I’d like to establish a kind of working definition that we can use as we go on from here, and then extend that definition just a wee bit.
It’s been said many times that a covenant is the same thing as a contract. That’s not quite right; or rather it’s not quite complete. A contract is simply an agreement between two parties. In the ancient world, looking at a covenant as nothing more than a contract by another name misses the most critical theological component. A covenant carries a great deal more weight.
D.J. McCarthy, a scholar who studied covenants extensively and is considered a foremost authority, defines covenant this way:
Covenants were a means by which the ancient world took to extend relations beyond the natural unity of blood. – “Covenant in the Old Testament: The Present State of Inquiry.” Catholic Biblical Quarterly
It should be noted that this definition is not strictly biblical in nature, but spans the ancient world. In the ancient world, a covenant was an oath used to create an extended brotherhood between individuals or an alliance of tribes. It’s an oath of fidelity.
We Catholics see the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as a family, with Mary as the queen mother. With the use of covenants, God has gradually extended His family. God’s covenant with Noah formed a household of extended families. His covenant with Abraham formed a tribe. His covenant with Moses formed a nation. These are blood oaths in that they extend beyond the ties of blood to form something larger.
Now, here’s the interesting part for the moment. What if we extend this idea of covenant as blood oath to the modern world, and look at it from a very Catholic point of view. What’s Latin for oath? The answer is “sacramentum,” whence we get the English word – SACRAMENT.
This blood oath is repeated at every Catholic Mass when the priest says:
Take this, all of you, and drink from it: this is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven. Do this in memory of me.
The blood oath of Christ’s everlasting covenant extends God’s family to all believers. This oath brings us mere mortals, through Christ, into God’s extended family. It’s an oath of fidelity; that our sins will be forgiven if we keep our side of the bargain. It’s not that different than what happened in Sinai, where God promised to protect and reward his people if they remain faithful
[You can Google McCarthy and get lots of people citing his work. I’m not going to link them as most are theologians discussing things at a level that is only interesting to another theologian. I’m also not qualified to argue this point, so anyone interested in going deeper can check Scott Hahn’s book A Father Who Keeps His Promises]
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