Priest and King
Hebrews 6:20 – 7:28
SCRIPTURE READING: Hebrews 7:23-28
INTRODUCTION:
Readers’ Digest has a section called All in a Day’s Work where people write in humorous things that happen at work. Here’s a good one: Confiding in a co-worker, I told her about a problem in our office and my fear that I would lose my job. She was concerned and said she would pray for me. I know she keeps a list of 10 people she believes need her prayers the most, so I asked her if she had room for me on her list. “Oh yes,” she replied. “Three of the people have died.” (Kaye Gordon, R. Digest, 6/01 p. 64)
Usually when someone intercedes for us, we want better results than that! Hebrews 7 reassures us that we have the best intercessor anyone could hope to have.
24 Because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Hebrews 7:24-25
The Old Testament Priests served as intermediaries between God and the people. A large portion of Hebrews talks about Jesus as our eternal High Priest. The last part of Hebrews 6 gets specific: He (Jesus) has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 6:20
So who is this mysterious Melchizedek? Melchizedek was seen as an important but puzzling character from the ancient past. Rabbis talked about him. Historians like Philo and Josephus comment on him in their writings. But very little was actually known about him. In fact, everything we know about him is found in three short sections of scripture: Genesis 14, Psalm 110, and Hebrews 7. In Hebrews we see a portrait of Melchizedek placed side-by-side with that of Jesus Christ.
Back in the 17th century, the Dutch artist Rembrandt painted two portraits of a famous Roman heroine named Lucretia. One portrait was painted the 1664. Two years later, he painted a second portrait of Lucretia in a different pose. For over 300 years, the two paintings were never seen together. Different private collectors owned one or the other of the paintings.
They were two paintings of the same person, painted by the same master, but no one was aware of their connection … until 1991. At last, the two paintings were displayed side by side where they could be compared.
In a similar way, the portraits of Melchizedek and Jesus Christ had never been compared until the 7th chapter of Hebrews. Ever since Abraham encountered the mysterious Priest called Melchizedek, his name was held as a masterpiece of God.
Over 2000 years later, another masterpiece appeared in the form of Jesus Christ. In Hebrews chapter 7, the two portraits are finally displayed together and we see an amazing similarity.
For one thing MELCHIZEDEK PORTRAYS CHRIST AS PRIEST.
1. Melchizedek Portrays Christ as Priest Hebrews 7:1
1This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him 2and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. Hebrews 7:1-2
Notice that is says Abraham was returning from the defeat of the kings. There had been a war between 5 Kings in the area (including the King of Sodom) and 4 other Kings. The 4 Kings won and carried off all the plunder and a bunch of people that belonged to Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham usually stayed neutral in the Regional Wars, but this time he got involved for one reason: when they carried off the goods of Sodom, the 4 Kings also took Abraham’s nephew, Lot, and his family.
We don’t usually picture Abraham as a Warrior, but that’s what he was when the situation demanded it. The bad guys were about to discover they had made the wrong Old Testament Patriarch very very angry.
Abraham took out after the 4 Kings with over 300 men. The account of Abraham’s victory is summed up in Genesis 14: 15 During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people. Genesis 14:15-16
Abraham was returning home after this victory when he encountered Melchizedek. 18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 19 and he blessed Abram, saying, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. 20And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand." Genesis 14:18-19
After the Priest gave this blessing, Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything. It seems that Abraham gave his tithe voluntarily and gladly. Furthermore, Melchizedek willingly received the tithe from Abraham. This interchange seems mysterious because we don’t fully understand the context of it. But evidently it seemed natural for Abraham to offer his tithe to this Priest named Melchizedek.
Hebrews says that Jesus is a Priest in the order of Melchizedek. We need to understand that the Hebrew Christians would have seen Jesus as ineligible to be a priest because he was not from the tribe of Levi. Of course, this fact doesn’t matter much to us. But it mattered greatly to the Jews--- and it mattered to God who made the laws about the Levitical Priesthood. And according to the Law, the only way Jesus would qualify to be priest is if he was a Levite.
God took the trouble to prove that Jesus Christ is a legitimate Priest in every way. You see, Melchizedek served as a Priest 400 years before the Levitical Law was in effect. The Priesthood of Jesus Christ preceded and followed after the Levitical priesthood. Therefore, the Priesthood of Jesus is BETTER than the Levitical Priesthood.
Melchizedek portrays Christ as Priest, and he also PORTRAYS CHRIST AS KING.
1. Melchizedek Portrays Christ as King Hebrews 7:2
First, his name (Melchizedek) means “king of righteousness”; then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.” Hebrews 7:2
Melchizedek was both a Priest and a King. Under the Jewish Law, that was impossible. A Priest had to come from the tribe of Levi. A King had to come from the tribe of Judah. As a descendant of King David, who was from the tribe of Judah, Jesus had full credentials to be a King.
But here again, His lineage through David is only part of the story. His right to rule also came from the line of Melchizedek who was the King of Salem. Salem is a derivative of the word Shalom (which means peace) so this gives Melchizedek the title King of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 prophecied that Messiah would be called “Prince of Peace.” This title relates him back to Melchizedek. Therefore, the ancient “King of Salem” from Abraham’s day and the “Prince of Peace” of Jesus’ day are two peas in a pod.
There’s another connection in the title King of Salem. Salem was the early name of Jerusalem. Jerusalem was later called the City of David. And Jesus was a descendant of King David. There’s an interesting contrast found in Genesis 14 between Melchizedek, the King of Salem and another King who came out to meet Abraham at the same time. The other King was Bera, King of Sodom. And Bera had a bargain to offer Abraham: 21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself." Genesis 14:21
But Abraham had no intention of doing business with the King of Sodom. Look at his answer: 22 Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and have taken an oath 23 that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ’I made Abram rich.’ Genesis 14:22-23
The King of Sodom offered to give the spoils of war to Abraham in payment for rescuing Bera’s people from captivity. But Abraham wanted no part of it. Abraham willingly gave a tithe to Melchizedek, but he flat-out refused to do any business at all with Bera.
Look at it this way: Melchizedek, as the King of Salem represents Jesus as the Prince of Peace. If you remember anything about the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah, it’s not hard to figure out that the King of Sodom represents the Enemy of Righteousness. Abraham didn’t want the King of Sodom to get any credit for his success. Why? Because all the credit belonged to Eleyon (God most High)
This shows the difference between the principle of the flesh and the principle of the spirit. And it gives us a practical example of the way we should handle our finances. Are you following Abraham’s example? Do you tithe from the blessings the Lord has given you? Do you present your offerings of thanksgiving to the Prince of Peace?
And do you refuse to receive anything that could be called “ill-gotten gains.” Abraham could have rationalized that he had actually earned those spoils of war that the King of Sodom offered him. He could have thought, What is it going to hurt if I earn a little extra on the side here? After all, everyone takes advantage of a chance to make a quick buck.
But Abraham would not compromise his integrity for the sake of making money. We would do well to follow his example. It’s easy to “fudge” a little on taxes or be a little less than honest in a business deal. God calls us to a life of complete integrity --- with our finances as well as our lives.
This is easier to do if we remember that money --- and all the things of this life --- are temporary, but CHRIST IS ETERNAL.
2. Melchizedek Portrays Christ as Eternal Hebrews 7:3
Melchizedek gives us a picture of this. Here’s the sum-total of our biographical information about Melchizedek: 3Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever.
Melchizedek had no recorded beginning and end, and Jesus has no beginning and end. Melchizedek was both Priest and King, and Jesus is both Priest and King. Some have even concluded that Melchizedek was actually Jesus in a pre-incarnate appearance.
There are other places in the Old Testament that hint at such an appearance of Jesus Christ. For example, in the book of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into a fiery furnace, but they were not even singed by the fire. King Nebuchadnezzer looked into the furnace and exclaimed: 25 "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of god." Daniel 3:25 Whether Jesus did appear in the Old Testament or not I cannot say. But I CAN say that Melchizedek portrays Jesus in these important ways:
· Jesus Christ serves as a Priest of the Most High God
· Jesus Christ reigns as the King of Peace
· Jesus Christ will serve and reign Forever
CONCLUSION:
No other Priest or King can ever take the place of Jesus Christ. Listen to the words Peter spoke when he addressed the Jewish leaders in Acts 4:12: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (we often sing There is No Other Name in the service…)
Under the Levitical Law, the High Priest made a sacrifice for the nations’ sins once a year. The sins were rolled back until the next year --- but the sins were never permanently wiped away.
Imagine that you have been diagnosed with a fatal disease. You have to take medicine every day in an attempt to stave off the illness. But you know that the medicine does nothing more than hold back the symptoms temporarily. The disease always ends in death.
Then suddenly you are offered a treatment that can make you whole again. If you will accept the treatment, you can throw away their bottles of pills because your healing will be complete and permanent.
That is the offer Jesus makes as our Eternal Priest and King. He offered himself as a once-and-forever sacrifice for our sins. He lives eternally to intercede for us. Praise God for his indescribable gift!
(Outline from Ken Alford, Sermon Central)
