Q & R: Blood of the covenant
Here’s the Q:
You mention that you don’t agree with Paul on the definition of the Gospel but in Jesus’ own words he defines the Gospel of redemption—not a an example to follow, although that is important but is secondary to his ultimate mission for mankind.—-comment?
28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Here’s the R:
This is a great question.
First, I need to clarify: I’ve never said I don’t agree with Paul on the definition of the Gospel. Not at all! I think Paul agrees with Jesus, and I agree with them both! What I have said is that I think many Christians (I was among them for most of my life) derive a definition of the Gospel from Paul by which they disregard Jesus’ teaching and definition of the gospel. Jesus defines the Gospel as “the kingdom of God is at hand.” When Paul speaks of “the righteousness of God” in his definition/explication of the Gospel, I think, broadly speaking, “righteousness” means “restorative justice,” and I think that’s another way of getting at the meaning of “kingdom of God.” I see a close relationship between several phrases:
good news, kingdom of God, restorative justice (righteousness) of God, God’s will being done on earth as in heaven
I also would differ that when Jesus refers to “blood of the covenant,” he is not defining the gospel, but the meaning of what we call the eucharist. And I’m glad for the opportunity to offer a few thoughts on this passage.
Jesus does not say, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out to appease God’s wrath against human sin.” Perhaps that is what he means (I used to think so), but it isn’t what he says. If he did mean that, then it wasn’t actually a new covenant. It was simply another and perhaps final sacrifice in the Old Covenant.
I now lean toward interpreting Jesus’ statement like this: The New Covenant is not about sinners bringing sacrifices to God to appease an angry God. It is about God demonstrating God’s love for sinners in self-giving – even to the point of death. People don’t make a sacrifice to God. God, in Christ, demonstrates that God needs no sacrifices and instead is a God of self-giving love. I write about this in more detail in A New Kind of Christianity, in Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road, and in We Make the Road by Walking.
Thanks for your question and the opportunity to clarify a possible misconception.