The new covenant

Jesus identifies the cup as “the new covenant in my blood” (22:20). In this statement and his acceptance of suffering just noted, Jesus is forswearing the use of violence to bring about the kingdom of God; he is prepared to shed his own blood, rather than that of his enemies, to accomplish God’s plan for salvation, for peace. By sharing his body and his blood, his very self in its crucified reality, he invites his disciples to share in his mission and his fate. “There is ‘no communion’ between partaking of the bread and cup, sharing in the body and blood of Jesus, and drawing the sword.” [Swartley, Covenant of Peace, 180] The new covenant is coming about through nonviolent means, by Jesus’ accepting rather than inflicting violence.— The Death of the Messiah and the Birth of the New Covenant, page 180