The Lord's Supper--beautiful picture of the New Covenant!

These scriptures never fail to amaze me. The woman pouring the expensive oil on Jesus. Jesus told the folks that were there, that the reason she did this, was to prepare Him for burial. He knew His time was at hand. Did SHE know the reason she was doing this? Who was she? We're not told. There seems to be gaps in the story--not on God's part, but things that make me want to know more. Why were they in a Leper's house?? Surely he was no longer a leper? Was he one of the 10 that were healed? He now had a house. It was my understanding that all personal belongings were stripped, and lepers cast out of the city.

Judas ticked me off. In verse 14, we're told of Judas going to make a deal with the pharisees. Then in verse 22 he says, "Surely not I, Lord?" Boy, talk about hypocrisy! He knew full good and well it was going to be him! I imagine this was a whispered conversation. I can't imagine Peter would have over heard that, then not have done anything. Not Peter. Humph!

The Passover-turned-Lord's-Supper really stands out to me. Does every time. I remember way back in my early days of church; we'd have a few minutes before we took the Lord's supper, to make sure we had all of our sins confessed; to make sure we weren't holding grudges--if we were, we were to make it right before we partook of the Communion. To not do so, would be to be drinking damnation to our souls. I remember as a teenager, one such woman grated my nerves. No matter what we as teenagers did, she had something negative to say about it. Forgive her? Not a chance. But what about drinking damnation to my soul? Well, I fixed that. I simply stopped taking the Lord's Supper. I was NOT going to to hell over a glass of Welches! I kept that trend up for years. So, my understanding of the Lord's Supper was that it was one more thing to guilt us into 'fessing up all of our sins.
Looking now, I am amazed. Look what Jesus said, ""Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom." Then he says the same thing about the bread. The bread now represents His body--which was broken and given to us. As the disciples ate the bread and drank the wine, it became a beautiful picture of the New Covenant. The bread might've been a whole loaf, then it was broken, and pieces of it went inside the disciples. Each one took of the same loaf. Just as today, we each accept the same Jesus. We are now His body. The forgiveness of sins is a done deal. Jesus gave His life; shed His blood, for the sins of the whole world. This is a far cry from trying to remember all of our sins, so we don't drink damnation to our souls. Why couldn't I see it before?? Oh yeah, because I was looking at it through the eyes of a minister, instead of through the eyes of the New Covenant.

Jesus did indeed usher in a New Covenant. This was another truth that eluded me growing up in church. I had come to the erroneous conclusion that the Covenants were nothing more than a point on a time line. The 1st 5 books of the Bible were the Law of Moses; the rest of the Old Testament were the prophets; the Synoptic Gospels were 'during" Christ, and the rest of the New Testament were after His death, burial and resurrection. That was all. The only way it applied to me, was as a reference point to where on the time line things took place. Ha! Thank GOD He didn't see fit to leave me in my ignorance! He never had that in mind! What love is that!?!