The Covenant In Christ

The covenant in Christ is also of love.

Reflection on Today’s Readings, 5th Sunday of Lent B, March 17th, 2024
Texts: Jeremiah 31:31-34; Psalm 51:3-4,12-15; Hebrews 5:7-9; John 12:20-33

Today is about the covenant in Christ. God says, "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah”. God prepared the minds of the people for the covenant. The covenant is revealed to us beforehand because it is something to expect. That God reveals it to us beforehand shows that the covenant is worth our time. Our whole life on earth is going to be devoted to it.

Prophet Jeremiah tells us the nature of the covenant. He writes, “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each man teach his neighbour and each his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, ... for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."

God Himself will impart the terms of the covenant

It is the covenant in which God Himself will impart the terms of the covenant. Hence, He says, “I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts”. The law is the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He has taught us. It is in Jesus Christ that God has taught Himself. The author of the letter to the Hebrews says, “Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son” (1:1-2).

It is also a covenant in which God will forgive us our sins. This brings to mind the words of St. Paul: “Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith” (Rom. 3:23-25).

When I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself

Both Jews and Gentiles will receive forgiveness through Jesus Christ by shedding His blood. Hence, when Jesus heard of the coming of the Gentiles, He said, "The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” The promised covenant is fulfilled in Jesus by His passion. He says, “and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."

Today’s second reading also affirms that Jesus redeemed us by His passion and death on the cross. We read, “Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and being made perfect he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him.”