Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant.
Hebrews 7:22
Everybody, and I mean everybody, likes a guarantee. When we walk out of a store, we want to know that whatever we bought is going to work. That when we get home and plug it in, that it’s going to do want we expect it to do.
Just the other day, I went to a local store and bought a hard floor cleaning machine. After carefully looking over all the different ones on display, I figured out which one was going to do the job for us. There were a whole lot of different manufacturers and models to choose from. While some were cheaper and others were more expensive, but I picked the one that had everything we needed. As I started to drive home, I thought about all the guarantees that had been made while I was deciding and buying the cleaner.
That the cleaner on the inside matched the pictures on the outside.
That the cleaner on the inside matched the description on the outside.
That the cleaner on the inside could do what was said on the outside.
When I got home, I carefully unpacked the cleaner and made sure that what was inside matched the pictures and descriptions on the outside. After checking that everything was in the box, I put it together. Filling up the clean water tank, I plugged it in and pressed the on switch. The cleaner came to life, and I started to clean the floor.
The question is why did I do all this? Because I’m a bit of a nut? No. I did all this and more because someone made guarantees and I wanted to make sure that they kept their end of the bargain. Did they do what they promised to do? Since I kept my side of the bargain by paying what they asked, it’s only fair that they do the same.
So, what is a guarantee? It’s more than just a bunch of words, or even promising to do something. A guarantee is like a promise, but more serious. A guarantee is where we give something to show that we’ve made a promise. We put something into someone’s hand as a reminder to both of us.
It tells the receiving person that a promise has been made. It’s a physical reminder of the guarantee and who’s responsible for it.
It tells the giving person that a promise has been made. It’s a physical reminder of the guarantee and who’s responsible for it.
When we put something into someone’s hand, we give up control. We can’t keep hanging onto the promise. We have to let it go when we drop it in their hand. And we can’t grab it back. It’s in their hand and no one can rip it out of their hand.
This is how the writer is describing Jesus and the promises he made. The promise that he was the long-awaited Messiah. That he was both the Son of God and the Son of Man. That he was God come down to die for all their sins once-and-for-all. That there were no more sacrifices needed for sin.
How did Jesus make a better, stronger guarantee? By his personally being the sacrifice. He didn’t bring a sacrifice outside himself. He didn’t bring an unsuspecting lamb to the alter and sacrifice it. With those kinds of sacrifices, the lamb didn’t know what was going on. They had no choice. They didn’t volunteer for the sacrifice. Jesus did all these things. And more. He knew exactly what was coming.
He (Jesus) then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this
Mark 8:31,32a
Yes, the guarantee of Jesus is to take care of sin. There’s no more need for any priest to make any sin offerings. There’s no need for people to bring lambs to pay for their sins. Jesus personally guarantees that it’s all been taken care of. But unlike any priest, Jesus makes other guarantees. Guarantees that no other priest could ever make.
I will be with you, day after day
Matthew 28:20 VOICE
This guarantee is for a much better covenant. A stronger, greater agreement personally made and guaranteed by God himself. Any covenant made by God has to be more excellent than anything that people like you and me could come up with.
His agreement, his promised contract through Jesus, is guaranteed to overtake and replace anything else. His agreement with himself and us is that he will have victory over sin and death. And his victory will become our victory[1].
Before I accept any guarantee from someone else, I always check out both the person making the guarantee and the promise itself. Have they earned my trust? Are they people of their word? Can they deliver what they’re guaranteeing? The answer to all these questions about Jesus and our guaranteed forgiveness is “Yes.” In Jesus, all the promises of God are the biggest possible “Yes” in the universe[2].
Noodling Questions
How has God guaranteed himself to us?
How deeply do we believe God and his guarantees? Why?
Did you check out God before accepting his guarantees? Why/why not?
[1] 1 Corinthians 15”54-57
[2] 2 Corinthians 1:20
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