Mosaic and New Covenants and their Relationship to the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ
A covenant is an agreement between two parties that draws out the terms of the relationship. For this discussion, it is prudent to note that a testament or covenant differs from a law. This is in light of the fact that many believers think that the old covenant being rendered obsolete by the New Testament is an indication of God’s law being obsolete (Anthony n.d). In Genesis 9:12, the bible says, “and God said, this is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature…”. The above covenant was binding between God and His creation but did not require that these creatures follow the law. There are some covenants however that are made on the requirement that a certain set of laws be abided to.
There are a bunch of old covenants that God made with the biblical forefathers including Noah, Abraham, David and Moses. The latter was made atop Mt. Sinai where God proposed a covenant between Him and the people of Israel. God asked Moses to present the offer to the people so that their acceptance could be termed as the genesis of a covenant. Exodus 19:7, 8 states that if the children of Israel accept God’s proposal, a covenant will be established. Soon after the Israelites accepted the terms, a covenant was established. In order for it to be fully binding, a ritual was performed where the blood of an ox was sprinkled on the people (Anthony n.d). The scripture states that this covenant was made “concerning all these words”, but was not the law unto itself (Carson 1984). Thus, the Ten Commandments rather than being the covenant were the basis of the covenant. The terms of the covenant were that people keep to the law as given unto Moses and in return, God was going to bless them. The major flaw of this covenant was that it was based on human self-confidence of their power to conformance, devoid of any divine assistance. Even before Moses could bring the stone tablet down, the people had already broken the covenant with God. Here, God is quoted as saying that “… because they continued not in my covenant, I regarded them not” (Hebrews 8:9). Paul records that the covenant had poor promises which made it faulty and thus vanished away because humans could not keep their end of the covenant. This covenant and the laws practices during the time of Moses are what are generally referred to as the Mosaic covenant.
The new covenant is widely confused with the New Testament by Christians. However, the new covenant began after the death of Jesus. Conversely, the New Testament records historical events even prior to the death of Jesus and thus, the two are not synonymous. The new covenant affirms Jesus as the mediator between God and mankind. Modern philosophy dictates that a person’s will comes into effect after that individual has died. Since the word testament and covenant ultimately translate to will, then, it is only logical that the new covenant start at the death of the mediator, who is Jesus Christ. The new covenant content is largely documented in the gospels. However, in order to narrow down this discussion, the book of Matthew, one of the gospels, will be used as a reference point.
God ultimately felt that the old covenant had served its purpose and sought a new one with mankind. The bible, in reference to the old covenant, states that: “now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away” (Hebrews 8:13). Theologians urge caution in the interpretation of this text as ultimately, it explicitly states that the old was ‘ready’ to vanish but had not quite yet. This text shows that there was a feeling that the old covenant had served much of its purpose and although it was nearly done, there were still aspects in it that had not been exhaustively dealt with. As stated in this discussion, a covenant is an agreement between tow parties. Thus, if the old was not quite yet fulfilled, then, it being ready for replacement meant that there were still small aspects that were pending. Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection ushered the new covenant (Meier 1976).
God was ready to have a new contract with his people as the penalties for non-conformance to the previous contract had been met. Just like in today’s society, when one does not fulfill his/her end of the bargain in a legally binding contract, he/she is liable for prosecution which attracts penalties. In this regard, the existence of a new covenant was because the old had been finalized. This new covenant’s sacrifice was Jesus, when he died on the cross and His death was in addition the penalty for mankind’s non-conformance to the old covenant. However, there are aspects of the Mosaic Law that were not made obsolete. The Old Testament had been written for Jews and other Jew affiliates which restricted the christen faith. When Jesus died on the cross, the Mosaic covenant did not end but rather, a new covenant that encompassed all people was created. While the Mosaic laws and the entire Old Testament require that gentiles convert to Jewish customs for them to be considered as being in communion with God, the New Testament does away with this requirement giving the opportunity to all those that want to have a relationship with God to do so (Galatians 2:14).
A covenant as stated above does not end unless the stipulated agreements are no longer binding. The new covenant genesis right after the death and resurrection of Jesus served not to annihilate the old covenant but rather to improve on it. Jews and Jewish converts were still under the obligation to follow the Mosaic principles up until the time when the covenant was to end. Since the agreement between Jews and God was still ongoing, it was binding to them only. The death and resurrection of Jesus did shift some of the requirements for conformance to Christ but still, the Mosaic principles had to be followed.
Many people argue that the Mosaic Law was nullified by death and resurrection of Jesus. However, there are numerous instances where the bible still refers to them in the New Testament. In nearly all the statements that Jesus gives regarding the Prophets or the Law, he begins with ‘I have come’. This means that he is the embodiment of what was promised by prophets before him in the Old Testament. It shows that events that will unfold will be because of him and he will serve as the guide. He also says that he did not seek to abolish. Abolishment means to destroy, dismantle or diminish something. Next, he says that he had come to fulfill. Thus, it follows that the tenets that are fulfilled will ultimately be nullified. This means that there are some aspects of the scripture that the death of Jesus and his resurrection abolishes after they are fulfilled.
There are moral, ceremonial and judicial traditions in Mosaic Law that Jesus does not nullify. Jesus was the embodiment of perfection meaning that he adhered to the letter of God’s law, a fete that no human being had been able to accomplish. Thus, even in his coming, death and resurrection, the moral principles of Mosaic Law were still intact and Jesus only built on them (Gundry 1982). While there are numerous laws that were part of the old covenant, Jesus somewhat simplified them. One time, he was challenged to say which of the Ten Commandments he considered the greatest. He replied by reaffirming that loving God with one’s entire heart, soul and mind was the greatest and love for one’s neighbor as one loves himself as the second greatest. These tow commandments were sufficient in guiding a devout Christian in keeping all others (Allen 1912). In this regard therefore, Jesus did not nullify the Ten Commandments. He fulfilled these love conditions and created the way for Christians to ask the Holy Spirit for guidance in doing the same.
Jesus also fulfilled the ceremonial laws and so did Paul after him. MacArthur (1985) compares Jesus to a high priest in the old covenant; Aaron. He posits that while the high priest’s tabernacle was earthly and was entered once every year, Jesus’ was heavenly which He made accessible to mankind. Additionally, when Aaron sacrificed to God, he did so to purge his own sins whereas Jesus sacrificed for all sinners. Thus, in keeping with the ceremonial requirements of Mosaic Law, sacrifices are needed. However, rather than the animal sacrifices of old, the body of Christ, after he was crucified serves as a sacrifice for every believer. One departure from Mosaic Law in the new covenant is the kind of blood sacrifices given. While there was prohibition in consumption of unclean animals like swine, the new covenant purges the uncleanliness and makes all those previously considered as unclean, clean (Bruce 1960). All these changes came to being after Jesus’ ascendance to heaven from where he appeared to Paul in a vision in which all animals became clean.
The Mosaic Law was harsh on sins like homosexuality or on curses bestowed by parents. However, the death of Jesus on the cross took away this severe penalty which is a judicial fulfillment of the guiding of the Torah (Arlandson n.d). This singular act of death on the cross ensured that the divine wrath meted on those humans that were sinful was replaced. Presently, the justice that is accorded thieves, murderers and other forms of criminals is based on human determination of the level to which these culprits have erred according to set rules. Jesus’ death on the cross ensured that such people are not condemned, but seeks to forgive them if they seek it even as they serve their sentences. Human justice was not rescinded but spiritual salvation was guaranteed. There are many instances in Mosaic Law where the ultimate punishment for sin is death (Moo 1996). For example stoning of prostitutes was a commonality. However, Jesus challenged those that were attempting to stone a woman because of her perceived transgressions by asking those that were without sin cast the first stones. This was a precursor to the grander act of dying so that such harsh judgments could not be meted on people dooming them for eternity. He gave people an opportunity to atone for their sins while on earth through seeking to know him as contained in the new covenant. Those who seek out Christ ultimately find Him and he forever dwells in them.
Jesus is an embodiment of God’s goodness and graciousness and his coming was a sign that God has profound love for mankind. The old covenant that God had with mankind was imperfect in many ways. It grossly assumed that humans had the power to adhere to the terms of the covenant without any spiritual helper. Human weakness was promptly exemplified in the actions of the Israelites even before Moses could bring the stone tablet from atop the mountain. In addition, the punishments that were meted on people for contravention of the divine rules were severe. People who were ultimately executed for sins did not get another chance at redemption. The traditions were rigid. For example, there was a condition for sacrifices at different instances like purging of sin. These Mosaic laws were harsh and thus a new covenant was needed. Just like the Mosaic covenant was guided by the Ten Commandments, the teachings of Jesus guided the new covenant and it came to being upon Jesus’ death. Jesus did not fulfill all that was contained in the old covenant and neither was the old covenant completely replaced by the new.
Bibliography
Albright, W. F. and Mann, C.S. 1971, Matthew: Introduction, Translation, and Notes. The Anchor Bible. Doubleday
Allen, W.C. 1912, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to S. Matthew. 3rd edn. New York, T & T Clark
Anthony, R. n.d., What are the Old and New Covenants? Devoted to Truth Library CD. Retrieved 10th March, 2014 from http://www.ecclesia.org/truth/covenants.html
Arlandson, J.M. n.d, How Jesus Christ fulfills the Old Testament: An Analysis of Matthew 5:17-20. Retrieved 10th March, 2014 from http://answering-islam.org/Authors/Arlandson/fulfilled.htm
Bruce, F.F. 1960, “Interpretation.” In Baker’s Dictionary of Theology. Ed. E. F. Harrison, et al. Grand Rapids, MI, Baker Book House
Carson, D.A. 1984, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Vol. 8. Grand Rapids, Michigan, Zondervan
Gundry, R.H. 1982, Matthew: A Commentary on His Literary and Theological Art. Grand Rapids, Michigan, Eerdmans
MacArthur, J. 1985, Matthew 1-7. Chicago, Il, Moody
Meier, J.P. 1976, Law and History in Matthew’s Gospel. Rome, Biblical Institute
Moo, D.J. 1996, “The Law of Christ as the Fulfillment of the Law of Moses.” In Five Views on the Law and Gospel. Ed. Stanley N. Gundry. Grand Rapids, Michigan, Zondervan
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