And in the same way with the cup, after supper, saying "This cup is the new Covenant made by my blood. Do this, whenever you drink it, in memory of me."
In the Cup of Blessing which we bless, is not there a sharing in the blood of the Christ? And in the Bread which we break, is not there a sharing in the Body of the Christ?
But their minds were slow to learn. Indeed, to this very day, at the public reading of the Old Covenant, the same veil remains unlifted; only for those who are in union with Christ does it pass away.
Our fitness comes from God, who himself made us fit to be ministers of a New Covenant, of which the substance is, not a written Law, but a Spirit. For the written Law means Death, but the Spirit gives Life.
May God, the source of all peace, who brought back from the dead him who, 'by virtue of the blood that rendered valid the unchangeable Covenant, is the Great Shepherd of God's Sheep,' Jesus, our Lord--