Paying the debt

Hebrews 7:22 - "Because of this oath, Jesus is the one who guarantees this better covenant with God."

The understanding of a guarantor is of 'someone who commits to pay back a debt if the original borrower can't pay it back.' Another name for this person is a 'surety.' The writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is the one who guarantees the New Covenant with his Father. 

In order to try and explain this in another way, the author Max Lucado shares this story: 

"A man had a daughter in college. He had set up a checking account for her so that she would have some money at school and could be responsible to pay her bills through this account. He was trying to help her learn how to manage a budget. He gave her some money to start the account, and she put money into her account through an on-campus job she had. He was also on the account as a guarantor to the bank since his daughter was still a minor. 

One day the bank sent him an overdraft notice on his daughter’s account. The amount of the overdraft was $25.37. What should he do? Let the bank absorb it? They won’t. Send her an angry letter? Admonition might help her later, but it won’t satisfy the bank .... He knew he could transfer the money from his account to hers. That seemed like the best option. So, he did. He replenished her account and paid the overdraft fee as well.

He then called her. He told her about the overdraft. She said she was sorry. But she told him she had no money to repay him at that moment. She was broke.

After a pause she began, “Dad, could you….” But before she could continue the sentence Dad said, “Honey, I already have.” 

Isn’t that amazing. Dad had met her need before she knew she had one."

And this is the story of the Gospel. While we were still caught up in our sinful lives, Jesus died for us (Romans 5:8). He became the sacrifice and the guarantor, both at the same time. 

Living Grace

D3LM3