In the recent Oscar-nominated film, “Bridge of Spies,” Tom Hanks portrays James Donovan, an American lawyer who is recruited during the Cold War to defend accused Soviet spy Rudolf Abel on charges of espionage, and who was later approached to negotiate with the Soviet Union over the release of American U-2 spy plane pilot Francis Gary Powers. Risking his reputation, and ultimately, his own safety, Donovan succeeds in having Rudolf Abel sentenced to prison rather than executed, and eventually, is able to secure Powers’ release in exchange for Abel.
In the film and in real life, Donovan played a key role in international events, acting as an advocate for Rudolf Abel, and as a mediator between the United States, the Soviet Union and East Germany. In the first case, he represented the interests of an accused spy before an American court, and in the second, he represented the interests of the United States and Gary Powers in negotiations with foreign governments. But in both situations, he spoke and acted on behalf of those who not only could not defend themselves, but who were also unquestionably guilty.
In this week’s passage, we have an example of another successful mediator, Jesus Christ. As a priest, he stands between a just God and those who are accused of defying God’s laws. He pleads on their behalf for forgiveness and mercy, based not on their innocence, but on the fact that he has already fulfilled the sentence in their place. The question for each of us is whether we are placing our trust in Christ as our advocate before God the Father, or whether we intend to represent ourselves on the day of judgment.
For several weeks now, we’ve been studying the book of Hebrews in the New Testament. We don’t know who wrote this book. But we do know that the author of Hebrews, whoever he was, had a difficult task. The challenge he faced was how to persuade first-century Jews to embrace Christianity, to become followers of Jesus Christ. And here is the problem: from their point of view, they already had a perfectly good religion. In Judaism, they had a religion which:
• had been directly ordained by God (not of man’s devising)
• promised forgiveness of sins
• assured them of God’s love
• organized their lives, publicly and privately, through a legal code and a body of moral laws
• contained a comprehensive set of rules and regulations for religious ceremonies
• provided a world view and cosmology, which explained where they came from, and how the world came into being
• last but not least, had great stories and wonderful hymns
In short, Judaism contained pretty much everything that you would want in a religion.
It also had antiquity going for it; Judaism had been around for over thirteen centuries.
It was an ancient faith, not a recent innovation, as Christianity appeared to be.
And so the author of this book had a high bar to clear if he was going to persuade adherents of the Jewish religion to abandon the faith in which they had been raised, the faith which permeated every aspect of their lives — their family life; social life; civic life; religious life — to persuade them to leave all that behind and embrace Christ as Savior.
Now, I confess that I also have a difficult task this morning. My challenge lies in the fact that, like the people to whom the book of Hebrews was written, you’ve already got lives that are more or less organized. You’ve got a job, a husband or wife, children, a house. All the things that Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof” called “the full catastrophe”. And it’s all pretty much working, most of the time. And if you decide to sit there quietly and listen politely until I’m done talking, and then go home and go about your business just like you always have, no one will know. So how can I persuade you to consider making a change? That’s the question. And I’m going to give you the same answer that the author of Hebrews gave his readers. Because there’s something better. And that “something” which is better for us today is the same thing that was better for them twenty centuries ago. Which is why we are reading and studying this book.
Now, how does the author of Hebrews go about persuading first-century Jews to follow Christ? Not by telling them that everything they previously believed and practiced was wrong. Because it wasn’t. He did it by telling them the truth; that the religion of the Old Testament was always intended to be temporary, and that it was now being replaced in God’s sovereign plan for his people by something better, something which is built on the foundation of ancient Judaism but which now supplants it. And he does this by making four points. First of all, he argues:
1. Not that the law of Moses was wrong in itself, but that it was ultimately weak and useless, unable to cleanse from sin, and therefore is now being changed.
[Heb. 7:12, 18-19a, ESV] “12 For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well . . . . 18 For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness 19 (for the law made nothing perfect)”
The Old Testament Law was appropriate for its era; it was what they needed prior to the coming of Christ, but it was fundamentally flawed. It was “weak and useless”, and is therefore now being changed. What was its weakness? It was powerless against sin. It couldn’t cleanse from sin. It couldn’t erase the guilt of sin. It couldn’t prevent people from continuing to sin. All it could do was document all the ways in which they did sin. In fact, Paul tells us in Romans chapter seven that the Old Testament Law, far from restraining sin, actually provoked people to sin more! And so it was ultimately useless.
[Heb. 10:4, ESV] “. . . it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”
In other words, the animal sacrifices which were supposed to atone for sin, to pay for sin, actually did no such thing. They couldn’t. They were fine as far as they went — they reminded people that sin had to be paid for, and they demonstrated that the penalty for sin was death — but they didn’t actually succeed in paying that penalty; they didn’t actually erase the guilt of sin. The true payment for sin would come later, in the death of Christ.
2. Second, the author of Hebrews is arguing, not that the covenant God made with Abraham was false, but that it was now being superseded by a better covenant.
[Heb. 7:21-22, ESV] “but this one [that is, Christ, ESV] was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him:
The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever.’
This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.”
What is a covenant? A covenant is the basic charter which describes the relationship between God and his people. And what the author of Hebrews is telling us is that in Christ, God is not merely making some minor adjustments to the covenant he established with the people of Israel. He isn’t just instituting a new order of priests, or altering some of his laws. He isn’t just eliminating animal sacrifice as a worship practice. He is fundamentally transforming the nature of his relationship to his people, by instituting a New Covenant which is far superior to the Old. And he is doing this through Christ, our high priest.
3. Third, he is arguing, not that their prior hopes were false, but that they now had available to them a better hope.
“on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.” [Heb. 7:19, ESV]
What was this better hope? That their temporary, ceremonial cleansing from sin would be replaced by a permanent, and actual cleansing from sin, accomplished once and for all. The better hope was that they would be able to draw near to God, instead of being kept at arm’s length. Do you have that hope?
4. Fourth, the author of Hebrews is arguing, not that the Old Testament priesthood was invalid, but that it was limited and ultimately powerless, due to the mortality and sinfulness of the priests themselves:
[Heb. 7:23-24, 27, ESV] “23 The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, 24 but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. . . . 27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.”
The Old Testament priests, the Levitical priests all died and had to be continually replaced. Not only that, but every one of them had sins of their own. And so a better priesthood was necessary, to be administered by a better priest, who is Jesus Christ.
Which brings us to the point of today’s passage, Hebrews chapter seven. The focus of this passage is the superiority of Christ’s priesthood over the Levitical priesthood of the old covenant. A new priesthood which is not actually new, but which is connected to the ancient “order of Melchizedek”. Whatever that is.
Now, our purpose this morning is not to study Melchizedek, or to apply principles from his life. Which is good, because we know virtually nothing about his life. Our purpose instead is to understand and apply what the Scriptures tell us about Christ. So if you were looking forward to a dissertation on all the theories concerning the origin and identity of this mysterious figure called Melchizedek, I’m sorry to disappoint you. However, because Hebrews makes some key points about Christ based on his similarity to Melchizedek, we’ll need to take a couple of minutes to understand those points of similarity. So bear with me, because this will involve unpacking the author’s logic, and he is using a kind of reasoning that is unfamiliar to us, which is called “Midrash”.
First, the author tells us that Melchizedek was not only a priest but also a king. He was the king of Salem, which most scholars believe is another name for Jerusalem. Now, the word “Salem” in the Hebrew language means “peace”. Like “Shalom”. So as the king of a city named Salem, he was also “king of peace”. A modern equivalent would be Philadelphia. Philadelphia is called the “City of Brotherly Love”. Do you know why? Because the word “Philadelphia” contains the Greek words “phileo”, love, and “adelphos”, brother. And so the mayor of Philadelphia could be called the mayor of brotherly love. In the same way, because “Salem” in Hebrew means “peace”, the King of Salem could be called the King of Peace. With me so far?
Second, Melchizedek was the “King of Righteousness”. Again, because of the meaning of the Hebrew words which make up his name, Melchi-zedek. “Melchi” in Hebrew means “king” and “zedek” means “righteousness”. So Melchi-zedek means “king of righteousness”.
Now to us, this may seem like just playing with words, but to the author of Hebrews it is significant, because he is drawing parallels between this person and Christ, who is the true king of peace and the true king of righteousness.
What else do we know about Melchizedek? The author of Hebrews tells us that he was:
[Heb. 7:3, ESV] “Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.”
Does that mean he literally had no parents, or that he literally had no beginning or end? Was he actually uncreated and immortal? That is possible; it would mean he was a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ himself, which is called a theophany. But that’s unlikely, because it says he resembled the Son of God, not that he was the Son of God. It is more likely that the author is referring to what we have in the Biblical record. The Bible doesn’t mention is birth or background; no mention is made of how long he lived or how he died. He appears in the text, receives a tithe from Abraham, blesses Abraham, and is never heard from again. And so as far as the Biblical record is concerned, no beginning or end is mentioned. It doesn’t mean he actually was never born and never died, or that he had no parents, only that we have no mention of these things in the Bible.
Why does that matter? Why does it matter that his parents are not identified, and that his birth and death are not recorded? Because it means that his priesthood, his right to represent God before men, his right to intercede on behalf of men before God, was not something he inherited, as the Levitical priests did. Being a priest wasn’t the family business. He didn’t enter the priesthood because his father, and his grandfather, and his great-grandfather were priests. He was appointed directly by God. In the same way, Christ’s priesthood was not based on his lineage, his descent. He wasn’t even descended from the priestly tribe in Israel; he came from the tribe of Judah, not Levi. And so his priesthood was one-of-a-kind, like the priesthood of Melchizedek.
[Heb. 7:16, ESV] “who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life.”
Christ became a priest, not because he was descended from a line of priests, but because he possessed in himself a life which could not be destroyed. A life which could not be extinguished by death. A life which he shares with us, now and eternally.
So why do we care about this curious figure, Melchizedek? What significance does this strange priest and king, Melchizedek, have for us? None whatsoever, in and of himself. Melchizedek, as an individual, means almost nothing to us. What we care about is what he tells us about Christ. And what is that? That Christ is the priest the world has been waiting for since the Fall of man in the garden of Eden; the priest par excellence, the priest who can finally do what centuries of Levitical priests could not do. He can be that intermediary between God and man, the one we need to intercede for us, to pray to God on our behalf, to offer an effective sacrifice for our sins, to shield us from God’s anger and judgment. A priest who will never fail or falter. What does the author of Hebrews tell us?
[Heb. 7:23-25, ESV] “23 The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, 24 but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.”
And also,
[Heb. 7:26-28, ESV] “26 For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. 28 For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.”
The Levitical priests, the priests of the Old Covenant, fulfilled their duties faithfully, day after day, year after year, century after century. They spent their entire lives administering the rituals and sacrifices of the Old Covenant. But it wasn’t enough. No matter how many hundreds of bulls or goats they slaughtered, no matter how many thousands of times they said the prescribed prayers, it never removed the stain of sin. It never removed the guilt of the worshippers. It never dealt with the problem of our separation from God. Because if it had, there would have been no more need for priests, or sacrifices.
But Christ, our priest, did what no priest before him had ever been able to do! He removed the stain of sin, once and for all. He erased our guilt, once and for all. He bridged the gap between us and God, once and for all. By the sacrifice of his own life. And by his continued intercession before God on our behalf, his continued prayers, his continued mediation, his continued and eternal life. As a result,
“he is able to save to the uttermost” [that is, completely and eternally, ESV] “those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.” [Heb. 7:25, ESV]
Let me pause for some application. First of all, you need a priest. It’s true that in this church, unlike some churches, we have no priests. But that does not mean we have no need of a priest. We certainly do. Because we still sin. Because God still hates sin. Because sinful creatures such as you and I cannot stand in the presence of God without being annihilated. We need someone to advocate on our behalf, to intercede for us, to make the case before God that we should not be condemned for our sin; we need someone who can approach God to ask that he extend grace and mercy to us, in spite of our unworthiness. And that is what a priest is, an intermediary, one who intercedes on behalf of another.
Now you might say, I don’t need a priest! I don’t need a mediator! I’ll just march up to God and make my own case. Well, good luck with that. Because the Bible says you will fail. In the book of the prophet Nahum, we read,
“2 The Lord is a jealous and avenging God;
the Lord is avenging and wrathful;
the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries
and keeps wrath for his enemies.
3 The Lord is slow to anger and great in power,
and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty
6 Who can stand before his indignation?
Who can endure the heat of his anger?
His wrath is poured out like fire,
and the rocks are broken into pieces by him.
[Nahum 1:2-3, 6, ESV]
“But you, you are to be feared!
Who can stand before you when once your anger is roused?” [Psalm 76:7, ESV]
“But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?” [Malachi 3:2, ESV]
Who can stand before God? No one. You need an advocate to argue your case; you need a mediator to stand between you and God’s wrath, you need a priest. Jesus Christ is that priest.
Under the Old Covenant, intercession was the role of the Levitical priests, men who were chosen from the tribe of Levi to approach God on behalf of the people of Israel, men who were given the special privilege of standing before God to intercede for their countrymen, offering sacrifices and asking the Lord’s favor. Once a year, one priest was permitted to enter God’s inner sanctum, the most holy place of the temple, to make ceremonial atonement for the sins of the people.
But now, under the New Covenant, that role has been taken over by Christ. He alone replaces the many thousands of priests who were needed year after year under the Old Covenant, because he lives forever. There is no longer a need for any other priests; their role has been subsumed into the ministry of Christ.
[1 Timothy 2:5-6a, ESV] “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all”
[Romans 8:31-34, ESV] “31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”
[1 John 2:1-2, ESV] “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”
There is one mediator between God and man. And that one mediator is Jesus Christ. He is at the right hand of God, even now, interceding for us so that we will not be condemned for our sins, so that we will not be destroyed. He is our advocate before God the Father, pleading on the basis of his own sacrificial death, asking that we not be punished but forgiven instead. And God grants him that request on our behalf. And God will continue to grant him that request on our behalf forever; God will continue to stay his hand of judgment; He will continue instead to pour out his blessings, his grace and his mercy, throughout eternity to come. Because Christ is our mediator, our intercessor, our advocate, our high priest. Because, as verse 25 tells us, he “always lives” to make intercession for us.
Let me ask you this morning: “Do you recognize your need of a priest?” Are you aware of sin in your life for which you need to be forgiven, sin for which you are justly subject to God’s judgment and condemnation?
• Your sin may be something public, something which has become known to others, something for which you have already been judged by friends, family, schoolmates, even strangers. Or your sin may be something private, something hidden, something known only to yourself, but which you know is not right, and which you are secretly ashamed of.
• Perhaps you fear exposure. Perhaps in your heart you fear God’s condemnation, because you know that he sees everything.
• Perhaps it is something that happened years ago, but for which you still feel intense guilt. Or it may be something that happened this month, or even this week.
The good news is that it doesn’t matter. Regardless of the circumstances, regardless of the degree of your guilt, regardless of whether your sin is known to others or only to God and yourself, you have an advocate. Someone who understands. Someone who will plead your case. Someone who will shelter you from God’s wrath. Someone who will offer himself up in your place; offer his life as an offering for your sins. Someone who will secure from God the Father, not only freedom from punishment, not only forgiveness for sin, but grace, and mercy, so that you are welcomed into God’s presence with open arms.
[Heb. 4:15-16, ESV] “15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
[Heb. 10:19-22a, ESV] “19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith”
Is that good news? Yes! But there is a caution I want to issue, even as we rejoice in everything that the priesthood of Christ has obtained for us. Let’s look again at verse 25:
[Heb. 7:25, ESV] 25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.”
Who is it that Christ intercedes for? Who is it that he is able to save “to the uttermost”; that is, completely and eternally? “Those who draw near to God through him”. What did the passages we just read tell us? “Let us then with confidence draw near”. “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith”. We need to draw near to God. What does that mean? It means to be in fellowship with God, to be in relationship with Him, rather than just going through the motions of religion. It means to pray, to read and study his word, to actively seek his grace and strength to face trials, to actively seek his wisdom when making decisions, to actively seek to honor and please him in everything.
I want to be clear, those who draw near to God are not a special class of Christian. No, drawing near to God is what it means to be a Christian. A Christian is not just someone who says the right things and believes the right doctrines. A Christian is someone who draws near to God through Christ. And so, here’s the question: are you drawing near to God? Or are you present in body here this morning, but far from him, in your heart? What does Isaiah say?
[Isaiah 29:13, ESV] “this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me”
Does that describe you?
• Are you saying all the right things, while your heart is far from God? If so, I appeal to you to draw near to Him. Is there sin that is hindering you from coming? Confess it, repent of it, and he will forgive you and welcome you.
• Has it been a long time since you prayed, I mean really prayed? That’s all right. Pray now. He has promised to hear and answer prayers.
• Do you feel that you aren’t ready, that you have to clean up your life, or clean up your heart, before you can draw near to God? Don’t waste your time. You can never, through your own effort, make yourself acceptable to God. Just accept the invitation; that’s all you need to do and all you can do.
If you’ve been estranged from God for any reason, draw near to Him now. Confess that you’ve been going your own way. Acknowledge that you have become distant from Him. Then draw near, in full confidence that He will receive you, because of what Christ our high priest has done, and is doing even now.
[Hebrews 10:38-39, ESV] “38 but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him. 39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.”
Don’t shrink back. Draw near. Brothers and sisters, this is the “something better” that I promised you. Maybe you’ve got a life that works pretty well, most of the time. A good church, good Christian friends. On Sunday morning, an interesting message and uplifting music. Monday through Saturday, you try to order your life according to the teachings of this book. All the pieces are seemingly where they should be, but you have a nagging feeling that something is missing. And I’m here to tell you that there is something better than going through the motions of religion. And that something is drawing near to Christ. Not just believing in him, not just following his commands, but actually drawing near to him. Will you do that, even now?
