The New Covenant (5th Sunday of Lent)

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In past readings, we were introduced to a succession of covenants that God made with important individuals, after whom each covenant was named. These included the Noahic Covenant, the Abrahamic Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, and the Davidic Covenant. We see that these covenants are the means by which God stays united to His people, which is why we read the oft-repeated refrain that they will be God’s people, and He will be their God (e.g. Genesis 17:7, Exodus 6:7, etc.). Each covenant included promises and conditions that needed to be met, whether it was a ritual such as circumcision, or the keeping of certain laws. Whenever a new covenant was established, it built on the previous one, and revealed God’s plans in greater detail.

The ultimate fufillment of God’s plans however, comes through what is known as the “New Covenant.” This covenant is hinted at in numerous places in the Old Testament, and is referred to by many names, but Jeremiah 31 is the only place where it is explicitly called as such. He declare his intention to establish this new covenant even while castigating His people for breaking the terms of the one He established with them at Sinai. This new covenant would differ from the old one in that it would focus more on what is internal, rather than what is external. Hence, God declares that He will inscribe His laws in people’s hearts, and they will all come to know Him.

We see this covenant inaugurated by Jesus in the Gospels. The emphasis on the internal condition of the heart is revealed to us in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). The promise that God would teach us His ways directly is fulfilled through the coming of the Holy Spirit, who teaches us all things (John 14-16). Finally, the old covenant signs are replaced with the new covenant sacraments, particularly Baptism (through which a person enters into the covenant), and the Eucharist (through which the benefits of the covenant are communicated). It is for this reason that when Jesus institutes the Eucharist, He refers to the cup as the “blood of the covenant” (cf. Matthew 26:28). All this comes through Christ, who is the mediator of the New Covenant (Hebrews 9:15, 12:24).

As people of the New Covenant, we who are Christians are heirs to a greater promise than what the previous covenants contain. Through our worship, we thank God for these blessings. Through the sacraments, we partake of their benefits. And through evangelization, we call upon others to believe in Christ and thus be included in the New Covenant, with all of its blessings.