Hebrews 7:22 Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant.
The guarantor of a covenant is the one who confirms that the terms of the covenant will be carried out. In the ancient covenant ceremonies, the parties would swear an oath to confirm the terms of the treaty. Jesus guarantees that God’s plan is sure and complete. There are several steps in the logic of the author. One could make an outline of this entire chapter that shows this sequence. A subsection would be on the topic of oath and would look something like this:
- The Father made an oath recorded in the Old Testament (Psalm 110) that Jesus is a priest forever.
- This oath is the confirmation the role of Jesus in a new covenant.
- That makes the new covenant eternal. Its central blessing is eternal life. Rejecting this covenant will bring condemnation.
- Because of that, we can put our trust in the terms of this covenant.
These words echo the beginning of John’s Gospel where Jesus is called the Word. God’s Word incarnate is another way to express this oath from God. Jesus as the Word (see Hebrews 1:1-4) brought the message of the oath to us and gives us the opportunity to respond in faith to the terms of the covenant.
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