Jesus Our High Priest (Part 2) Series

SIMPLY JESUS

Jesus Our High Priest (part 2)

Hebrews 7:1-28

INTRODUCTION

-As you read the book of Genesis there are some amazing tales.

-You could make the argument that the two key characters in Genesis are God…and this guy called Abraham.

-We also read about Abraham’s descendants in Gen, but the reason those people are mentioned is that they’re related to Abe.

-Abraham was considered the Father of the Jews.

-He was the central figure in their history. And as you read about Abraham’s life in Genesis there is a very strange tale that is told.

-It’s easy to miss! The story is only 3 verses long and it involves a mysterious figure named Melchizedek!

-The story isn’t prominent in Genesis, but it’s one of the little things that becomes a big thing later on.

-And Hebrews 7 explains why that episode with Melchizedek was so important.

-In our series through Hebrews so far, we’ve learned that:

-Jesus is the Final Word, he is the King of Angels, he was 100% God and 100% man, he is our Rest, he is our way out, and last week we saw that Jesus is our Hope.

-Now, if you’ve paid attention you’ve noticed that:

-JESUS IS CALLED A HIGH PRIEST FROM THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK’S THREE TIMES BEFORE CHAPTER 7. (5:6, 5:10, 6:20)

-So far, we’ve read that without too much enthusiasm!

-Jesus is a High priest in the order of Melchizedek. Sound good.

-And good for him, it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy!

-But the question comes to our mind…“so what?”

-Why is that important to us, today, here in America?

-I promise I will answer that question, but not just yet.

-Most of us here have never known a human priest; Jesus is our high priest and we don’t really care what order he’s from.

-But the Jews who received this letter would’ve struggled with the idea of Jesus as a High Priest because of an intellectual barrier.

-In spite of all that Jesus said and did…in spite of that little matter of being raised from the dead…

-THE JEWISH CHRISTIANS STRUGGLED WITH A TECHNICALITY; JESUS WASN’T FROM THE TRIBE OF LEVI.

-The priests of Israel could only be from the tribe of Levi.

-And Jesus was from the tribe of Judah.

-And because of that one little detail, they had trouble accepting Jesus as their High Priest.

-That sounds a little whacky to me! He’s Jesus! God in flesh

-But this is the kind of thing you encounter in missionary work.

-If you want to share the message of Jesus you have to work through people’s preconceived notions.

-Not, we aren’t Old Testament Jews so it’s no big deal to us, but it was a big deal to them.

-So our author takes the time to write a careful argument showing that Jesus is a High Priest but from a different order; Melchizedek!

-Now this is a very long chapter, it’s technical and I don’t want to spend 3 weeks on it, so we’re going to fly through this and I’ll be summarizing some of the big sections for the sake of time.

-So there are three pillars that support our author’s argument.

MELCHIZEDEK WAS A PRIEST (VS 1-3)

-THE STORY OF MELCHIZEDEK IS RECORDED IN GENESIS 14:18-20

-Abraham had just won a major battle against Kedorlaomer’s army and rescued his nephew Lot.

-Suddenly this guy Melchizedek appears, and immediately and inexplicably Abraham says here is 10% of everything I took in plunder and it’s all yours.

-There are only 3 verses about Melchizedek but there are some important details given about him.

-He was also called King of Salem which means “king of peace”

-Before Moses, and before the Levite priests ever existed…this MELCHIZEDEK WAS CALLED “A PRIEST OF GOD MOST HIGH” (GN 14:18)

-That’s the first pillar. Here is the second:

ABRAHAM…RECOGNIZED MELCHIZEDEK AS A PRIEST (VS 4-7)

4 Consider then how great this Melchizedek was. Even Abraham, the great patriarch of Israel, recognized this by giving him a tenth of what he had taken in battle. (SKIP VERSE 5-7)

-ABRAHAM TITHED TO MELCHIZEDEK (VS 4) (Gave him a 10%)

-If you want to freak out your friends try that one: I just plundered the neighboring town & I’m cutting you in for 10%! (Call 911)

-Here’s why that’s significant; in the OT people tithed to…priests!

-Abraham tithing to Melchizedek proves that he was a priest!

-ABRAHAM WAS BLESSED BY MELCHIZEDEK (VS 6)

- Priests are the ones who gave out blessings.

-The Jews who read this letter had to stop when they read this and admit…even Father Abraham saw Melchizedek as a priest.

-That the second pillar of this argument. Here is the third.

MELCHIZEDEK’S PRIESTHOOD PRECEDED THE LEVITES (VS 8-14)

13 For the priest we are talking about belongs to a different tribe, whose members have never served at the altar as priests. 14 What I mean is, our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never mentioned priests coming from that tribe.