Living in Covenant
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SUMMER QUARTER—JUNE, JULY, AUGUST 2019 Living in Covenant GENERAL INTRODUCTION This quarter will teach how Jesus fulfilled the Law—in the sense that it was given full meaning. Jesus emphasized the deep, underlying messages of the Gospel, and this same message is continued through the apostle Paul and the writer of the book of Hebrews. Relationships of faith empower us to live the covenant and spread the Gospel message. Unit I, “A Fulfilled Covenant,” contains four lessons that reveal a new sign of the covenant for Jewish and Gentile believers, as recorded in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, Hebrews, and Colossians. During the celebration of the Passover, Jesus explained to the disciples that He would initiate a new covenant through His death. Paul explains that the sign of the covenant is now a relationship of the heart between God and God’s people, not circumcision. Unit II, “A Heartfelt Covenant,” has five lessons and gives new meaning and purpose to the Law. According to Matthew, Jesus began teaching the Law in a way that gave life to the hearer and doer. Unlike other teachers of the Law, Jesus preached the transforming righteousness of the kingdom. Jesus challenged the mere external observance of God’s law without internal transformation. Unit III, “Covenant: A Personal Perspective,” has four lessons. It focuses on personal relationships between people as recorded in the books of 1 Samuel, Ruth, and Ephesians. Ultimately, those relationships pave the way for the Messiah. After Christ established the New Testament church, relationships between people have been based on relationship with Christ Jesus. These relationships continue the work of Christ Jesus by spreading the Gospel message. Summer 2019–TOWNSEND PRESS COMMENTARY | 1 . Summer 2019–TOWNSEND PRESS COMMENTARY | 2 June 2, 2019 Lesson 1 JESUS INSTITUTES THE NEW COVENANT ADULT/YOUTH CHILDREN ADULT/YOUNG ADULT TOPIC: Making Promises GENERAL LESSON TITLE: Jesus Makes a YOUTH TOPIC: Better Promises New Promise CHILDREN’S TOPIC: Celebrate the New Promise DEVOTIONAL READING Jeremiah 31:31-34 ADULT/YOUTH CHILDREN BACKGROUND SCRIPTURE: Mark 14:12-31; BACKGROUND SCRIPTURE: Mark 14:12-31; Hebrews 8 PRINT Hebrews 8 PRINT PASSAGE: Mark 14:17- PASSAGE: Mark 14:17- 24; 24; Hebrews 8:6-7, 10-12 KEY Hebrews 8:6-7, 10-12 KEY VERSE: VERSE: Hebrews 8:6 Hebrews 8:10 Mark 14:17-24; Hebrews 8:6-7, 10-12— 22 And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and KJV blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body. 17 And in the evening he cometh with the twelve. 23 And he took the cup, and when he had given 18 And as they sat and did eat, Jesus said, Verily I thanks, say unto you, One of you which eateth with me shall betray me. Mark 14:17-24; Hebrews 8:6-7, 10-12— 19 And they began to be sorrowful, and to say NIV unto him one by one, Is it I? and another said, Is 17 When evening came, Jesus arrived with the it I? 20 And he answered and said unto them, It is Twelve. 18 While they were reclining at the table one of the twelve, that dippeth with me in the eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will dish. betray me—one who is eating with me.” 21 Th e Son of man indeed goeth, as it is written 19 Th ey were saddened, and one by one of him: but woe to that man by whom the Son they said to him, “Surely you don’t mean me?” of man is betrayed! good were it for that man if 20 “It is one of the Twelve,” he replied, he had never been born. “one who dips bread into the bowl with me. 21 “Th e Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who Summer 2019–TOWNSEND PRESS COMMENTARY | 3 betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and him if he had not been born.” 22 While they were write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given God, and they shall be to me a people: thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, 11 And they shall not teach every man his saying, “Take it; this is my body.” 23 Th en he neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the gave it to them, and they all drank from it. least to the greatest. 12 For I will be merciful to he gave it to them: and they all drank of it. 24 And their unrighteousness, and their sins and their he said unto them, Th is is my blood of the new iniquities will I remember no more. 24 “Th is is testament, which is shed for many. my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for ….. many,” he said to them. ….. 6 But now hath he obtained a more excellent 6 But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is a better covenant, which was established upon mediator is superior to the old one, since the new better promises. 7 For if that fi rst covenant had covenant is established on better promises. 7 For been faultless, then should no place have been if there had been nothing wrong with that fi rst sought for the second. covenant, no place would have been sought for ….. another. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make ….. with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Summer 2019–TOWNSEND PRESS COMMENTARY | 4 10 “Th is is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 11 “No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12 “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” UNIFYING LESSON PRINCIPLE: People often make promises to one another in seeking lasting, committed relationships. How can one be assured that a relationship will last? In the books of Mark and Hebrews, Jesus is affi rmed as the one through whom God’s new everlasting covenant is fulfi lled. LESSON OBJECTIVES Upon the completion of this lesson, the students will be able to do the following: 1. Tell how Jesus is the initiator of the new covenant predicted by the prophets and illustrated in the Lord’s Supper. 2. Appreciate their standing and relationship with Christ because of the new covenant. 3. Approach the Lord’s Supper with greater reverence and awe for the Christ of the new covenant. AGE-LEVEL POINTS TO BE betray Him can be read in numerous ways. EMPHASIZED Was He threatening, warning, bluntly stating a Teachers of ADULTS and YOUTH —Th e words of institution, “Th is is my body” fact, lamenting, or issuing a fi nal appeal? —Th e earliest account of the institution of the and “Th is is my blood,” echo the words of the Last Supper is found in 1 Corinthians 11:23- Passover liturgy: “Th is is the bread of affl iction 26. Other accounts are found in Matthew which our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt.” 26:26-30 and Luke 22:14-23. —Th e writer of Hebrews announces in 8:1-2 that —Jesus’ prediction that one of the disciples would his “main point” is Jesus as the High Priest Summer 2019–TOWNSEND PRESS COMMENTARY | 5 of the heavenly sanctuary. This is the “more Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with His excellent ministry” that authorizes Jesus to disciples. mediate the “better covenant” that the writer —Passover is the observance of God’s freeing describes (verse 6). the Israelites from Egypt. —The declaration of Christ’s more excellent —The Feast of Unleavened Bread is a seven-day ministry (verse 6) is in direct contrast to verse celebration that commemorates the Israelites’ 4: “Now if He were on earth, He would not flight from Egypt. be a priest at all” (NASB). —Jesus establishes a new covenant from God —The new covenant is explained as that foretold that lives inside of us. in Jeremiah 31:31-34. This passage is quoted —As Jesus eats His last meal with His disciples, in Hebrews 8:7-13, the longest quotation from He announces that one of the disciples will the Old Testament in the New. betray Him. —Jesus gives thanks for the bread, representing Teachers of CHILDREN His broken body—and the cup, representing —The Passover and the Feast of Unleavened His shed blood. Bread were celebrated during the week that THE CHRONOLOGICAL SETTING OF the Jewish sacrificial system. In addition, the author consistently uses the Greek present tense THE LESSON when speaking about the Temple (biblia.com). The gospel of Mark was probably written approximately AD 55–59 and is likely one of the first New Testament books written. Whereas THE GEOGRAPHICAL AND Matthew was written with a primarily Jewish CULTURAL SETTING OF THE audience in mind, Mark primarily targeted LESSON Gentile Roman believers.