Who Are to Partake?

To identify who properly partake of the Memorial emblems, we need to understand what the new covenant is about and who are party to it. The Bible states: “‘Look! There are days coming,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘and I will conclude with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a new covenant . . . I will put my law within them, in their heart I shall write it. And I will become their God, and they themselves will become my people. . . . I shall forgive their error, and their sin I shall remember no more.’”​—Jeremiah 31:31-34.

The new covenant makes possible a special kind of relationship with Jehovah God. By means of this covenant, a certain group of individuals become his people and he becomes their God. Jehovah’s law is written within them, in their heart, and even those outside the fold of physically circumcised Jews can come into the new covenant relationship with God. (Romans 2:29) The Bible writer Luke writes about God’s purpose to ‘turn His attention to the nations to take out of them a people for his name.’ (Acts 15:14) According to 1 Peter 2:10, they “were once not a people, but are now God’s people.” The Scriptures refer to them as “the Israel of God,” that is, spiritual Israel. (Galatians 6:16; 2 Corinthians 1:21) The new covenant, then, is a covenant between Jehovah God and spiritual Israel.

On his last night with his disciples, Jesus himself also made a different covenant with them. “I make a covenant with you,” he told them, “just as my Father has made a covenant with me, for a kingdom.” (Luke 22:29) This is the Kingdom covenant. The number of imperfect humans taken into the Kingdom covenant is 144,000. After being resurrected to heaven, they will rule with Christ as kings and priests. (Revelation 5:9, 10; 14:1-4) Thus, those in the new covenant with Jehovah God are also in the Kingdom covenant with Jesus Christ. They are the only ones who rightly partake of the emblems of the Lord’s Evening Meal.

How do those entitled to partake of the Memorial emblems know that they are in a unique relationship with God and are joint heirs with Christ? Paul explains: “The [holy] spirit itself bears witness with our spirit [our mental disposition] that we are God’s children. If, then, we are children, we are also heirs: heirs indeed of God, but joint heirs with Christ, provided we suffer together that we may also be glorified together.”​—Romans 8:16, 17.

By means of his holy spirit, or active force, God anoints the joint heirs of Christ. This makes them certain that they are Kingdom heirs. It creates within anointed Christians a heavenly hope. They view as directed to them all that the Bible says about heavenly life. Moreover, they are willing to sacrifice all earthly ties, including life on earth and all human relationships. Although spirit-anointed Christians realize that life in the earthly Paradise would be wonderful, this is not their hope. (Luke 23:43) Not because of false religious views but as a result of the action of God’s spirit, they have an unchangeable heavenly hope and therefore rightly partake of the Memorial emblems.

Suppose a person is not absolutely sure that he is in the new covenant and the Kingdom covenant. What if he also lacks the witness of God’s spirit that he is a joint heir with Christ? Then it would be wrong for him to partake of the Memorial emblems. Indeed, God would be displeased if a person knowingly represented himself as one called to be a heavenly king and priest when he did not really have such a calling.​—Romans 9:16; Revelation 22:5.

Is it necessary to partake of the Memorial emblems in order to be covered by Jesus’ sacrifice and receive everlasting life on earth? No. Nothing in the Bible suggests that after they are resurrected on earth, such God-fearing people as Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Joseph, Moses, and David will ever partake of these emblems. Yet, they and all others desiring endless life on the earth will have to exercise faith in God and Christ and in Jehovah’s provision of Jesus’ ransom sacrifice. (John 3:36; 14:1) For everlasting life, you too must exercise such faith. Your presence at the annual observance of Christ’s death serves as a reminder of that great sacrifice and should deepen your gratitude for it.