A Better Covenant (Hebrews 7:20-28)

What this episode covers

Few things better illustrate anticipation than a child on his way to Disneyland. Yet, by the end of the day, there are fewer places where you will hear more whining and complaining than Disneyland. Life is full of examples when reality does not live up to our expectations. We build up our goals and spend so much energy trying to achieve them, only to be left disappointed that the reward was not worth the effort. It is difficult to imagine the expectations Jews had for their Messiah. When the Jewish authorities became the recipients of Jesus’s harshest criticisms, it is easy to understand why they convinced themselves that he was someone else. The appearing of a suffering servant was like a child anticipating Disneyland, but being filled with disappointment by the end of the day. Jesus simply did not meet their expectations. Hebrews is about the superiority of Jesus over everything that preceded him. After comparing Christ to Melchizedek earlier in this chapter, now the author shows how Christ surpasses the Levitical priesthood. We find in Jesus a better hope because he ushers us into a better covenant. This audience had already made their profession of faith in Jesus Christ (Heb 2:1-4; 3:1-2; 4:14), but it is apparent from the argument and the numerous warnings, that they are beginning to veer off course. Maybe they were questioning the efficacy or sufficiency of Jesus’s death on the cross. Or they could have been uncertain about how they were supposed to participate in worship under the new covenant. Whatever it was, the author saw the need to address the matter of Christ’s priestly office for a large portion of this sermon/letter. If we do not view Jesus Christ as the only Mediator of the covenant of grace, we will search in vain for any alternative. We can rest completely in our salvation because our Savior perfectly represents us before God in heaven. Pray and Read Hebrews 7:20-28. Jesus Is Our Security (20-22) The author earlier acknowledged that all high priests are called by God (Heb 5:4), but they were called and appointed to take their office “without an oath” (20). The author is not suggesting anything improper about the Levitical priesthood in terms of the rules that governed its operation, but he is elaborating on the ways it was inferior to the priestly office of Jesus. There is a superiority recognized for the one of whom God attached an oath to his calling (21). Jesus was not only promised to hold his priestly office, but the Lord promised that he would uniquely hold that office forever. Once again, the author quotes Psalm 110:4, but here, for the first time, he includes the phrase before that emphasizes the oath. Those who take an oath are committing themselves to fulfill their promise or face whatever stipulations have been outlined ahead of time. This is covenant language that implies a significant shift away from the Levitical law that governed the priesthood (28). How does this make Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant (22)? This is the only time the term translated “guarantor” occurs in the New Testament. The KJV translates the word as “surety”, which is the language we also find in the Westminster Confession and Catechisms (WCF 8.3, LC 71). The word indicates the assurance of a promise or the acceptance of responsibility on behalf of someone else. It involves the pledging of one’s life and/or resources on behalf of another. Here, it refers to the security believers have in covenant with Jesus. “Before the throne my surety stands, my name is written on his hands” — Charles Wesley. Jesus paid the penalty for our debt of sin at the cost of his life. This is the first time we have seen the word “covenant”, but it will occur another sixteen times in the rest of this letter. The author is making the point that believers find their greatest sense of covenantal security in the Messiah, whose priestly appointment was accompanied by an oath. Resting in the Rescuer

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