. And God outlines the terms of this new covenant, “I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more” (Jer 31:31, 34).

This new covenant is a one-sided covenant of forgiveness. It’s not, “if… then,” but “I will.” God enters into this covenant by Himself to freely forgive your sins. That’s why “testament” is really a better word. Because a covenant, by definition, is two-sided. But a one-sided covenant is a testament. A pact that God places Himself into without human participation. And this new testament Jesus inaugurates with His blood.

Jesus speaks of Himself as the sacrifice. With His blood this testament is sealed. As He is seated in the upper room, Jesus anticipates the sacrifice He will make and He declares that this new testament of free forgiveness is now in force. The only sacrifice that could ever be truly pleasing to God is the perfection of God Himself. God gave the sacrifice of His Son. By shedding His blood on the cross, Jesus clears away your sin, removes that roadblock between you and God. He cleanses you, gives you His perfection so that you are acceptable to God.

The old covenant was two-sided, between God and man. The new testament is one-sided, the promise of free forgiveness. The old covenant was sealed in the blood of sacrifices brought by man. The new testament is sealed in the blood of Jesus, the sacrifice that God provided.

And we participate in this testament, enter into this promise of free forgiveness, by a meal. This is nothing new, same as before, just as the Israelites would eat a portion of the sacrifices. But in the Lord’s Supper, a few things are different.

The first is that this is no longer a sacrifice, but a sacrament. It’s not something that we bring to God but that God gives to us. Just as God provided the sacrifice of His Son, so He gives you this sacrifice to eat and to drink to enter into and receive the benefits of this new testament. We don’t bring anything. We receive.

We eat Jesus’ body and we drink His blood. The same body that He offered on the cross, the same blood that He shed for our forgiveness. We partake of the sacrifice to receive the benefits of this new covenant, to receive the forgiveness of all of our sins.

But there’s one more dimension here that would have really shocked the disciples: that they are to drink blood. This was strictly forbidden, even before the Sinai covenant. God instructed Noah after the flood, “you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood” (Gen 9:4). And this logic is repeated in Leviticus, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood” (17:11).

To eat the sacrifice is expected, but to drink its blood shows that something radically different is going on here. This sacrifice is different. The sacrifice of Jesus is complete and whole, once and for all. Now we partake not just of a portion of the sacrifice, but the whole of the sacrifice, even the blood. Because life is in the blood. Jesus’ blood gives us life like the blood of beasts never could. Jesus’ sacrifice is complete, the fulfillment of every sacrifice of the old covenant. This blood is something new. It is that which seals the new testament of free forgiveness, that which we drink to receive the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. There is life in the blood.

So we’ve seen how Jesus and His sacrifice and His blood lead us from the old covenant to the new testament. But you really need a working knowledge of the old in order to understand what’s going on and being referenced in the new. So the old leads to the new and the new builds off the old.

And maybe this is a bit of a stretch, but I think we can see this same dynamic in the very structure of our service. After all, Maundy Thursday, because it is the institution of the Lord’s Supper can also be seen as the institution of the Divine Service.

And the simplest way to divide our service is in half: the Service of the Word and the Service of the Sacrament. Our Service of the Word, the first half, has its roots in Jewish synagogue worship, with readings from Scripture interspersed with chanted Psalms and a sermon and beginning and ending with prayers. So it’s very reflective of the old covenant, in a certain sense.

But the Service of the Sacrament has no parallels with Jewish liturgy. This is something radically new, wholly different. Scripture has always been Scripture, but the old sacrificial meals were mere shadows of this great meal, of our Lord’s Supper.

So you see the old and the new. Either half would be incomplete without the other, they both rely on each other. The Word leads to and is made manifest in the Sacrament. And the Sacrament relies on the Word to prepare us and make us ready.

The old covenant and the new testament have a lot in common, they’re working with the same language and similar concepts. But things are different. Things are better. God holds Himself to free forgiveness, regardless of our sins. He gives the sacrifice of His Son to seal and ratify this one-sided covenant, this new testament. And Christ invites us to His meal to receive the fullness of His sacrifice, body and blood, so that we have life and forgiveness in Him. Amen.