288. The Bond of the Covenant
Ezekiel 20: 37 And I will cause you to pass under he rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.
God promises to bring us into the bond of the covenant and keep us in that eternal covenant bond forever. Once we are securely in that bond through the blood of the eternal covenant, the shed blood of Jesus Christ, the relationship cannot be broken. The covenantal promise is sealed in Holy Baptism and remembered by us every day of our lives. The blood of the covenant is partaken of in Holy Communion every time we do this in remembrance of Christ. We do not renew the covenant for it has not been broken or lost. We do not recommit for the commitment is already eternally secure. We do not reestablish an already established covenant for it is already firm in the heavens.
However, we do need to remember the bond of the covenant, because we are in the habit of getting distracted, ignoring, neglecting, and forgetting the covenant the Lord God made with us. Therefore, we need reminding since our sinful minds have this weak habit. And so we hear the Gospel again and again. The Lord has made a covenant with us, He remembers us in that covenant daily, and He will finally complete the covenant eternally in the heavens. That’s a promise!
The Lord will cause us to pass under the rod. The rod or the staff of the Shepherd is used to count each individual sheep of the flock as each one individually passes under the rod in the shepherd’s hand through the gate into the enclosure. This ritual has five purposes: 1) to count them all so ensure that not one is lost; 2) to assure each individual sheep that he is noticed, paid attention to, tended and cared for by the Good Shepherd, and when we feel the rod we know we are special; 3) to mark ownership and to claim each one of the flock as belonging to the Shepherd; 4) to single out a weak or sickly one for special care; or maybe 5) to discipline a straying or wandering sheep to bring it back into the fold. Thank the Lord; our Good Shepherd causes us to pass under the rod to bring us into covenant.