Covenants are all over the Bible. In fact many theologians would suggest that the idea of a covenant between God and mankind is the structural key to understanding the Bible. Sometimes God makes a covenant with a specific person, sometimes he makes a covenant with all of creation (like the rainbow after the flood), sometimes he makes a covenant with an entire nation and people. The covenants have specific purposes dependant on who they are made with and for what time. Either way, here are few things to keep in mind about covenants:
1. Covenants define a relationship and set commitments and expectations for the parties involved. They define the nature and guidelines of a particular relationship, how the relationship is established, and what the boundaries of the relationship are.
We understand this quite well in some modern situations. I have known of people who when selling a portion of their land, made a covenant to secure the relationship of their new neighboring owner. They did not want to sell and then find out that the owner would subdivide the land or put in a used car lot. The covenant defined how the two neighbors would relate to one another and what the expectations were for one another
2. Covenants usually involve some sort of oath or ceremonial swearing of commitment.
3. Covenants usually have some detailed stipulations.
Now let's end our brief little lesson with an observation about the Bible. It is organized around two major covenants. For sake of simplicity (and because God called one of them "New") they are called The Old Covenant and The New Covenant. Now some of you are thinking, "I thought it was called the Old Testament and the New Testament?" You are exactly right!. The two words are synonyms in English and share the same word in Greek.
So, for your homework. In Luke 22:20, it says the following, "In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you."
Wow, a new covenant!. Was Jesus the first person to use this language or not?
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4 comments:
I dont know if this answers the question.. or if you were even looking for an actual response.
BUT
I think that when Jesus said he makes this new covenant, he is playing off of the prophets or the old covenant. the Jews knew that a new covenant was to be made, but wether the desiples picked up on what He was saying or not, i dont know.
so.. my semi-educated guess is that no.. this is not 'new language".
Bobby O,
Thanks for answering. I definitely was looking for an answer. I will come back to this in my next post
Jeremiah 31 contains the prophecy of the new covenant. Picking up on Bobby's note, the passage in Luke doesn't given any indication that the disciples knew what he was referring to; however, the fact that there are no questions recorded from them is a subtle (though maybe not exact) clue that they knew what he was talking about. There are other examples of them asking questions after a difficult teaching, and this isn't one of them. I'm betting they understood Him, even if it was vaguely. Israel was then governed by a foreign power, so Jeremiah was likely a commonly read book in those times - the prophet to those in captivity, awaiting deliverance.
I'm interested to see where you're going with this, Colby. I've been stewing over the topic of covenants for a few years, but usually in it's contrast to dispensational theology. I doubt this is where you're going, but I'm interested in learning more about covenants. This is a good topic.
Good stuff, Colby...I'm glad you're my "discipleship coordinator"
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