This morning as we prepare to observe the Lord’s Supper, we’re going to go back to the Old Testament and the book of Genesis to provide us with some new insight into that observance. I encourage you to take out your Bibles and follow along as I take us on a brief journey to what may very well be the Biblical roots of the Lord’s Supper.
We’ll begin in Genesis 14. The beginning of that chapter describes a series of battles between two groups of kings. During those battles, Abram’s nephew Lot, who was living in Sodom, was captured. When Abram learns of his capture, he assembles an army of 318 men and defeats the armies of 4 kings and rescues Lot. We’ll pick up the story in verse 17:
After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley). And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) And he blessed him and said,
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth;
and blessed be God Most High,
who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”
And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
(Genesis 14:17–20 ESV)
Abram, whose name has not yet been changed to Abraham by God, is met by two kings – the king of Sodom, who is there to make a deal with Abram in order to get his subjects back and this mysterious king of Salem named Melchizedek.
This is the first and only time that Melchizedek appears in the Old Testament until we find a curious reference to him in Psalm 110 that we’ll look at in a moment. We know nothing about where he came from or where he goes after this. But we do know that he is unique among all the kings mentioned in the Bible because he is a priest, as well as a king.
His name means “king of righteousness” and he is the king of Salem -probably the name that Jerusalem was know by at that time – which means “peace”. So he is the king of righteousness and the king of peace.
And, most relevant to us this morning, he brings bread and wine to offer to Abram – thus the connection to the Lord’s Supper that we will observe this morning.
Bible scholars are pretty much evenly split on whether this is a preincarnate appearance of Jesus or whether he is an actual human king who is a “type” of Jesus. In the Bible a “type” is an actual historical event or person that is ordained by God to be a prophetic picture of something or someone later brought to fruition by a sovereign God. One of the best known types in the Bible would be Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice of his own son Isaac, which is a type of the fact that God would one day sacrifice His own Son on our behalf.
Either way, what we find here is that Melchizedek brings a blessing to Abram from God and that he accompanies that blessing with bread and wine. And in turn, Abram gives a tenth of all his possessions to Melchizedek. This is actually the first reference to a tithe in the Bible and it is important to note that it occurs long before God gives the law to His people through Moses. So this is completely a voluntary offering on Abram’s part.
But after this Melchizedek disappears from the scene until he appears in a cryptic reference in Psalm 110. So go ahead and turn in your Bible to that chapter. Psalm 110 is a well-known Messianic Psalm, which means that it is a prophetic Psalm that points to Jesus. It is therefore quoted frequently by the New Testament writers. We’re just going to look at verse 4:
The LORD has sworn
and will not change his mind,
“You are a priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek.”
(Psalm 110:4 ESV)
So here we find a clear connection between Melchizedek and Jesus. And if this is all we had, Melchizedek would still provide us with some insight about Jesus. At a minimum it would confirm the idea that Jesus is both the king of righteousness and the king of peace and that at the same time He is also a priest.
But fortunately the writer of Hebrews gives us a much more detailed description of this relationship between Melchizedek and Jesus.
He quotes Psalm 110 in Hebrews chapter 5 and again in chapter 7. A proper study of Hebrews 7 would take a lot more time than we have this morning. We could easily spend weeks on that chapter. So let me just summarize for you the main idea of that chapter and then we’ll look at just a few verses.
The main idea of that chapter is that Jesus is our priest. But His priesthood is much closer in nature to that of Melchizedek than that of the Levitical priests who descended from Aaron. Those priests obtained their position based on their lineage and they were numerous because they only served for a limited number of years and eventually they all died. And they had to continually make sacrifices first for their own sins and then for the sins of the people of Israel.
Jesus, on the other hand, is more like Melchizedek, who had no apparent beginning or end. The account in Genesis also is evidence that his priesthood was superior to that of the Levitical priesthood since Abram paid a tithe to Melchizedek, which indicated that he was inferior to Melchizedek. Therefore, his descendant, Levi, was also inferior. Or as the writer of Hebrews puts it:
One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.
(Hebrews 7:9–10 ESV)
The writer of Hebrews goes on to explain that the Levitical priesthood was inadequate because it could only temporarily take away the penalty for man’s sin and it could do nothing about the shame and guilt that accompanies sin.
So when we observe the Lord’s Supper this morning, the bread and the cup remind us of the fact that Jesus is our great high priest and that the New Covenant that was sealed by His blood is far superior to the Old Covenant and the Levitical priesthood.
Let’s read out loud together the closing words from Hebrews 7 that reminds us of that fact:
This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.
The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 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.
For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 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. 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.
(Hebrews 7:22–28 ESV)
