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If the battle against evil in any way depended on us, we would be destined for defeat. That’s why the heart of the Christian message is not about empowerment or encouragement. It’s about substitution. In the battle against our greatest enemies, we are spectators rather than participants. This week we see Jesus go head to head with the old and, more importantly, natural—approach to religion. Our default assumption is that our relationship with God is a quid pro quo arrangement. We do our part; he does his. Instead, Jesus came to establish a new covenant, one in which God’s favor and forgiveness are completely free. Jesus established this new covenant with his death. He delivers its blessings with his meal.