Monday, August 14, 2006
Hebrews 7:22 By so much was Jesus made a Surety of a better testament.
JESUS IS OUR SURETY
The name "Surety" is given only once to our Lord in the pages of the Bible. J. B. Phillips translates this word or name as The Living Guarantee.
This is a very interesting and a very beautiful name, but it easily slips by us, since we do not have the same customs as the ancient Orient. Hebrews was first written to people who understood these customs.
The basic meaning of the word as used in Genesis (43:9) is guarantee, or security. Judah became a sponsor who would never break his word. He made a pledge that would not be broken, that was certain to be fulfilled.
Obliging oneself to being "surety" for another was a very weighty thing. Many an ungrateful man has ruined the generous person who went surety for him. Therefore, to have one stand surety for you was to be greatly privileged -- and laid a great responsibility on the person receiving the benefit.
In Hebrews the writer is speaking of Jesus as the Surety or Guarantee of a better covenant between God and man. A covenant is an agreement between two parties. Thus Jesus is the Pledge or Surety that there is possible a new covenant, a new relationship between God and man.
The old covenant was based on the Law. It called for the perfect keeping of the Law. Because man is sinful, he was always in default, always on the defensive.
But now we come to the new relationship or covenant. It is the free gift of salvation. And anyone hearing that this free gift is given to one who neither deserved it or had any right to it might say: "That is simply too good to be true. How can I believe such a thing as the forgiveness of sins? It can't be true. What possible guarantee can we have that this new relationship is really true?"
The Surety of the new covenant is none other than God's Son, Jesus Christ. He came into the world, not only to tell us about this, but as the living evidence, as the demonstration that this is now the case.
Yes, it may seem impossible for God to forgive us miserable sin-sick ones, but there is our Guarantee, our Surety, Jesus Christ, who made the actual payment for our sins!
