Matthew 26:26-29
26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.”
To
understand what the new covenant is, we need to think about the old
covenant. In the old covenant, there was blood all over the place.
Frequently offering animal sacrifices and sprinkling the blood on various items, the priests
would have been regularly covered in blood.
Everything
was purified by blood, as Hebrews 9:22 says, and it also tells us why - because without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
Thinking
about these bloody scenes and sacrifices makes us feel sick and disgusted. It's supposed to. It shows us how sick and
disgusting our sin is.
Jesus
blood was poured out for the forgiveness of our sins. The phrase "God
loves you" is true, but because it has become
so well known, it's often completely misunderstood. We can't understand it if we don't understand the seriousness of our sin. God's
forgiveness isn't saying "I'll let you off". Blood needs to be shed for
our sin. A God who lets people off is a weak god who doesn't deal with evil in the world. God's
forgiveness comes at the price of Jesus blood. his blood was poured out,
it was all over the place. He died in a bloody mess so that we can be
forgiven. Nobody is being "let off", it cost Jesus everything. "Jesus loves you" is not a cheesy phrase. It cost Him His life.