Covenant Faithfulness

A Sign of the Covenant

When we hear the word covenant today, (in addition to the name of our church!) we may think of something like a contract or agreement. But the biblical understanding of the word is something richer, relational, and remaining. A covenant commits a person to another person, typically involving a verbal oath and sometimes a visible symbol. To break a covenant involves a violation of the terms of the covenant resulting in due consequences.

The Gospel of John says that John “came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him” (John 1:7). His message was bold but simple, calling for a baptism of repentance, because God is faithful and just to cleanse every sinner from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). But John’s ministry was preparatory, pointing to the one through whom we are forgiven and cleansed from all unrighteousness, Jesus Christ the righteous. Similarly, we too, as the church, herald the good news of Jesus Christ, calling sinners to repentance, and forgiveness of sin and eternal life through Jesus Christ, preparing the way of his coming again.

Of All Peoples

He who said that he came to “fulfill all righteousness” (Matt. 3:15) did, in perfect obedience to the Law of God, not only as an adult but as an infant, as we see in our passage today. According to the law, as the firstborn male, he was to be presented to the Lord, harking back to the Egyptian captivity and God’s preservation of Israel’s firstborn sons by the blood of the lamb. Jesus’ presentation also included his mother’s ceremonial purification, following childbirth, and a required sacrifice of a lamb or “a pair of turtledoves, or two you young pigeons” (2:24), the offering of a family of meager means. It is a humble yet beautiful picture of covenant faithfulness, obedience, and the early blessings of a godly home.

Memorial

In this sense, every Lord’s Day is Memorial Day in the church, where we decorate not the graves of the fallen but look to the crucified who is risen, where we not merely commemorate the greatest sacrifice ever made but find our very life in it. And through the ordinary means of grace, we remember the extraordinary means of our redemption: Christ crucified and resurrected. Just as it is the Lord’s kindness that leads us to repentance, it is his provision that leads us to praise.

His Blood Be on Us

The irony of Jesus’ trial before Pilate is that Jesus, who is Truth, tells the truth, and Pilate can’t deny it. John records that when Pilate asks him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”, Jesus responds characteristically, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” (John 18:33-34). Were it not a matter of life or death, it’s almost comical. He already knows and understands the accusation, but does Pilate?

A Covenant of Grace

In Christ, we have inherited the promises of God, and as His treasured Israel, we are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession” (1 Pet. 2:9) awaiting the eternal Promised Land.