Daily Devotional (GPS)
Jesus' freely given blood fulfilled Jeremiah's vision
Daily Scripture
Jeremiah 31:31-34, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, Luke 22:15-20
Jeremiah 31
31 The time is coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. 32 It won’t be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant with me even though I was their husband, declares the LORD. 33 No, this is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel after that time, declares the LORD. I will put my Instructions within them and engrave them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 They will no longer need to teach each other to say, “Know the LORD!” because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD; for I will forgive their wrongdoing and never again remember their sins.
1 Corinthians 11
23 I received a tradition from the Lord, which I also handed on to you: on the night on which he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread. 24 After giving thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this to remember me.” 25 He did the same thing with the cup, after they had eaten, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Every time you drink it, do this to remember me.” 26 Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you broadcast the death of the Lord until he comes.
Luke 22
15 He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 I tell you, I won’t eat it until it is fulfilled in God’s kingdom.” 17 After taking a cup and giving thanks, he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. 18 I tell you that from now on I won’t drink from the fruit of the vine until God’s kingdom has come.” 19 After taking the bread and giving 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.” 20 In the same way, he took the cup after the meal and said, “This cup is the new covenant by my blood, which is poured out for you.
Daily Reflection & Prayer
As we end this week’s study of how Jesus’ death ransomed and redeemed us, Miles Steele sent us a reflection on Dutch artist Hendrick Jansz ter Brugghen’s painting of Jesus’ crucifixion. Miles is a non-traditional student currently studying web design and digital media at JCCC after graduating from KU with a BA in Art History. When he has the time Miles can be found coding at his desk or working on a personal project in the JCCC ceramics studio. To see ter Brugghen’s art with Miles’ commentary, click here.
The phrase “new covenant” was not “new” with Jesus. He evoked the prophet Jeremiah’s promise from almost 600 years earlier. That promise was decidedly new for Israelites facing exile in Babylon. “Jeremiah’s covenant is new in several key respects (31:32). First, it reunites the northern and southern kingdoms as one people in covenant relationship with God. God brings old hostilities to an end. Second, God engraves the divine Instruction on the hearts of God’s people (31:33). Third, there is full knowledge of God for everyone. This inclusive vision of life imagines every member of the community enjoying a new relation with God and living justly (see Jeremiah 22:16). Finally, sin no longer hinders God’s relationship with God’s people. God’s unconditional forgiveness forms the basis for full restoration and healing (31:34).” * Fittingly, Jesus said he was bringing that new covenant to completeness on the night before he gave his own life on the cross.
- Christians valued Jesus’ words before anyone wrote a “gospel.” Paul (and those he taught) quoted much of Jesus’ teaching. 1 Corinthians 11 was the first written account of the Lord’s Supper—Paul wrote it 15-20 years before any of the four gospels. ** The apostle quoted Jesus in 1 Corinthians 9:14 *** and Acts 20:35. In 1 Corinthians 7:10-17, 25, 40 he distinguished a specific command of Jesus from his sense of what Jesus would want in another case. Paul quoted Jesus, who quoted Jeremiah, who linked God “engraving” God’s wishes on our hearts (like the stone tablets on which God inscribed the 10 Commandments—cf. Exodus 31:18) with God mercifully forgiving our sins. That long line of God’s people expressed how God’s mercy changes the way God’s people live. Scholar William Barclay translated Jesus’ meaning as, “This cup is the new covenant and it cost my blood.” **** This Lent, will you join the chain of God’s people in thanking Jesus for the price he paid to offer you forgiving grace?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, you don’t want a casual, come-and-go connection with me. You shed your blood to invite me into an enduring covenant. Help me to wholeheartedly accept. Amen.
GPS Insights
Daniel Mhone
Rev. Daniel Mhone is the Conference Superintendent of the Malawi Provisional Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church since 2007. In this leadership position, serving with integrity of heart, he has total dependency on prayer to God for guidance and wisdom. He marvels how the English Premier League (EPL) players accurately pass the ball from one player to the other with the ultimate goal as a team to score and win the game. His ultimate wish is that we, as Christians, learn how to make accurate moves in ministry by passing on to others according to their strategic positions and gifts of grace, so that we would achieve much more in ministry. He is married to Moty for 38 years and God has blessed them with three biological children and one grandchild, Muwemi, plus countless other children whom they support and enjoy living life together.
During 2025 we are featuring writers from our global Missions partners every few weeks. They will add depth to our understanding of Resurrection’s reach around the world.
As a Christian Believer, I have often wondered as to how God’s covenants with His people are always sealed by the blood of a living and sinless being. A leading example is what we read in Genesis 22 where Abraham was about to shed innocent blood of his son Isaac which was by God’s own mercy substituted by the shedding of the innocent blood of the lamb. In Luke 22:19, we read of Jesus who was sinless shedding his own blood as a symbol of the new covenant in order to save all humanity. It took therefore a free offer of His blood to save humanity. The overarching question is, why seal this covenant with blood? I strongly believe that is because Scripture says life of every living being is in the blood hence every covenant must be sealed by the blood.
I have always considered the shedding of blood as a mystery because how can the shedding of blood translate into the renewal of a covenant? Yes, this is a mystery because the shedding of blood requires brokenness or breaking of the body. And all forms of breaking are associated with pain and suffering which many of us view negatively. Yet pain and suffering remain foundational when it comes to renewal of all covenants and this offer must be by own blood.
What I have learnt in this life is that without breaking or brokenness, there is no renewal of relationship with God. It occurred to me that some 2 years ago, I was thrown into prison for 77 days. I was heart-broken, my family members were heart-broken, my genuine friends were heart-broken, but this incident led me to a renewal of my relationship with God. Further, I learnt how to embrace Jesus’ teaching about how to forgive even my enemies. I hold no grudge for all my enemies, and I even pray for their well -being.
I see that Jesus’ free offer of His own body to be broken and the shedding of His own blood for all humanity was a gift of grace for all humanity. Jesus’ gift lets us live a life in a renewed covenant relationship with God as symbolized when we gather and celebrate the Lords Supper. That Supper expresses our belief in a God who is always present with us by the power of the Holy Spirit. These results lead us to believe Jesus had to freely offer His own blood for the renewal of our covenant with God.
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