You may turn to Matthew 26 for our meditation this morning. Matthew chapter 26. We consider the blood of the new covenant. The particular scene we'll be looking at is Jesus' celebration of the Passover in which he institutes the Lord's Supper.
The Passover was that ceremony in Israel that ultimately pointed forward to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Both ordinances, Passover and Lord's Supper, point to glorious redemptive acts that God wrought. D. A.
Carson said, And just as the people of Israel associated their deliverance from Egypt with eating the Paschal meal prescribed as a divine ordinance, so also Messiah's people are to associate Jesus' redemptive death with eating this bread by Jesus' authority. I'll just pick up reading in Matthew 26 at verse 17.
Scripture Reading: Matthew 26:17-30
Now on the first day of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus saying to him, Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover? And he said, Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, The teacher says, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples. So, the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover.
One evening in Tom, he sat down with the twelve. Now, as they were eating, he said, Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray me. And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to him, Lord, is it I? He answered and said, He who dipped his hand with me in the dish will betray me.
The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would have been good for that man if he had not been born. Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, Rabbi, is it I? He said to Him, You have said it.
And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, Take, eat. This is my body. Then he took the cup and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.
And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives." Let us pray.
Opening Prayer
Our Father, we thank you for this passage of Holy Scripture, and we pray now that you give us minds and hearts to receive your Word. And God, may we truly receive the encouragement of that Word. May we receive that comfort that the Scripture provides. And may we be refreshed in our love for the Savior who gave himself for us.
God, certainly the Gospel testifies of the grace and of the mercy and of the kindness and love of God. And I pray the table this morning would continue to remind us of these things, and that it would not just be a monthly thought, but we would live in light of the cross each and every day, Lord God. And we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Well,
Introduction
we notice here specifically in verse 28, Jesus' reference to the new covenant. For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. The simplest definition for a covenant is an agreement between two or more persons, and basically what covenant refers to in the Bible is God's agreement or God's covenanting to save his people from their sins. The Old Testament is a book of promise.
The Old Testament is a book of anticipation. And the New Testament comes to fulfill, to realize, to demonstrate that the promises of God are yea and amen in the Lord Jesus Christ. So I want to make three observations on our text this morning. The first is to simply look at the New Covenant.
Secondly, to see the means of ratification. Jesus says it is through his blood. And then thirdly, to notice the beneficiaries or those who benefit from this New Covenant arrangement that the Lord God has orchestrated.
The New Covenant Promised in the Old Testament
The first thing, though, as I mentioned, the New Covenant is prophesied or promised in the Old Testament. The Old Testament is called the Old Covenant. The book of Hebrews says that the New Testament or the New Covenant is a better covenant. Not to say that the Old Covenant was horrible and wretched and it was a bad thing, but rather it was anticipatory of the days to come when God would send forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law.
We have a prophetic word concerning the new covenant in Jeremiah.
The New Covenant in Jeremiah 31
In Jeremiah chapter 31, verses 31 to 34, God, through the prophet, announces, Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke. One of the aspects or one of the blessings or one of the great things about this new covenant is that it's unbreakable. You might have heard the phrase of the statement, eternal security or perseverance of the saints or preservation by God. That is a reality in the New Covenant.
Whenever a sinner, by God's grace, believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, he is saved not to be lost, not to be let go, not to be abandoned, not to be forsaken by the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the surety. He is the mediator. He is the one who secures this covenantal arrangement.
And so God, through the prophet, goes on and says, Though I was a husband to them, says the Lord, but this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. Notice, he says, I will put my law in their mind. The New Covenant isn't against the law. The New Covenant isn't anti-gnomian.
The New Covenant embraces the law. The New Covenant rejoices in the law. The New Covenant sees that law internalized and written upon the sinner's mind, so that he says with his Savior, I delight to do thy will. So that he is made like that blessed man of Psalm 1, whose delight is in the law of his God, day and night.
He goes on to say, and I will write it on their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people. The height of covenant blessing right there. Union with God. Intimacy with God.
Isn't this what our first parents forfeited in Eden? Remember that the Lord walked among them in the pool of the garden. Remember that when the breach of sin came, they hid themselves from God. That communion had been ruptured.
That intimacy was now gone. Instead of walking with the Lord in the cool of the garden, they went and they hid themselves because of their shame and because of their sin. Well, God in the New Covenant is bringing intimacy. God in the New Covenant is bringing those two offended parties together again.
He does this through the Blessed Peacemaker, which is Christ Jesus, our Lord. The surety of this better covenant. He goes on in this promise of the New Covenant. He says in verse 34 of Jeremiah 31, No more shall every man teach his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know or they all shall know me from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord.
That means within the New Covenant communion or covenant community, those who have professed faith in Christ. We don't have to evangelize them. They're already knowledgeable. Not just they assent to who God is, but the knowing of the Lord here is to be compared with Jeremiah's statement in Jeremiah 9.
The knowledge of the Lord is that intimacy, that communion, that realization that God is my God and I am his son. This is what the prophet says the new covenant is bringing, and at the end of verse 34 he says, for I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will remember no more. When we come to the table this morning, when we consider these elements, consider these promises. Consider these realities, that the law of God is now internalized. that it is something we delight in, in the inner man.
That we can say with John, it's not a burden, it's not grievous. That we can follow our Lord's statement in John 14, those who, or if you love me, you will keep my commandments. Consider as well at the table the fact that we now have that intimate relationship with our God through the Lord Jesus Christ. It is as if He walks with us among the cool of the day, each and every day.
And we have been brought out of darkness into light, and our sins and our transgressions have been forgiven. Isn't this a blessing? For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more. That's our God.
Behold your God. Behold your Savior. Behold your Redeemer. see what he thinks or see what he does rather with your sins. This promise is given again in the prophet Ezekiel at chapter 11 and then again at chapter 36.
The New Covenant in Ezekiel 36
You may turn to Ezekiel 36 as we consider the anticipation of the promise given concerning this new covenant. Ezekiel 36 beginning at verse 22. Therefore, say to the house of Israel, thus says the Lord God, I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for my holy name's sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went." Isn't that great? God acts, not for our happiness, but for His glory.
You want that. You may not think so, but that's what you want. We're selfish. We are so selfish.
Our favorite words are me, myself, and I. But in the economy of redemption, the best thing is that God acts for his own glory and not for our happiness. Redemption, the New Covenant, the glories of the gospel, The beautiful economy of salvation has as its centerpiece the glory of God. And as a result, we can then enter into blessed happiness.
God acts to promote his glory in this world. See, he's not selfish, he's not sinful, he's not proud. If he were to value our happiness before his glory, he would be an idolater. He would be putting the creature before the creator.
We want our God to put himself first in the economy of redemption. He goes on in verse 23 to promise, and I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst, and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, says the Lord God, when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean.
I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." I suggest that this is the passage that you read in conjunction with John 3, when Nicodemus comes to the Lord and the Lord says, unless a man is born again, he shall not see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus says, Lord, shall I enter into my mother's womb again and be born?
What's Christ's response? Are you the teacher of Israel and do not know these things? You don't know the prophet Ezekiel? You don't know the promise of God.
You don't know how he said, I will take out your stony heart. I will put in your fleshly heart. Notice the conspicuous use of I will in the New Covenant arrangement. This is not something we have instituted.
It is something God has instituted. Just by way of analogy, remember when Maybe you don't, we just happen to be reading this in family devotions.
God Alone Ratifies the Covenant
In Genesis 15, when God comes to ratify his covenant, there's promise with Abraham. There's the splitting of animals, and these animals are split and put on either side, and there is a pathway. God causes Abraham to fall into a deep sleep. And then there's this furnace of fire that marches between these two bodies of flesh.
This is a covenantal arrangement. This was not something unique only to Israel. It was something that the ancient Near East engaged in. And basically what was being stated, or what was being proclaimed in that ceremony, is that the one who marched between those separated bodies of animals, if they reneged, If they broke the promise of the covenant arrangement, they were invoking the curse upon themselves that if they failed to carry out their promise, may what happened to these animals happen to them.
Who marches between the pieces? It isn't Abraham. It's God. It's the Lord God Almighty.
We are not saved because we're wiser. We are not saved because we're better. We are not saved because we acted upon the information that was presented to us. We are saved because God has determined it.
And when we come to that blessed statement of Jesus in Matthew 26, when he says, this is my blood of the new covenant. He's not sitting there with biblically illiterate fools. They're thinking of Ezekiel. They're thinking of Isaiah.
They're thinking of Father Abraham. They're thinking of God's covenantal arrangement coming to fruition in the one before whom they see. The New Covenant is anticipated in the Old Testament. It is realized or inaugurated here, accomplished fully on the cross.
For Jesus would say in John 19, 30, it is finished. A wonderful statement. He doesn't say, I am finished. He says, it is finished.
And he cries it out loud. Why? It's a victory chant. It is a cry of triumph.
He has defeated the enemies, he has vanquished the foes, he has done the task as the surety of the new covenant. It is anticipated, it is realized, and the book of Revelation highlights it will be consummated in the eternal state. Running through the book of Revelation is that blessed promise, I will be their God and they shall be my people. You see, the Bible is quite simple.
Genesis tells us about paradise lost and Revelation tells us about paradise restored. And the means by which this is conducted is the death of our Lord and Savior.
The Blood as Means of Ratification
Notice, secondly, Jesus speaks of the means of ratification. This is my blood of the new covenant. Now, blood and covenant go together.
Blood and Covenant in Exodus 24
Turn back to Exodus 24 for a moment. Exodus 24. Exodus 24, the scene is God has given the law to his people Israel. Exodus 20 is the Ten Commandments. 21 to 23 are the case law applications or how these things, these principles of the Ten Commandments are fleshed out in society.
And having given that statement concerning God's law, it's time to ratify the covenant. Ratification simply means to confirm it, to make good, to put the official sanction on it. And in Exodus 24 at verse 1, Now he said to Moses, Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. And Moses alone shall come near the Lord, but they shall not come near, nor shall the people go up with him." You see the principle already of mediation.
God works through a mediator. There is a mediator of the old covenant. His name was Moses. There is a mediator of the new covenant.
His name is Jesus. Verse 3, So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments And all the people answered with one voice and said, All the words which the Lord has said we will do. And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. And he rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
Then he sent young men of the children of Israel who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the book of the covenant, or the book of the law, and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient." And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words.
This was not lost on Jesus' disciples. They understood the significance. They realized that blood was necessary in order to ratify this covenant arrangement. Now, Christ does something unique here.
He said it's not the blood of bulls and goats. It's not the blood of the bullets. It's not the blood of the Levitical sacrificial system. It is his blood.
It is his blood that ratifies the New Covenant.
New Testament Witness to Christ's Blood
The rest of the New Testament expounds this truth for us. Romans 3, we learn that God set forth his son as a propitiation by his blood. 1 Corinthians 2, in verse 2, Paul says, I determined to know nothing among you except Christ Jesus and Him crucified. 2 Corinthians 5.21, we read that God made Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Galatians 1.4, we read that Jesus delivers us from this present evil age. through His blood. In Ephesians chapter 1, we have redemption through His blood.
Is the Bible kind of an odd document? Is the Bible kind of strange to set forth blood? No, the Bible is setting forth the reality that apart from the shedding of blood, there is no remission. There is no forgiveness.
Unless there is a death involved, there is no cleansing. And the good news is that Christ came as Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The good news is there is power in the blood. The good news is for sinners that when you have broken God's law, just rehearse it from one to ten, when you have had other gods before the Lord.
When you have idolized other things or yourself, when you have blasphemed or taken his name in vain, when you have broken his holy day, when you have dishonored your parents or lawful authority in your life, when you have murdered in your heart, oh sure, you've never actually taken a gun and shot somebody, but how many times in each of our hearts have we taken a gun and shot somebody? Every time you've committed adultery, again, maybe you didn't engage in the external act, but how many in this room, if asked the question, would be able to exempt themselves from saying, I'm guilty? What about stealing? What about bearing false witness?
What about coveting? The blessed truth of Holy Scripture is this, you bring that mountain of sin to Christ and His blood cleanses every single sin. When we feast on this bread and wine, that's why I think we've got to have a big hunk of bread and a goblet of wine, so that we can realize that the blood of Jesus Christ and the grace and efficacy of the Gospel doesn't dribble out, it dushes forth from sovereign omnipotent benevolence. This Christ inaugurates the New Covenant through His own blood.
This is absolutely necessary. This is the very foundation of the saints' and sinners' hope. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I love what Moat goes on to say in that hymn.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. Exegete that statement. Think about that statement. What's he saying?
Here's what I think he's saying. We like to trust in sweet frames. We like to trust in our performance. We like to look to our accomplishments.
In fact, many here will look at themselves and say, have I deserved to take the Lord's Supper this morning? I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ, the solid rock I stand. All other ground, including my sweet frames, are sinking sand.
We are here this morning and participants in the marriage supper of the Lamb, not because we performed well. That guts grace and makes it disgrace. We are here because of the triune God. We are here because the Father sought, Jesus bought, and the Spirit wrought.
That's how we stand. redeemed before our God. It is the blood of Jesus Christ. Make much of the blood and you shall never go astray. Live in light of Calvary's cross and you shall never go astray.
You look to yourself, you will be discouraged. You look to yourself, you will be hopeless. You gaze upon Jesus. The old boys would say, gaze yonder and see the Son of Man dying for sinners.
That's where in comfort lies. That's where joy consists. That's where delight and safety and security find their strength, is in Jesus Christ and His blood.
The Beneficiaries of Christ's Blood
Christ then goes on to speak of the beneficiaries of His sacrifice, or of His blood. For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins."
"For Many": Scope and Hope
I love those two words, for many. It does a couple of things. One, it explodes the myth of thinking we are the frozen chosen. It explodes the myth that there will only be a feeble, small handful that trickle into heaven on that great day.
No, Jesus spoke of the many. People are fond of the text in Matthew 22, and they say, well, Jesus said, many are chosen, but few are called. Well, whatever he meant, we don't have a discrepancy or contradiction with his task. Jesus says he shed his blood for many.
We don't have to get into a discussion of eschatology. Christ has already settled it. Many will be in heaven. Do you know what else this does? provides hope.
What do you mean? Let me just speak to you this morning if you're here and you don't know Jesus. Sometimes Christians, meaning well, will refer to you as being lost. And that might make you feel a bit offended.
What do you mean I'm lost? Well, let's say you took a wrong turn and you ended up somewhere. And you didn't have a clue where you were. And somebody came along and said, you look like you're lost.
Would you get angry at them? No, you'd probably say, yes, I'm lost. Can you please point me in the way I'm supposed to go? You got a GPS.
You got a cell phone. I got to get back on course. So if you don't know Christ this morning, let me just ask you not to get offended when well-meaning people who love you and want the best for you might refer to you as being lost. Secondly, be careful that you don't get offended when you hear the word sinner.
Sounds pretty negative. You're a sinner. Well, most of the well-meaning Christian people that love you and love your souls call themselves sinners too. They don't just get up on their soap boxes and use sinner, sinner, sinner.
Usually they say with Paul, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. Don't get us that. But take courage, take encouragement and take hope from those two words. For many.
There's room for you in the kingdom. Jesus said, I go. to prepare a place for you. For in my Father's house are what? There's many mansions.
There's room for you in heaven. And you know what else? You don't get there based on your performance. You don't get there based on your doings, your abilities, your accomplishments.
You get there simply by believing in this One who shed His blood for the many. Two hope-filled words right there. For many. Nowhere in the Bible will you find that you're excluded from this many.
You need to believe, you need to lay hold of Christ by the grace of God, you need to lay hold in faith. This is encouragement.
The Many Are a Definite People
The many identified in Matthew 121 are His people, for He shall save His people from their sins. According to John 6.37, the many are those whom the Father gives Him. Hebrews 2.17 speaks of the particularity of Christ's atonement. He didn't go to the cross to sort of generally die for some general sins so that some general people may participate if they feel inclined.
When Jesus went to the cross, he died for the sins The adulteries, the murders, the thievery, the lying, the covetousness, the idolatry, the Sabbath breaking, the cursing. He died for real sins of real people. The many are not all called yet. How do we know that?
Because Peter tells us in 2 Peter 3, consider the longsuffering of our God to be salvation. What's he saying? The fact that Jesus hasn't returned yet means there's sinners to be saved. There is somewhere, if not alive right now, alive in the future, there's going to be the last sinner saved.
I'm jealous of that sinner. I'm speaking carnally, I know, I'm sorry. Speaking as a man. That last sinner, he's going to believe the gospel and Jesus is going to come.
Wouldn't that be great? Just think for a moment, wouldn't it be great? But just think how much more we're conformed to the image of Christ in the trials and the tribulations and the sufferings and the turmoils that we go through. So I guess that's even greater.
Either way, believe the gospel is great. The many are not all called yet. That's why Jesus tells his church, tells his disciples to go therefore and make disciples of all the nations. Go tell people that Jesus saves, Jesus saves.
This is why the book of Acts is marked by a zealous, zealous pursuit of disciple making and church planting. This is why we as individuals are to shine as lights in a crooked and perverse adoration, holding forth the word of truth. This is why we as God's people, not just as we assemble here, but where we are in our lives, befriend unbelievers. We eat with sinners the way Jesus did, and we hold forth that saving word unto them.
Because they're not all called yet. There's many that are not all called yet.
Remission of Sins: The Blessed Result
Notice the blessed result with reference to this promise. We already saw it rehearsed in Jeremiah 31, which is shed for many for the remission of sins, for the forgiveness of sins. You know, there's a lot of people today trying to deal with sin. They may not call it sin.
They might call it a syndrome, or they might call it a perplexity, or they might call it a sickness, or they might call it whatever. You know, when you boil everything down to its bottom line, sin is the root problem in all men, all men everywhere. People try to deal with it, don't they? Some try to drink it away.
Some try to smoke it away. Some try to spend it away. Some try to eat it away. Some go into a hospital to try to get it cured away.
Some try to argue that it's not really there. A whole lot of ways men try to deal with sin. There's only one way. The blood.
There's only one way. Jesus saves, Jesus saves.
Application: Joy at the Lord's Table
Consider Spurgeon as we close our meditation, speaking on this text, speaking of the Lord's Supper. He says, as it is personal, it is a charming fact that it is a happy remembrance. Our remembrance of Christ is chastened with repentance, but it is also perfumed with faith. The Lord's Supper is no funeral meal, but a festival.
I remember preaching one time and calling the people to rejoice, to be happy. This isn't a dirge. This isn't a time to come and reflect on our beloved lost Savior. It is a time to be refreshed in the presence of our God who has ordained.
This means to refresh us. Somebody came up to me afterward. They're not here now. Well, you know, that's not right, calling people to be joyful.
That's a very serious and sober time. Serious and sober are not enemies of joy. Why do we think that? In the gospel, fear and joy go hand in hand.
Serve the Lord with trembling and rejoice in him. What happened when those disciples found the empty tomb? They were running away and they were afraid and happy. Be serious.
Be mournful in consideration of your own sin, which necessitated the death of Jesus Christ. Smile, brethren. Your sins are forgiven you. This is what Spurgeon says.
The Lord's Supper is no funeral meal, but a festival. Most fitly do we begin it with the giving of thanks and close it with a hymn. It is by many called the Eucharist or the giving of thanks. I know that word has connotations of Rome and all of its abominations, but the root word simply means the giving of thanks.
It's not what we're supposed to be about. How do you give thanks to someone who does a solid for you? Thank you very much. You say, thank you for doing me this solid.
And we come to the table and maybe it's just our Lord's Day ethic that we're so cold and we're so distant and maybe it's the routine and the liturgy we've grown so accustomed to it that we have ceased to be thrilled by it. Repent, brethren, repent. We need to be thrilled afresh at the reality of a new covenant ratified in the blood of our mighty Savior. He says it is not a fast, but a feast.
Isn't that amazing? It is the Lord's Supper. It's not the Lord's fast. There was a guy I knew, and I didn't know him.
He was in a church that I knew of. that on Sunday, he would always fast. On Sunday, he would always just chase in his soul. I'm not here to say you can't ever do that. You know, there is the corporate dynamic and the rejoicing element of Lord's Day worship.
Chase in your soul on Wednesday. Rejoice in the Lord on Sunday. This is what God, through the prophet Isaiah, indicted Israel for. When you fast, you go around looking all gloom and doom, and you sound like the worst case scenario there ever was.
God says to the prophet, wash your face, look happy, go out and actually feed people. Oh, you mean we should do that? Yes, we should do that. Spurgeon goes on to say, my happiest moments are speds. with the king at his table, when his banner over me is love.
The death of Christ is a wellspring of solemn joy. Before our great sacrifice died, the best token of his death was the blood of bulls and goats. See how the victims writhe in death. The sacrificial night does terrible work at the foot of the altar.
It is hard to stand by and see the creatures bleed. After our Lord's death was over, the blood of animals was not the type, but the blood of the grave. The blood of the grave. That which was terrible in prospect is joyous in remembrance.
That which was blood in the shedding is wine in the receiving. It came from him with a wound, but it comes to us with a blessing. His blood is our song in the house of our pilgrimage, and it shall add the best music to our heavenly harmonies as we sing before the throne unto him that hath loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. To him be glory forever and ever.
If our Lord Jesus has made the memory of his love to be more sweet than wine, let us never turn from it. as though it had become a distasteful thing, let us find our choices pleasures at the cross. Amen and amen. Let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Father in heaven, we give you thanks for the blood of the new covenant, shed by our Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of our sins. God, help these not to be truths that are cold, that are distant from us. God even used the means of the Lord's Supper to rouse us up to a fresh consideration of the cross at Calvary. Help us to realize, God, in whatever else we are as men and women, boys and girls, as employees, as employers, as husbands, as wives, let us never lose sight of the main thing in this world, that being the death and the resurrection of our beloved Savior.
God, may this refresh us, may this encourage us, may this strengthen our hearts. And we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen.