Throughout the season of lent we’ve been looking at communion from different angles, gaining a deeper understanding of what this thing is that we do every single week. We’ve gazed at the fruit of knowledge and compared it to the fruit of life. We stood in awe of the daily bread that God provides. We recognized the healing medicine of forgiveness offered in communion. We felt the unity we have in Christ as we gather together at the table. We acknowledged that Christ has done everything needed to grant us forgiveness, so we’re left to just rest in Christ. Then we saw the imagery of the wedding feast of the Lamb brought forward in communion. But last night we talked about a strange word – covenant.

So a covenant was an agreement between two parties that was generally sealed not by a signature on a contract but by some kind of sacrifice. A good illustration can be found in Genesis when God established a covenant with Abraham (Abram). To seal that covenant, God had Abram cut animals in half and separate them creating an aisle of sorts. Then God walked through the aisle as a way of sealing his part of the covenant relationship.

Covenant is a huge theme in the bible. God established the covenant with Abraham. Then he re-emphasized it with Moses. Then in the New Testament, Jesus took the covenant to a whole new level when he had the Last Supper with his disciples. You see, the sacrifice Abraham made was good. Then Moses did it again. But when Jesus offered his sacrifice it was totally different! He didn’t offer a sacrifice of some animal. He gave himself. He let his blood be spill to start a new covenant. This covenant didn’t need done over and over again. This covenant didn’t need to be redone. It doesn’t need another sacrifice. It doesn’t need another animal to be killed. It’s done. Once for all – complete!

That’s what we get to celebrate every time we take communion. We get to celebrate this covenant with a meal of remembrance. Communion is a reminder meal. It’s a meal to remind us of the sacrifice Jesus gave to give us everything needed to be forgiven. It serves as a reminder of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection for us.

I pray you have a blessed Holy Week and Easter celebration.