DOMINANT THOUGHT: Jesus serves as the only true and complete bridge between us and the Father.
PURPOSE:
- Head: The people will have a better grasp of their greater access to God through Jesus.
- Heart: The people will love God and one another.
- Hands: The people will try to be better “bridges” between God and those around them.
MANUSCRIPT
Michelle’s family and many of my friends live in Missouri. We go there as often as we can to visit. In order to do so, we take I-55 to St. Louis, and then I-44 to Joplin. In order to do so, however, we must cross the largest river in the United States—the Mississippi.
Now there are several ways to cross a river. We could fly over it. We could swim across. We could take a boat across. But generally we simply take the bridge across. It’s the easy way. Bridges help us cross over from one place to another.
As most of you have figured out by now, I like words. I like to know where they come from and what they mean. I like to use words, small words, big words, common words, weird words. Today I want to use a simple word to describe a complex circumstance. My word for today is bridge.
I think I’m justified in using it today because I am going to talk about what it means to be a priest. And one of the titles for a priest, in the Latin world, anyway, was pontiff, which means bridge-maker. And that’s just what priests were. Priests serve as mediators between the human realm and the divine realm—they serve as a bridge between two worlds.
For many generations the mediators between man and God came from the men of the tribe of Levi as described in the Old Testament, particularly in Exodus and Leviticus. These servants of God had many responsibilities. It was up to them to distinguish between what was clean/unclean and what was holy/common. This was an important task because the camp needed to be clean in order for God to live among the people, and it was critical to give God what was due him. Because they entered into the realm of the divine, these priests had to live by stricter rules than the rest of the community, for they risked death every time they entered into the presence of God. They also served as teachers, as purifiers, as God’s spokespeople, as judges, and, probably most importantly, as those who made sacrifices to God. Day in, day out, year after year after year, the priests made sacrifices to God. When the priests died, new priests would be appointed, and the process would continue. And so it went.
But about 2,000 years ago, all of that changed. God introduced a better bridge to him for us—his Son Jesus Christ.
That’s what get’s the writer of Hebrews so jazzed in chapter 7 of his message. We’ve been looking through the book of Hebrews to find clues to the better life. And here in chapter 7 we see that we have better access to the Father through Jesus. The writer starts off by going into painstaking detail about this guy named Melchizedek, setting the stage for his argument that Jesus is ultimate priest, the ultimate bridge, between man and God. Let’s pick it up in verse 10. Hear the Word of God:
If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the law was given to the people), why was there still need for another priest to come--one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? 12 For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law. 13 He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. 14 For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. 15 And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, 16 one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is declared: "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek."
18 The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless 19 (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
20 And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, 21 but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him: "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: `You are a priest forever.’ " 22 Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.
23 Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; 24 but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
26 Such a high priest meets our need--one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27 Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.
I believe this text reveals at least five superior qualities of Jesus that make him a better bridge
But first we have to tackle the sticky subject of Melchizedek. If you’re like me, the first time I read Hebrews I didn’t have a clue about who Melchizedek was. He’s a pretty obscure figure, mentioned only twice in Scripture outside of the book of Hebrews. In Genesis 14, he shows up briefly, offers bread and wine to Abraham, gives him a blessing, and receives a tithe from him. Then Psalm 110, which is highly messianic in content, declares that the messiah will be a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. That’s all we have on this mysterious figure, but it is enough for the writer of Hebrews to build a huge case supporting his claim that Jesus is a better bridge. That’s what he spends the first ten verses of chapter 7 writing about. In verses 11-28, he gives at least five specific attributes of Jesus that make him a better bridge. Let’s look at them.
Verses 11 through 22 show us that there is no congestion on this bridge. One of the worst things I can encounter while riding in the car is a traffic jam. Michelle and I almost didn’t make it past our first year of marriage because we decided to go to Branson for our anniversary. I was navigator, so I had come up with a clever plan to take a shortcut to Silver Dollar City. Somehow my shortcut went awry, and we ended up taking the long cut instead, spending about an hour crawling along a five-mile stretch. To make matters worse, our car had no air conditioning and the power windows didn’t work. Did I mention our anniversary is August 3? It was bit warm inside the car. We didn’t say much in that five mile span.
The old bridge of Levitical codes was kind of like a traffic jam. The 600-plus rules and regulations that the people had to observe did not help them get closer to God. On top of that the teachers of the law added another layer of rules, hoping to keep people as far away from violating God’s standards as possible. All these rules just cluttered up the highway, slowed things to a crawl, and no one ended up drawing near to God, at least not for long. That’s why the writer describes the Law as weak and useless. Not that it was good and useful in the sense of showing us what God was like, but it was weak and useless in facilitating access to God.
Along comes Jesus, the new high priest, and along with him comes a change in the law. Instead of having all these rules and regulations to sift through, he gives us one law—the law of love. The greatest commands, he tells us, are to love God and to love one another. It’s what his half-brother James calls the royal law, what Paul calls the fulfillment of the law.
There’s only one other car we’re sharing with this bridge with—the vehicle of love. Because of Jesus’ change in the law, you and I have a better covenant, a better deal, a better agreement between us and God. And our end of that bargain is to love him and to love one another.
That’s why there’s a lot less traffic through the thoroughfare of Jesus, and that makes him a better bridge.
Verses 23-25 show us that this bridge will never be replaced. When I first got to Edinburg, I remember Mark Smith and his family taking me to lunch up in Springfield. Coming back home, he wanted to show me the back way into Edinburg, through Chatham out past Lake Sangchris. But he was not able to. You see, the bridge was out somewhere through there. It wasn’t until just a couple of weeks ago that Kelsey Lebshier showed Michelle how to get to Springfield via that route. You can’t get where you want to go if the bridge is being replaced.
Under the old system, the high priests lived and died. When they died, the people had to get a new high priest. So they would appoint someone from the tribe of Levi, usually the son of the last high priest, if he had one, to the position. Generation after generation, the old bridges had to be replaced. The new high priest had to be trained, had to go through the growing pains, people had to get to know him. And so it went, and went, and went.
But then Jesus comes along. And since he lives forever, since his life is indestructible, he will never have to be replaced. And unlike all the high priests before him, because of his indestructible life, he is able to save completely. He is always there, at the Father’s side, asking him to act on our behalf. The bridge will never be closed. It will never be replaced. It’s always open. We’ll never be denied access to God. We’ll always be able to get to where we want to go.
Verses 26-28 show us that this bridge has no flaws. That’s pretty comforting to me. I know it’s comforting to Michelle. She has an unnatural fear of bridges, though her many crossings of the Mississippi have started to settle her down.
I’ve been on some shaky bridges myself. Probably the scariest for me was the prop bridge at Universal Studios. They took the tour tram over this old iron bridge and then stopped right in the middle of it. The bridge started shaking and making buckling noises, and then, to the sound of screeching metal, suddenly dropped—for about five feet or so. It scared about ten years off my life. Just imagine if you had been driving down this bridge when it decided to fall apart (slide).
Flaws are bad things on bridges. That’s why the U.S. Department of Transportation has a large unit devoted solely to bridge inspections. When a bridge has flaws, it is not long before it collapses.
The high priests of old had flaws. They were just humans, like you and me, and they were sinners like you and me. In fact, the high priest had to first offer a sacrifice for his own sins before he could begin offering sacrifices for the sins of others. He had to check himself for flaws, and, if necessary, make repairs.
If he didn’t take care of his flaws, when he went into the presence of God, God could very well strike him dead. According to Jewish tradition, a rope would be tied to the ankle of the high priest whenever he would enter the Holy of Holies. That way, if God detected any flaws in him and struck him down, he could be safely removed without risk of anyone else getting zapped.
Jesus, on the other hand, is described as holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners. Jesus never sinned, never fell to temptation, and never came up short of God’s standards. As such, unlike the high priests of old, he never had to offer sacrifices for himself in order to be right with the Father. Jesus is always right with the Father.
This is no shaky bridge that you and I have before us, brothers and sisters. We all know that people can and will fail us from time to time. But we can rest assured that Jesus will never fail us. He’ll never collapse. He has no flaws. This bridge is unshakable.
Last but not least, verses 26-28 also show us that this bridge has no tolls. If you’ve ever traveled north of Chicago, or across Oklahoma, you know all about toll roads. Over in the New England states there are several toll bridges. These tolls can be quite pricey. For example the Severn Bridge over in Great Britain charges over $26.00 for a truck to pass. Generally, the usual reason to charge a toll is to help pay for the construction and repair of the road or bridge.
Funny thing about tolls: Every time you use the road or bridge, you’ve got to pay one. That’s the same way it was with priests of the old covenant. There was not one, not two, but five kinds of sacrifices described in the book of Leviticus. There were burnt offerings, grain offerings, peace offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings. Day in, day out, sacrifice after sacrifice was offered to God. The blood of bulls, goats, sheep, and birds was constantly being shed. Leviticus is one of the bloodiest books I know of. PETA got upset with President Obama the other day because he swatted a fly. I shudder to think how they would have reacted if they had been around in the time of the Tabernacle and Temple.
And these sacrifices were only temporary fixes. As soon as you messed up, guess what? It was time to offer another sacrifice to get right with God, so you could cross the bridge and draw near to him once more.
But Jesus ushers in a new age, and he builds a permanent bridge. He did not initiate a sales tax to pay for it. He didn’t set up a toll booth to defray expenses. He paid for its construction all by himself. He paid for it with his own blood, the blood of the holy, blameless, pure and sinless One. It was a gift of love, a gift to us. No one charges for a gift.
So do not be alarmed when you come to this bridge. Don’t worry about having the correct change. Do not fear that you’ll be turned away because your pockets are bare. Just be thankful that Christ has paved the way for you free of charge. For no matter how rich any of us are in good deeds, no matter how rich we are in love, none of us come close to having enough escrow to pay our own way across this bridge. Thanks be to God that we do not have to try. Jesus paid it all. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from, or what you’ve done, Jesus has paid the price of your crossing.
Conclusion
Jesus serves as the only true and complete bridge between us and the Father. On this bridge there is no congestion, no replacement, no flaws, and no tolls. Through Jesus you and I can draw near to God.
President Obama has said a lot of things that have gotten people stirred up, at least here in the buckle of the Bible Belt. Perhaps you remember a few weeks ago our President saying that the United States was not a Christian nation. A lot of people are angry over that. Perhaps some of you are among them.
I’m not here to affirm or deny President Obama. But I do want to remind you of something. Our President is a politician, and politicians are not in the habit of making widely unpopular statements. It’s not a good career move. Politicians do their utmost to say things that the majority of their constituents will agree with.
Now we can quibble over whether or not this nation was founded as a Christian nation. There is support for either side. But I do want you to realize that regardless of where we started, the United States is rapidly becoming a post-Christian nation. More and more of the people around us have never heard about Jesus of Nazareth.
In one way, the writer of Hebrews had it easier than we do. The people he was addressing knew there was a God, knew that their sin had separated them from him, and knew that they needed some kind of bridge to span the gap so that they might draw near to God once more.
Brothers and sisters, friends and neighbors, our audience is more of a challenge. They’ve been taught from an early age that there is no such thing as sin, no such thing as God, and as a consequence, they could care less about finding a bridge to the other side. As far as they’re concerned, there is no other side. This is all there is.
It’s up to us to show them their need, to show them God’s love, to serve as a bridge. We need to be bridges for our loved ones, for our co-workers, for our neighbors, for our friends, and even for our enemies. Our Scripture reading this morning reminds us of that. Let’s read it again:
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
11 Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
Did you hear that? We’re a royal priesthood. That means God sees us as bridges, too. We get to share in this great work of standing in the gap. And when we live well, when we love well, we’re more effective in building bridges that help people cross over from death into life. That’s what Jesus did for us. He’s a better bridge. We can’t pay him back. So let’s pay it forward. Let’s be better bridges today than we were yesterday.
