0801 A PRIEST FOREVER

AUGUST 1 = HEBREWS 7

MELCHIZEDEK A PRIEST FOREVER

In this chapter, the author reintroduces Melchizedek and Jesus being a high priest of his order. Let’s cover a little more about Melchizedek and see what insights about Jesus it yields.

The promise stems from Psalm 110, in which some kingly figure of Israel is given an oath from God that he will be a priest of the order of Melchizedek forever.

Abraham had just helped his nephew Lot to regain his freedom from a bunch of kings who had stolen from him. There, we are not told much about Abraham’s meeting with Melchizedek, but each detail seems to be significant. Melchy is not described in terms of his ancestry, which the author here points out makes Mechy something of an eternal figure, with no predecessors and no heirs. Jesus, being the Son of God, is of that kind of ancestry, with no beginning and no end of days.

The mysterious Old Testament figure, Melchizedek, is described as the king of Salem and also as a priest of God Most High. Salem—does that sound like the city name of Jeru-Salem? It is. And the name “Salem” means “peace.” So Jesus, being in the order of Melchy, is the king of peace. The name Melchizedek means “king of righteousness.” So Jesus, being of that order, is endless of days, is the king of people, and the king of righteousness. That makes Jesus mighty qualified to be an effective high priest, I would say.

The author then goes into some detail about Abraham offering a tithe to the Lord of all his plunder from those kings. He presents it to Melchizedek, and nothing more is really said about it. But Hebrews explains that Jesus is superior to Abraham, just as he is superior to Moses.

Then the chapter wraps up with some powerful spiritual credentials in his role as high priest. These credentials are what make Jesus effective as a high priest. He says,

“Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 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. For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.”

The priest, in order to serve as our bridge to God, needs to truly meet our need. Our need is to be restored to relationship with God, as if we had not sinned or had unclean things happen to us. So we need these qualities:

He must be holy. Without holiness, no one will see the Lord. So our high priest must be set apart, sacred, not guilty, not involved in worldly affairs.

He must be Blameless. Similarly, he must be above any accusations that would be brought against him. After all, he must pray on our behalf, kill an animal and have that animal restore us to relationship with God. So getting his own sinful baggage mixed up with ours removes the effectiveness of his actions

He must be Pure. No thoughts or agendas of his own. No sexual fantasies or daydreams of wealth and status. No selfish ambition in doing his job. Someone who is readily acknowledged by the leaders of his community to be above reproach in the area of purity.

He must be Set apart. This is, as above, related to holiness. But it includes having been consecrated by the community, with hands laid on head and sacrifices given to acknowledge that this man has but one purpose in life.

And he must be Exalted above the heavens. To truly be a bridge between heaven and earth, you must be more than an occasional visitor to the heavenlies. You need to have the authority to speak for the Eternal God, so that you can declare someone forgiven, or tell them they have one more thing to do in order to be right. Jesus had that kind of exaltation and that kind of authority to declare the eternal state of a person of earth.

And so, just as we have seen that Jesus is above angels, that he is greater than Moses and his words stronger than the Law, so now we see this mysterious prophecy fulfilled from Psalm 110. God has declared his Son Jesus to be a high priest forever, of the order of Melchizedek, forever worshiped and holding the keys to restoring a right relationship with God.

Thanks be to God, who orchestrated the unfolding of history in such a way that even obscure figures and references all come together to find themselves fulfilled by Christ. Amen.