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)
When St. Jerome translated Luke 22:20 from Greek to Latin for the Vulgate, he translated “new covenant” as novum testamentum, which subsequently led to the KJV translation of: “Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.”
I think this led to the entire NT being called the New Testament instead of the New Covenant. Look up the word “testament,” and you get “will.” But that’s not what the 27 books of the New Covenant are. I wish the blank page after Malachi 4 and before Matthew 1:1 was labeled new covenant in your Bible.
~The New Covenant~
That would have created the contrast that needs to be in the minds of every Christian as they contemplate the old versus the new. When I turn this page and begin reading Matthew 1:1, I am beginning the narrative of the new covenant with God and man.
This would serve as a reminder of what the New Testament is really all about. This is the record of getting to the new covenant and all the associated implications and promises. It tells you about the Mediator of the new covenant. It describes the people of the new covenant. The church, in reality, is a community of baptized new covenant believers. The gospel is the good news of the new covenant. The law of the new covenant stands in stark contrast to the law of the old covenant.
The Lord’s Supper is the meal where the new covenant community celebrates the new covenant and remembers what our Savior endured to make the promises of the new covenant with God possible
We need to know this NC inside and out. It stands unambiguously distinguished from the old covenant that is now obsolete. The NC is the last of the covenants. This is the covenant that takes believers into the eternal kingdom. The Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, and Davidic covenants all lay the groundwork for this new, everlasting, better covenant of peace with God. This is the only covenant that promises every member of the covenant community the indwelling of the Spirit of God. Please read that again.
The signs of membership in this covenant are participation in the Lord’s Supper and water baptism by immersion. The water baptism pictures the cleansing promised in Ezekiel 36:24-27. When we read our NT, we learn this washing is regeneration (Tit 3:5) and the new birth (John 3). And this idea of connecting OT promises with NT realities goes on and on. In the OT, we read “live in the land”. In 2 Peter 3 we discover this land is the new earth. Over and over again Ezekiel speaks about God’s people dwelling in the land and Revelation 21:3ff describes “God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples and God himself will be with them and will be their God.” Come Lord Jesus.
