Christ for the Jews: Chapter 3 - Jesus and the Covenant with Israel
The concept of covenant is foundational to understanding God’s relationship with Israel. Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, God makes binding promises to His people, from the covenant with Abraham, through which Israel would be established as a great nation, to the covenant with Moses at Mount Sinai, which gave Israel the Torah, the moral and legal framework by which the people would live. Central to the Jewish faith is the belief that these covenants reflect God’s ongoing commitment to Israel and His promises of blessing, protection, and redemption.
In this chapter, we
will explore how Jesus’ mission is understood within the context of these
sacred covenants. Jesus came not to abolish or replace the covenants but to
fulfill them, particularly by bringing about the New Covenant foretold by the
prophets. This chapter will examine the covenants God made with Israel and how
Jesus’ life and teachings align with God’s promises to His people. The
invitation here is to consider how Jesus, as the Jewish Messiah, stands as the
fulfillment of the covenantal promises made to Israel, offering salvation that
extends to all the world.
The Covenant with Abraham: A Promise of Blessing
The first significant
covenant in the Hebrew Scriptures is God’s covenant with Abraham. In Genesis
12, God promises to make Abraham’s descendants into a great nation, to bless
them, and through them, to bless all the families of the earth (Genesis
12:1-3). This covenant is further expanded in Genesis 17, where God promises
that Abraham will be the father of many nations and that his descendants will
inherit the land of Canaan.
Jesus is the ultimate
fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant. While the Jewish people are, without
question, the physical descendants of Abraham, Jesus’ mission extends the
blessing promised to Abraham beyond the borders of Israel to all nations. In
the New Testament, the apostle Paul refers to Jesus as the descendant of
Abraham through whom God’s promise of worldwide blessing is fulfilled: “And if
you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to promise”
(Galatians 3:29).
Jesus, as the Messiah,
is the one through whom the covenant blessings reach their fullest expression,
opening the door for the Gentiles (non-Jews) to share in the spiritual
blessings promised to Israel while still affirming the unique and ongoing
relationship between God and the Jewish people. This inclusion of the Gentiles
does not negate the promises made to Israel; rather, it expands the scope of
God’s redemptive plan, as Israel becomes a light to the nations.
The Covenant at Sinai: The Law and the Messiah
The covenant with
Moses at Mount Sinai is central to the Jewish faith. Here, God gave the Torah,
the set of laws that would guide Israel’s relationship with Him and with one
another. The Torah includes the Ten Commandments and many other laws regarding
worship, justice, morality, and everyday life. The Sinai covenant established
Israel as God’s chosen people, set apart to live in obedience to His
commandments.
Jesus’ relationship to
the Torah and the Sinai covenant is a subject of great significance. As a
devout Jew, Jesus honored the Torah and taught its deep spiritual meaning. Far
from rejecting the Law, Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to abolish the
Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17).
What does it mean that
Jesus came to fulfill the Law? While Jesus upheld the importance of the Torah,
He brought its deeper spiritual meaning to light. His teachings often went
beyond the letter of the Law to reveal the spirit behind it. For example, when
teaching about the commandment “You shall not murder,” Jesus expanded its
meaning to include anger and hatred as forms of moral transgression (Matthew
5:21-22). Similarly, He taught that loving one’s neighbor is the fulfillment of
the Law (Matthew 22:37-40).
Jesus also fulfilled
the sacrificial system of the Sinai covenant. The Torah outlined a system of
sacrifices, particularly the sacrifices for sin, as part of Israel’s worship.
Jesus, through His sacrificial death, became the ultimate offering for sin,
fulfilling the purpose of the Temple sacrifices. In the New Testament book of
Hebrews, Jesus is described as the great high priest who offers not the blood
of animals but His own blood to atone for the sins of humanity (Hebrews
9:11-14). His death is seen as the once-for-all sacrifice that completes the
work of the Temple system.
The Davidic Covenant: The Everlasting King
God’s covenant with
David was the promise that a descendant of David would reign as king over
Israel forever. In 2 Samuel 7:16, God tells David, “And your house and your
kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established
forever.” This Davidic covenant became the foundation for the Jewish
expectation that the Messiah would come from the line of David and establish a
kingdom of peace and justice.
Jesus, as a descendant
of David, is the fulfillment of this covenant. The genealogies presented in the
Gospels of Matthew and Luke trace Jesus’ lineage back to David, showing that He
has the rightful claim to the Davidic throne. But the kingdom Jesus proclaimed
was not political in the traditional sense; rather, it was the Kingdom of God,
a reign marked by righteousness, peace, and the transformation of hearts.
When Jesus entered
Jerusalem on a donkey, the crowd greeted Him with words from Psalm 118,
shouting, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of Yahweh!” (Matthew 21:9),
an acclamation with Messianic overtones. This moment reflected the people’s
expectation of a Davidic king, even though Jesus’ kingdom did not fit their
political hopes. Jesus spoke of a kingdom that was not of this world, a kingdom
in which God’s will would be done on earth as it is in heaven (John 18:36).
Jesus’ resurrection is
the final confirmation of His role as the Davidic King, as it demonstrated His
victory over death and sin. Jesus now reigns at the right hand of God, and His
kingdom will be fully realized when He returns, fulfilling the Davidic covenant
in its entirety.
The New Covenant: A Promise of Transformation
In addition to the
covenants with Abraham, Moses, and David, the Hebrew Scriptures also speak of a
coming New Covenant. The prophet Jeremiah wrote of this New Covenant, which
would be different from the one made at Sinai. Rather than laws written on tablets
of stone, this covenant would be written on the hearts of God’s people:
“Behold, days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I
will cut a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,
not like the covenant which I cut with their fathers in the day I took them by
the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke,
but I was a husband to them,” declares Yahweh.
“But this is the covenant which I will cut with the
house of Israel after those days,” declares Yahweh: “I will put My law within
them, and on their heart I will write it, and I will be their God, and they
shall be My people” (Jeremiah 31:31-33).
Jesus inaugurated this
New Covenant through His death and resurrection. At the Last Supper, Jesus took
the cup of wine and said, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new
covenant in My blood” (Luke 22:20). His sacrifice on the cross is the moment
when the New Covenant was established—a covenant that offers forgiveness of
sins and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, transforming hearts and minds.
This New Covenant does
not replace God’s covenant with Israel but fulfills the promises made to the
prophets. Through Jesus, the Law is written in the hearts of His followers,
enabling them to live in a true relationship with God. The New Covenant brings
about a spiritual transformation that empowers believers to live according to
the values of the Kingdom of God.
An Invitation to Consider the Fulfillment
The covenants of the
Hebrew Scriptures—Abrahamic, Mosaic, Davidic, and the New Covenant—form the
backbone of God’s relationship with Israel. Jesus’ mission was to fulfill these
covenants, not to abolish them. His life, teachings, death, and resurrection
are the culmination of God’s promises to His people.
This chapter has
sought to present how Christians view Jesus in light of the covenantal promises
found in the Tanakh. The invitation here is not to dismiss or reject the
importance of the covenants but to explore how Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s
redemptive plan for Israel and for the world.
Could it be that
Jesus, as the Messiah, is the one who brings the covenants to their intended
fulfillment? This is the question that the following chapters will continue to
explore.
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