21/10/2026
WITH WHOM DID JESUS MAKE THE NEW COVENANT?
What if I told you that the New Covenant was not originally promised to the Church?
Before anyone objects, read Jeremiah 31:31.
God explicitly names the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
Yet millions of Gentile believers now enjoy its blessings.
How is that possible?
The answer takes us from Mount Sinai to a Passover table in Jerusalem, where the Messiah Jesus made an extraordinary declaration.
LUKE 22:15–20
“I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for I tell you, I will no longer by any means eat of it until it is fulfilled in God’s Kingdom.” He received a cup, and when he had given thanks, he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves, for I tell you, I will not drink at all again from the fruit of the vine, until God’s Kingdom comes.” He took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in memory of me.” Likewise, he took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”
1. FROM SINAI TO THE PASSOVER TABLE
Passover commemorated Israel's deliverance from Egypt through the blood of the lamb (Exodus 12).
But another covenant connection is frequently overlooked.
At Mount Sinai, Moses declared:
“Behold, this is the blood of the covenant.” (Exodus 24:8)
Centuries later, Jesus announced:
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood.” (Luke 22:20)
The connection is extraordinary.
Moses proclaimed covenant blood at Sinai.
Jesus proclaimed New Covenant blood at Passover.
The first covenant established Israel's obligations under Moses.
The New Covenant rests upon the Messiah's perfect sacrifice.
Paul later declares that Jesus, our Passover, has been sacrificed (1 Corinthians 5:7).
The Jewish Passover was pointing toward the Jewish Messiah.
2. GOD NAMED THE RECIPIENTS
Jeremiah announced the New Covenant approximately six centuries before Jesus' birth.
JEREMIAH 31:31–34
“Behold, the days come,” says the LORD, “that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which covenant of mine they broke, although I was a husband to them,” says the LORD.“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says the LORD: “I will put my law in their inward parts, and I will write it in their heart. I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
Notice the specificity.
Israel. Judah. A New Covenant.
God did not leave its original recipients unidentified.
And this was no ordinary promise.
The Mosaic covenant had been broken.
God promised a transformation that human effort could never accomplish.
3. TWO PROPHETS, ONE EXTRAORDINARY PROMISE
Jeremiah 31:33 promises God's law written upon hearts.
Ezekiel 36:26–27 promises a new heart and God's Spirit within His people.
But notice what precedes Ezekiel's promise.
Ezekiel 36:24 declares:
“For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.”
Regathering.
Cleansing.
Spiritual renewal.
These promises are closely connected in Israel's prophetic Scriptures.
God promises both national restoration and inward transformation.
4. HOW DO GENTILES RECEIVE THESE BLESSINGS?
God's plan always included the nations.
Genesis 12:3 promises that all the families of the earth would be blessed through Abraham.
Paul explains in Galatians 3:8 that this anticipated the justification of Gentiles by faith.
Ephesians 2:12–13 describes Gentiles once separated from Israel's covenants of promise, now brought near through Messiah's blood.
Romans 11 provides a beautiful illustration.
Gentile believers are wild olive branches grafted into a cultivated olive tree.
Paul warns:
“You don't support the root, but the root supports you.” (Romans 11:18)
The root represents the covenantal foundation associated with Israel's patriarchs and God's promises.
Gentiles share in its blessings.
They do not replace the natural branches.
One Messiah. One way of salvation. One covenant-keeping God.
5. ALREADY INAUGURATED, NOT YET CONSUMMATED
This distinction is essential.
The New Covenant is already in effect.
Jesus inaugurated it through His blood.
Paul identifies himself as a minister of the New Covenant (2 Corinthians 3:6).
Hebrews 8–10 confirms that Jesus is its mediator and that His sacrifice provides forgiveness.
Believers already experience salvation, spiritual renewal, and the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Yet Jeremiah 31:34 anticipates a remarkable condition:
“For they will all know me, from their least to their greatest.”
Romans 11:26–27 also anticipates Israel's future salvation and the removal of Jacob's sins.
In the future-restoration understanding, the covenant has been inaugurated, but its promised national fullness for Israel awaits completion.
Already inaugurated. Not yet fully consummated.
6. GOD'S EXTRAORDINARY GUARANTEE
Here is perhaps the most astonishing part of Jeremiah 31.
Immediately after announcing the New Covenant, God appeals to the established order of creation.
Jeremiah 31:35–37 invokes the sun, moon, stars, and the heavens.
God declares that Israel will not cease from being a nation before Him unless that established order fails.
He also promises not to reject all Israel's descendants because of their sins.
Consider the significance.
Jeremiah 31:31: God promises the New Covenant to Israel and Judah.
Jeremiah 31:35–37: God guarantees His continuing commitment to Israel.
The same chapter!
God did not announce the New Covenant and then forget the people to whom He promised it.
He attached His faithfulness to the very order of creation.
The sun still shines.
The moon still rises.
The stars remain in their appointed places.
And God's covenant promises to Israel still stand.
Jesus inaugurated the New Covenant through His blood. Gentile believers now share in its saving blessings. And Israel's promised national restoration awaits fulfillment.
If God guaranteed Israel's future in the very chapter announcing the New Covenant, who are we to declare that future canceled?
