Jesus and Melchizedek ... and Us (Hebrews 7)

This sermon was preached on 9/6/2013

A question that often arises is whether or not the Bible has answers to difficult questions. Of course, there are certain types of questions to which the Bible does not give precise answers. For example, the Bible does not tell us how many stars there are in the galaxies. Nor does it tell us how long we shall live. Instead we are told that there are numerous stars beyond calculation and that seven decades is an average length of human life. There are also topics that we regard as very important for everyday life, yet the Bible does not address them in specific ways. For example, it does not say which political party we should support at an election. All it gives are principles that should mark righteous human governments and often all we can do is see which party comes closest to those principles and vote for it.

But there are topics about which the Bible says a great deal. One of them is the identity of Jesus Christ and everyone probably knows that he is the subject of the accounts in the Gospels. Others may be aware that a great number or prophecies from the Old Testament were fulfilled by Jesus or in connection with Jesus. What they may not know is that Jesus is even the subject of Bible verses that initially do not seem to have anything to do with him. In this chapter of Hebrews we see that truths about Jesus can be discovered from a brief reference in the Book of Genesis to an otherwise unknown person who was the king/priest of a place called Salem (which may be an ancient name for Jerusalem). The unknown individual is Melchizedek, and the author of Hebrews sees great significance in him because he depicts the person and work of Jesus. Why is this? We shall see shortly.

What does this type of fulfilment tell us about the Word of God? One answer to this question is that God was preparing it for us in the New Testament period. No doubt, a person reading Genesis in previous periods would deduce from this account that true worshippers of God were living in Canaan at the same time as Abraham. Such a deduction would be true. Another person would read it and deduce that tithing is the normal method of supporting God’s cause. That deduction would also be true. A third person would read it and deduce that God had more than one kind of priesthood, and that would be true as well. Yet the deepest meaning of the story is about Jesus in that Melchizedek depicts aspects of the person and work of Christ.

A second answer to this connection is that there are seeds of truth in the Old Testament that develop into mighty plants in the New. Where does this seed from Genesis take us? We could move on to Psalm 110, where the Messiah is mentioned alongside the priesthood of Melchizedek. Then we could move to references in the Gospels in which Jesus asks the Jewish leaders what they thought about the person mentioned in Psalm 110. And there are allusions to the psalm in the Acts, Paul’s letters, and in the Book of Revelation. It can be fascinating to trace some of the seeds in the early books of the Bible through to later references.

The significance of Melchizedek (7:1-10)

First, Melchizedek combined in his person two offices that Jesus also has, but which Aaron and his descendant priests did not. Melchizedek was both a priest and a king whereas Aaron was only a priest. The Old Testament prophet Zechariah had predicted that the Messiah would be a priest upon his throne. Obviously, kingship indicates power and in Jesus’ case it indicates power to ensure that his priesthood is effective.

Second, Melchizedek had two titles. One was in his name, which means ‘king of righteousness’, and the other was in his location Salem, which means ‘peace’. Anyone who understood the law of God would know that it was impossible to unite righteousness and peace in the lives of sinners. Instead of having righteousness they were classified as sinners and instead of having peace they were at enmity with God and one another. In Melchizedek, the combination was merely symbolic, but in Jesus the combination was real. As God, he has both as divine attributes; as man he has both as human experiences. And he is able to give both to sinners: he provides a righteous and peaceful standing for them before God when they trust in him and he provides a righteous and peaceful lifestyle for them by the working of his Holy Spirit in their lives.

Third, Melchizedek had no genealogy recorded in the Book of Genesis. This does not mean that he was an appearance of the Son of God before he became incarnate. Melchizedek did have parents, but the fact that his birth and death are not recorded means that he illustrates the eternity of the Son of God. Jesus in reality has no beginning and no ending, whereas Melchizedek only depicted that Jesus had them.

Fourth, Melchizedek was greater than Aaron because of two reasons deduced from what happened when he met Abraham, and they are connected to the fact that in some way Abraham represented his descendants, perhaps because of the covenant promises about them that were given to him. First, Melchizedek blessed Abraham, which points to Abraham’s inferiority, because the lesser is always blessed by the greater. Second, Abraham, the ancestor of Aaron, paid tithes to Melchizedek, and tithes are always paid to a superior.

So the author has mentioned several ways in which Melchizedek is important. I assume that his readers now understood the rebuke that he had given them earlier when he said to them that they had not progressed sufficiently to understand those aspects, although they should have (5:11).

Jesus Compared to Melchizedek (7:11-20)

The author of Hebrews now makes several deductions about Jesus and his position as King and Priest. First, the inadequacy of the Levitical priesthood and the adequacy of Jesus means that there has to be a change in the rules that God laid down for serving priests. We can imagine a Jew saying to a Christian Jew, ‘What is your authority for ignoring the requirements of the Levitical law?’ In response, the Christian could reply, ‘What is your authority for ignoring the higher claims of the priesthood of Melchisedek?’

Probably the Jew would have pointed out that Jesus did not belong to the tribe of Levi. The Christian could reply that the objection was invalid because Jesus had actually fulfilled what was typified by Melchizedek. Each descendant of Aaron who held the post of High Priest only held it for a short time and only held it because the law stipulated it and not because he was capable in himself of functioning as a real high priest. Jesus, in contrast, was in the position because he has an indestructible life. He has the inherent ability to function as a royal priest. No doubt, there was many a funeral day for high priests in Jerusalem, but there will never be a funeral day in heaven for the Priest who reigns there.

Perhaps the Jew would say, ‘This sounds very interesting, but what Scripture proof do you have for this?’ The Christian could reply, ‘The proof is found in Psalm 110:4, which says that the Messiah would be a priest exactly similar to the ideal priest depicted by Melchizedek and that the Messiah would have this role forever.’

The Christian could also point out that the verse says even more about the Messiah. In Psalm 110, the declaration about the future Messiah is stated by God with an oath. He has sworn that the priesthood of the Messiah will be endless. Because that will be the case, it means that the Messiah will be able to guarantee all the blessings connected to his reign, which are summarised here as ‘the better covenant’ (we will look at it in our next study). The point to stress here is that the priesthood of the Messiah is irreversible.

The Benefits of having Jesus as High Priest

First, we have a better hope that enables us to draw near to God. The author has already mentioned the hope in 6:18 – it is Jesus in the presence of God as our forerunner. One consequence of Jesus being there is that we can draw near to God now. Clearly this is a wonderful privilege that has been given to us, but what else does it mean?

The author is indicating that we draw near to him as real persons. It is true that we approach God through Jesus, but it is also true that we interact as ourselves. We come to the God who has given to each of us our own particular features, and it as such that we are to come into his presence. Jesus has made us acceptable in God’s sight, but we still retain our individuality and each of us can be in God’s presence what no one else can be.

At the same time, we draw near to him as a redeemed people, which the author will later describe in Hebrews 12. If we always realised this, most of our complaints and criticisms of one another would never be said, because in a sense we could be complaining about or criticising a person who is in the presence of God, speaking to him.

It goes without saying that we draw near to God with a resolved purpose, and this purpose must include worship and prayer. We come into God’s presence to extol his majesty and express gratitude for his mercy. And we come to ask him to do things for us. It is an insult to his grace when we do not make specific requests to him. After all, Jesus has said to his people to pray in his name.

Second, we will experience full salvation because Jesus is always in the presence of God. The writer says that Jesus is able to save to the uttermost (v. 25). The term ‘uttermost’ can refer to degree or to duration. If it refers to degree, then it means that we will receive all that Jesus died to provide for his people; if it refers to duration, then it means that his people will have those blessings forever.

But how do we know that we will receive those blessings? The answer is that Jesus is still working on behalf of his people, or as the writer says, ‘since he always lives to make intercession for them’. We tend not to think a great deal about what Jesus does for his people today in heaven. In this statement we have a description of the person of Jesus and of the work of Jesus. He is alive in heaven and he is living there for us (in addition to this amazing reality, there are other wonderful aspects of his existence in heaven that could be thought about). He works on behalf of his people twenty-fours a day, if we can put it that way. In heaven, he acts as our prophet who ensures that the willing Spirit instructs us, he acts as our king and ensures that we are protected from our enemies, and he acts as our priest in making intercession for us.

As we think of the Saviour’s intercession, we must remember that he does it as one who is both God and man. As divine, he does not need to use words as he interacts with the Father and as divine he knows everything about all situations because he has perfect knowledge of the divine purpose. As human, he expresses himself accordingly, which means that he prays, but to what detail and in what ways cannot be known – it is sufficient for us to know that the God/man is interceding for us.

Jesus also functions as one who has universal power, and he also functions as one whose presence is the guarantee that he will be answered. Moreover, he also remembers what it was like to be in several situations of distress and temptations, of sorrow and fear, and he has true concern for his people on earth as they face their on-going spiritual troubles. Such is his love that he remains the advocate of each of his people even when they sin, which they do frequently as disobedient servants, and continually because even their best efforts are tainted by it. Yet he remains full of love for them, has a heart of compassion to them, and continually expresses his concern for each of them. At this moment, as was depicted in the way the tribes of Israel were written on their High Priest’s clothes, each Christian receives strength from Jesus (the shoulder was the place of strength) and is in the heart of Christ (the names on the breastplate).

Therefore we can take great encouragement from the author’s conclusion about the high priesthood of King Jesus: ‘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.’