More on the New Covenant for the unconvinced as I agree with SpiritualJew:
The Old Covenant instituted on Mt Sinai was intended for
all the people of
Israel: Ex 24:8; Rom 9:6b
Rom 9:6 - "For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,
Ex 24:8 - "And Moses took the blood and threw it upon the people, and said, "Behold the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words."
The promise of a New Covenant: (Eze 34:25; 37:26; Is 55:3; Jer 32:40 et al)
Eze 34:25 - "I will make with them a Covenant of Peace ..."
Eze 37:26 - "I will make a Covenant of Peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will bless them and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. (Jesus was intended to be the "sanctuary" (naos-Gk)
Isa 55:3 - Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.
Jer 32:40 - I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them; and I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.
The Ordinance of the Lord's Supper instituted and the New Covenant to be fulfilled within hours:
Luk 22:19 - And he took bread, and when he had given 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." And likewise the cup after supper, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the New Covenant in my blood." (Mt 26:29 - "I shall not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."
The bread of the Old Covenant was always "unleavened" bread. BUT, when the bread of the Last Supper was used by Jesus, it was
"leavened" [naos] bread - indicating that it was confirmation of his fulfillment of the New Covenant when he had risen from the grave.
The confirmation:
Jhn 21:9-20 - "When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish." The "bread" on the beach was the living everlasting "bread of life"; of which was a confirmation that the New Covenant was now in force!
I added because I forgot to include verses after the gospel accounts:
Peter confirmed the New Covenant in the book of Acts:
Act 3:25 - "You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God gave to your fathers, saying to Abraham, 'And in your posterity shall all the families of the earth be blessed.'
The Apostle Paul:
2Co 3:14 ~ But their minds were hardened; for to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away.
Hebrews
Heb 8:6 ~ But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry which is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.
Heb 8:13 ~ In speaking of a New Covenant he treats the first [old] as obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
Heb 9:15 ~ Therefore [Jesus] is the mediator of a New Covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred which redeems them from the transgressions under the first covenant.
Heb 9:18 ~ Hence even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood. {To paraphrase it; "The New Covenant WAS INAUGURATED with blood.}
Heb 10:29 ~ How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by the man who has spurned the Son of God, and profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace?
Rev 11:19 ~ Then God's temple [naos/spiritual] in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his [naos/spiritual] temple; and there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Luke 22:19-20
"
The Lord's supper is a sign or memorial of Christ already come, who by dying delivered us; his death is in special manner set before us in that ordinance, by which we are reminded of it. The breaking of Christ's body as a sacrifice for us, is therein brought to our remembrance by the breaking of bread. Nothing can be more nourishing and satisfying to the soul, than the doctrine of Christ's making atonement for sin, and the assurance of an interest in that atonement. Therefore we do this in remembrance of what He did for us, when he died for us; and for a memorial of what we do, in joining ourselves to him
in an Everlasting Covenant. The shedding of Christ's blood, by which the atonement was made, is represented by the wine in the cup.
