New Covenant - The God's Purpose for His Death

The passage that I took from the book of Luke was the Passover, which is in Luke 22:7-20. I chose this passage because the passover was one of the most important religious festivals celebrated in the book of Luke and in other books in the bible. The passover was done to remind people how God saved the Israelites from the final plague, the plague of death of all of the first borns, and how he lead them out of Egypt. I also chose this passage because it reflects on the fulfilment of the New Convient of God, which was that Jesus would come to save the lives of many. This also ties into Jesus and his redemptive work for man because God redeemed the slaves of Egypt when he saved them; this reminds us about the relationship that He began with His people through His redemption. Since the book of Luke was written for the Gentiles, it shows that Jesus didn’t only come to save the Jews, but he came to save sinners and lost souls. If you want to fully understand the reasons why the Jews continued the Passover festival and why Jesus participated in the Passover, you have to go back to Exodus. I didn’t just choose this passage because it related to the whole book of Luke but I chose it because it shows me that I have to have more faith in God, for His plan for my life and in His plan for my future.

The Passover reflects on the fact that God came to save his people. This is shown when he saves the Iraelites from Egypt to take them to the promised land. It reveals that God is a God of promises and when he makes a promise he will keep it. He made sure that the Isrealites would escape Egypt and would be able to survive in the desert. Additionally, the Passover reveals that God is a God of second chances, this makes sense because instead of making the people follow the rules of the Old Covenant, He made a New Covenant that was easier for the people to follow compared to the old one. God is making it easier for more people to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Furthermore, the Passover reveals that God has a plan for everyone because when the Iraelites were crying out to God to save them, they didn’t have faith that God would take them out of the situation. But even though the Isrealites had given up on God, He was able to save them from all their troubles and the punishments from Pharaoh and the Egyptians. In addition the Passover also reveals that God is always with you. This is shown when the Israleites were walking through the desert and they thought that they weren’t going to have any food or water to drink but every step of the way, God was with them and his protection and supervision made sure that they were able to reach the promised land safely. Lastly, we learn that God wants everyone to go to Heaven and to be free from sins’ hold and power. The Isrealites were like prisoners to the Egyptian but God was able to make a way through it all and he was able to give the freedom that they desired. This can be shown with Jesus as well, because of the price that He paid for us, we are able to have freedom from sin and all the ties that the devil has on us. This is good because it means that we all have an opportunity to be with God in Heaven one day.

Additionally, the Passover shows that Jesus had a purpose when he came onto Earth. One of his main purposes when he came onto Earth was to start the New Covenant and close off the old one. By Jesus dying on the cross, the New Covenant was started and this meant that there was no longer a need to sacrifice lambs because the “Passover Lamb came and accomplished his work,” saving sinners by his death and resurrection. The Passover supper is looking forward to Jesus and his redemptive work for man whereas the Lord’s supper looks back to the Messiah and the work that he did to save all of God’s people. When the Israelites had the Passover in the Old Testament, they were living in the “era of Promise,” meaning that God was starting to make a way for Jesus to come and save all the people. But in the book Luke we see a shift were, now the people are living in the “era of Fulfillment,” this is God fulfilling his promise to Man. This refers to Jesus because He was the promise that God had mentioned earlier on in the chapter. Jesus was being fulfilled through the powerful work of God. The Lord’s supper reflects back to the finished work on the cross. This ties back to the fulfillment of the works and words of God. It also points to the coming of Christ in the future. If God brought Jesus to die for us in the book of Luke then we can be sure that God will bring Jesus back in the end ages.

The Passover is looking forward to Jesus and His redemptive work for man and this makes me think about how I should be looking forward to Jesus’ imminent return to Earth. Like the Isrealites and the people of the Old Testament were waiting for the Promised Son, I should look forward to Jesus coming to judge the people of the world. I need to realise this everyday when I wake up in the morning because nobody knows the day or the hour that Jesus will return to Earth, so I should spend everyday glorifying God. The idea of Jesus coming to Earth with a purpose made me learn that I also have a purpose in this world. Sometimes I think that I was put on Earth just to live but by doing this project I have learned that I have a purpose to fulfill. I haven’t figured it out yet but I know that I want God to work through me so that I can spread His word and glorify His name. Furthermore, I learnt that God is a God of promises when the Isrealites were struggling to survive and weren’t being treated correctly, God promised them and Moses that he would get them out of Egypt. We can see that God does eventually save the Isrealites and they are able to be set free. This makes me think about how sometimes I make promises to God that I’ll do something or I’ll change a part of myself to honour Him, but I never stick to what I say I’m going to do. Another example is if I’m getting bad grades in a class, I’ll tell my mum that I’ll go and talk to the teacher at lunch but instead I’m talking with my friends in the zone. I need to learn to try and keep my promises not only to honour God but to honour myself as well. How can God keeps His promises with me if I can’t keep my promises with other people. In addition, I learnt that God is a God of second chances, if God didn’t care about us then He wouldn’t have sent Jesus to die on the cross and he would have let us all rot in Hell. But, God gave up his own Son, so that instead of dying, I may have eternal life. This is really special to me because sometimes I don’t realise how much God sacrificed for me and I take it for granted. By doing this I’m kind of saying that I’m above God and His love, when I’m not. This also teaches me that I should give people second chances and forgive them because God forgave me so what reason do I have not to forgive other people? Finally, I learn that God is always with me because when the Isrealites were going through the worst of times and they thought that God had given up on them, God was still with them. I need to learn to remember that God isn’t like the people in my life, He doesn’t go then come back, He’s constant. Whenever I’m upset or when I’m alone, I should remember that God is with me and He’ll always remain with me.

I think that the book of Luke can be summarized by the Passover because it shows the main message of the New Testament which revolves around the idea of Jesus and His redemptive work for man. If Jesus didn’t die on the cross, the New Covenant wouldn’t have been opened and we would still be sacrificing animals for every sin that we did, but through Jesus’ blood that was shed, we are all set free. We can see that when Jesus came to close the Old Covenant but that doesn’t mean that we should forget about what God did to the Iraelites; we should think of the Passover as the fulfillment of something that had already happened in the past. We should do this by taking the Holy Communion to remember what Christ did for us. He didn’t die on the cross because He wanted to, he offered his life so that we may have eternal life. His death shouldn’t be taken for granted. He wanted us all to be with Him in heaven and for that I am very thankful. Not only did he give his life to save the Jews, but to save all the lost souls and return them to the Father.