Genesis Bible Study - Matthew 26:28 - The Blood of the Covenant | In His Image - Genesis Bible Study

 “For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”

— Matthew 26:28

Matthew 26:28 is one of the strongest covenant statements spoken by Jesus before His crucifixion. To understand its depth, we need to hear it against the background of Passover, Sinai, sacrifice, covenant blood, forgiveness, and the prophetic promise of a renewed covenant.

A Geʽez/Ethiopian Christian reading naturally places this saying within that whole biblical movement rather than treating the cup merely as an isolated symbol.

1. “For this is My blood”

Jesus begins with:

“This is my blood…”

This is astonishing covenant language.

Throughout the Torah, blood represents the life of the creature:

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood…”
— Leviticus 17:11

Blood therefore was never treated casually in Israel's worship.

God says that He gave blood:

“upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls.”

So when Jesus speaks of “my blood,” He places Himself directly within the biblical language of sacrifice and atonement.

But there is an enormous difference.

Under the Law, worshipers brought the blood of animals.

Jesus says:

“MY blood.”

The sacrifice is no longer merely something brought to Him.

He Himself becomes the offering.

Compare Hebrews 9:12:

“Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood…”

The emphasis is unmistakable:

His own blood.

The Geʽez/Ethiopic concept of blood

In Geʽez, blood is commonly expressed by ደም — dam.

Within Ethiopian biblical and liturgical thought, the blood of Christ is inseparable from His life-giving sacrifice, covenant, forgiveness, redemption, and communion.

This is important because biblical blood theology is much larger than simply:

“Jesus died.”

His blood signifies the sacrificial giving of His life.

Therefore:

Blood → Life

Blood poured out → Life given

Life given → Sacrifice

Sacrifice → Covenant

Covenant → Forgiveness and restored relationship

Matthew 26:28 brings these ideas together in one sentence.

 “Of the new testament”

The KJV says:

“the new testament.”

The Greek word is:

διαθήκη — diathēkē

It can mean covenant or testament.

Therefore, the expression may be understood:

“This is My blood of the covenant.”

Some manuscript traditions include the word “new,” while some early Greek witnesses read simply “my blood of the covenant.” Either way, the New Testament explicitly identifies Jesus with the promised new covenant elsewhere, especially Luke 22:20 and 1 Corinthians 11:25.

This matters because Jesus is deliberately invoking Old Testament covenant language.

 Jesus is pointing back to Exodus 24

Matthew 26:28 should be read alongside Exodus 24:8.

Moses said:

“Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you…”

Notice the language.

Exodus 24:8

“the blood of the covenant”

Matthew 26:28

“my blood of the covenant”

That is extraordinary.

At Sinai:

Moses → covenant mediator

Animal blood → covenant blood

Israel → covenant people

But at the Last Supper:

Jesus → covenant mediator

Jesus' own blood → covenant blood

His people → covenant community

Jesus is announcing that something greater than Sinai is taking place.

 Moses said “the blood.”

Jesus said “MY blood.”

This is one of the most important differences.

Moses did not say:

“This is my blood.”

He used sacrificial blood.

Jesus declares:

“This is MY blood.”

The covenant is therefore established through Christ Himself.

Hebrews 9:15 consequently calls Him:

“the mediator of the new testament.”

This gives us a remarkable biblical progression:

Sinai → Moses → sacrificial blood → covenant

becomes

Calvary → Christ → His blood → New Covenant

The connection with Jeremiah 31

Jesus' words also reach back to Jeremiah's prophecy:

“Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant…”
— Jeremiah 31:31

What would distinguish this covenant?

God says:

“I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts…”
— Jeremiah 31:33

And then:

“I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
— Jeremiah 31:34

Now compare Jesus:

“My blood of the new testament…for the remission of sins.”

Jeremiah promised:

New Covenant → inward transformation → forgiveness

Jesus announces:

My blood → Covenant → remission of sins

Jesus is declaring the arrival of the covenant Jeremiah anticipated.

“Which is shed”

This phrase deserves close attention.

The Greek verb is related to:

ἐκχέω — ekcheō

meaning:

to pour out, spill, or cause to flow forth.

So “shed” is not merely saying that Jesus possessed blood.

His blood would be poured out.

This is sacrificial language.

His life would be voluntarily given.

Jesus had already said:

“The Son of man came…to give his life a ransom for many.”
— Matthew 20:28

Notice the connection:

Matthew 20:28:

“give his life…for many.”

Matthew 26:28:

“my blood…shed for many.”

Life and blood are connected.

 Isaiah 53 stands behind “for many”

The words “for many” strongly echo Isaiah's suffering-servant prophecy.

Isaiah 53:11 says:

“my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.”

And Isaiah 53:12:

“he bare the sin of many.”

Now Jesus says:

“shed for many.”

The verbal connection is powerful:

Isaiah: “justify many”

Isaiah: “bare the sin of many”

Jesus: “shed for many”

Jesus identifies His approaching death with the suffering servant who bears sin.

---

 “For the remission of sins”

The Greek word translated remission is:

ἄφεσις — aphesis

It carries the sense of:

release, forgiveness, sending away, liberation from an obligation or debt.

This is richer than merely saying:

“God overlooks what happened.”

Biblical forgiveness deals with the sinner's actual guilt before God.

Jesus says His blood is poured out:

“for the remission of sins.”

The cross therefore addresses the fundamental human problem:

Sin has separated humanity from God.

Christ's sacrificial death provides the basis for forgiveness and reconciliation.

 There is also a Day of Atonement background

Leviticus 16 establishes the great Day of Atonement.

Blood was brought before God concerning the sins of Israel.

But Hebrews explains that Christ's sacrifice surpasses the repeated sacrifices of the former covenant.

“But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.”
— Hebrews 10:12

Therefore:

Old sacrifices → repeated

Christ's sacrifice → once offered

Animal blood → temporary covenantal sacrificial system

Christ's blood → decisive New Covenant sacrifice

The Passover setting is extremely important

Jesus did not speak Matthew 26:28 in a random setting.

Matthew places these words within the Passover meal.

That immediately takes us back to Exodus 12.

Israel's deliverance from Egypt involved the Passover lamb and its blood.

God said:

“When I see the blood, I will pass over you.”
— Exodus 12:13

So we have another biblical progression:

Egypt → Passover → lamb → blood → deliverance

and then:

Sin → Christ → His blood → redemption

Paul therefore writes:

“For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.”
— 1 Corinthians 5:7

Jesus speaks of His blood while celebrating the feast that commemorated Israel's deliverance through Passover.

That setting is deeply significant.

 The cup now becomes covenantal

Jesus took the cup and said:

“Drink ye all of it.”
— Matthew 26:27

Then He explained why:

“For this is my blood of the new testament…”

The cup therefore becomes connected with covenant participation and remembrance.

Paul preserves this tradition:

“This cup is the new testament in my blood…”
— 1 Corinthians 11:25

The Lord's Table consequently announces:

We belong to the covenant established through Christ.

 An important Geʽez/Ethiopian emphasis: Covenant is relationship

Biblically, covenant should never be reduced merely to a legal contract.

Covenant establishes a defined relationship of belonging and faithfulness.

God repeatedly uses covenant language such as:

“I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
— Jeremiah 31:33

Therefore, Jesus' blood does more than speak of forgiveness in isolation.

It establishes the basis for restored covenant relationship with God.

The movement is:

Blood → forgiveness → reconciliation → covenant relationship → belonging to God.

That is why salvation is not merely:

“My sins were erased.”

It is also:

“I have been brought into relationship with God through Christ.”

 The blood and the presence of God

Sin produces separation.

The blood of Christ provides access.

Hebrews 10:19 says:

“Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.”

Think about that statement.

Under the Levitical system, entrance into the Most Holy Place was highly restricted.

But through Christ:

His blood opens the way into God's presence.

Therefore, Matthew 26:28 is not only about what believers are delivered from.

It also concerns what they are brought into.

We are forgiven so that we may approach God.

 The blood does not merely cover—the New Covenant brings cleansing

Hebrews develops this further:

“How much more shall the blood of Christ…purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
— Hebrews 9:14

Notice the movement:

Blood → cleansing → conscience → service to God

Forgiveness therefore produces a transformed relationship and life.

The goal is not simply:

“I escaped punishment.”

The goal includes:

“Now I belong to and serve the living God.”

Matthew 26:28 and Genesis

There is even a larger biblical trajectory reaching back toward Genesis.

After humanity's fall, death enters the human story. From there Scripture increasingly develops the relationship between:

sin, death, blood, sacrifice, covenant, and redemption.

Then comes:

Abel's sacrifice

→ Noah's altar

→ Abraham and covenant

→ Passover

→ Sinai

→ Levitical sacrifices

→ Day of Atonement

→ Isaiah's suffering servant

→ Jeremiah's New Covenant

→ Jesus taking the cup

and saying:

“This is MY blood.”

All of these streams converge in Christ.

The Geʽez/Ethiopic theological picture

From the perspective of the ancient Ethiopian Christian tradition, Matthew 26:28 belongs within the mystery of Christ's saving work: incarnation, sacrifice, covenant, Eucharistic communion, forgiveness, resurrection, and restored fellowship with God belong to one redemptive story.

The blood should therefore never be treated as magical language detached from Christ Himself.

The power is not in merely pronouncing the word “blood.”

The blood is powerful because it is the blood of Jesus Christ—the One who gave Himself in obedient sacrifice to God.

Peter writes:

“Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold… But with the precious blood of Christ…”
— 1 Peter 1:18–19

The preciousness of the blood comes from whose blood it is.

The deepest revelation: “MY blood”

This may be the most powerful part of the entire verse.

Jesus could have spoken about:

Abraham.

Moses.

Aaron.

Passover.

the Temple.

the altar.

the sacrifices.

Instead He brings everything to Himself:

“MY BLOOD.”

The New Covenant centers upon the person and work of Christ.

The altar points forward.

The sacrifices point forward.

The priesthood points forward.

Passover points forward.

Isaiah points forward.

Jeremiah points forward.

And sitting at the table before His crucifixion, Jesus announces that the decisive covenant sacrifice is about to occur.

Matthew 26:28 in one covenantal picture

PASSOVER
↓
Blood brings deliverance

SINAI
↓
“Blood of the covenant”

LEVITICUS
↓
Blood given for atonement

ISAIAH 53
↓
The Servant bears the sins of many

JEREMIAH 31
↓
New Covenant + forgiveness

MATTHEW 26:28
↓
“MY BLOOD OF THE NEW COVENANT”

CALVARY
↓
Christ gives Himself

HEBREWS
↓
Access to God through His blood

The central truth

Matthew 26:28 is Jesus declaring that the promised covenant of forgiveness would be established through His own sacrificial death.

His blood speaks of:

life given, sacrifice accomplished, sin forgiven, covenant established, redemption obtained, reconciliation made, and access to God opened.

And this brings us directly back to Jeremiah's covenant promise:

“I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

The goal of the blood is not merely that sin be taken away.

The greater purpose is that the people who were separated from God may be brought back into covenant fellowship with Him through Jesus Christ.