Hebrews The Big Deal About Melchizedek is Jesus Hebrews 7:1-10 For twenty years, I lived in a spectacularly beautiful place the North Carolina Mountains. I used to say, I love the mountains on a day like today. I used to say that a lot, in fact. It finally dawned on me that no matter what the day was like, I loved the mountains on that kind of a day sunny, snowy, rainy, fall, winter, summer, or spring. But I particularly loved living in the mountains on days when the clouds would descend to ground level. You were in a fog so thick that you could hardly think straight, much less see any distance at all. It was the mystery of what lay just beyond what you could see that was so romantic, so appealing, to me. The worst times of fog were at night on Beech Mountain, where my daughter and her family now live. We used to take groups from TVR up to Beech for skiing, but when the fog rolled in, you could not see the yellow line on the road beyond 10-15 feet. You only hoped that if someone were stopped on the road, you would see the brake lights soon enough to stop. Needless to say, you traveled slowly on such nights. The road going to the top of Beech Mountain feels like it goes straight up. It is the road on which Lance Armstrong trained after his cancer recovery, so you know that it is steep. If you had never been to the top of Beech before and you traveled up one winter night in a thick fog and spent the night there, and then the fog cleared overnight, two spectacular sights would await you. First, the view, alone, is beautiful. Okay, so it is not the Rockies or the Alps, but it is fine, enough. Second, if you have never seen hoar frost, or, ice fog, as we say in the NC Mountains, it will take your breath away the first time you are blessed to see it. When the moisture from the clouds freezes on the bare tree limbs and sun shines on the trees on a brilliant cloud-free day, well spectacular. 1
As we enter the seventh chapter of Hebrews, it may well feel to you that you are in a thick fog. Remember what we said earlier the fog clears behind you. So, if you feel a bit confused, know that what you learn today will make more sense next week, even though it may feel like you are still in a fog about the new material. Maybe one of the reasons we have so much trouble with Hebrews is because we are used to reading the NT with little thought given to the OT. While it is unwise to read any of the NT as if it exists as an entity to itself, Hebrews absolutely will not allow us to do so. If we are going to make sense of Hebrews, we have to know or, be willing to learn how the OT was pointing to Jesus all along. Here is the great thing about Hebrews. When we get to the top of the mountain and have a good night s rest, the beauty that awaits us in the light of a new day will be worth the trip and worth the uncertainty that we experienced on the way up the mountain. Questions, such as, What does the author mean by that? will become clear overnight, and the depth of beauty that unfolds before us will be something that not everyone is blessed to see. Our text today is Hebrews 7:1-10, but for the sake of context, we will begin in 6:19, which will remind us that all of the talk about Melchizedek is really about Jesus. I had told you that I wanted to get all the way through Chapter 7 today, but, oh well. Ten verses it is. Let s get started. Would you please stand for the reading of Hebrews 6:19-7:10? 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. 1 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 2
and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. 3 He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever. 4 See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils! 5 And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers, though these also are descended from Abraham. 6 But this man who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. 8 In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. 9 One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, 10 for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him. Have you noticed that there has not been a single sermon in Hebrews that did not refer extensively to the OT, whether we spent a lot of time reviewing the OT or not? It is evident that the author expected his readers to know the OT stories and theology to which he made reference. It is true today that even though most believers are not Jewish and did not grow up immersed in the OT Scriptures, God expects us to be familiar with the gospel origins in the OT as well as the NT truth of Jesus life, death, burial, and resurrection that are so precious to us. Today s text recalls Genesis 14, which tells the story of Lot being taken captive by kings from the North. This was after he had move away from Abraham to Sodom, of course. When Abraham heard about Lot s capture, he gathered his men and overtook the raiding party and defeated the kings, freeing Lot to go home. On his way back home, Abraham passed to the east of Jerusalem, and Melchizedek came out to meet Abraham, bringing bread and wine to Abraham and his men. 3
Interesting, isn t it, that Melchizedek, who was identified as the priest of God Most High, would bring bread and wine to Abraham? Bread and Wine. Does that remind you of anything, such as, say, The Lord s Supper? One of the benefits of reading through the Bible year after year is that you begin to identify patterns that God has woven into all of Creation, and, eventually, you will see patterns in the ways that God works in your life, increasing your confidence and trust in the One Who loved you enough to send his Son to die in your place. In verse 3, we are told that Melchizedek is without father or mother or genealogy. A careful reading of Genesis will tell you that such an important person whose family is not acknowledged is unique. The purpose of most genealogies in Scripture, though certainly not all, is to provide links in the chain from Adam to Jesus. Not every single person is always listed in the genealogies, but they show God s faithfulness in all generations, even when Satan clearly sought to snuff out the line from which the Messiah would come. But, Melchizedek had no family. That does not mean that he didn t have an actual father or mother, but the fact that their names are not given serves to indicate a man who comes out of nowhere. As far as we know, he had no beginning of days nor end of life. You may have never picked up on that as you read through Genesis, but the Jewish Christians, to whom Hebrews was written, would have tried to make sense of Melchizedek long before they trusted Jesus as the crucified and risen Savior who forgives sins. The author of Hebrews is beginning to connect the dots for them. Melchizedek resembles the Son of God, continuing as a priest forever. Melchizedek was born and died just like everyone else, but the way Scripture characterizes the sudden appearance of this king of righteousness and king of peace points to Jesus. Melchizedek was the type, Jesus was the antitype. More about that in a few minutes. 4
Abraham lived four hundred years before the Law was given to Moses, yet, he knew to tithe to God s priest. Abraham gave a tenth of all the spoils of war to Melchizedek, who, in turn, blessed Abraham, even though Abraham was the one who enjoyed the promises of God. Once again, there is a pattern to God s ways. Long before the Law was given, in which God s covenant people were commanded to give a tenth of their income to the Lord, the pattern of giving a tithe was understood to be God s plan. Verses 7-10 constitute a rather sophisticated argument for the superiority of Melchizedek s priesthood to the Levitical priesthood, which, in turn, will point to the superiority of Jesus priesthood to any earthly priest. Many think that Jesus superiority as high priest after the order of Melchizedek is the central theme of the book. I think it is also safe to acknowledge that Hebrews is a sophisticated apologetic that Jesus is at the center of all of God s plans in the universe. The establishment of Jesus as a priest after the order of Melchizedek is included to show how Jesus can be prophet, priest, and king, even though priests and kings in Israel come from two different tribes. The details will be addressed next week in the second half of Hebrews 7. In this section, the author defends Jesus as a priest, even though he came from the tribe of Judah rather than the tribe of Levi. The author goes so far as to say, in our text today, that you can make the claim that Levi, though yet unborn, paid tithes to Melchizedek through his great, great, great, great, great grandfather, Abraham. Sophisticated, indeed. There is a lot to process in Hebrews 7, and you may think at this point that it has very little to do with your life. I have good news there is a great deal of application in our text, and I will offer what I see by listing biblical principles that are, at the very least, implied, whether explicitly stated or not. You may want to write these down for review later, and you may also want to be prepared to discuss them in Home Group. Principle number 1, is: 5
1. When engaging Scripture, God expects us to use our minds as well as our hearts Make no mistake what God desires is to change us at the very core of our being, in our hearts. But, to think that your relationship with God is strictly experiential where he speaks privately to you in ways that he speaks to no one else is not only misguided, but it is downright dangerous. Does a believer have a personal relationship with God through Jesus? Absolutely! Does anyone have a private relationship with him? Absolutely not! What God says to one he says to all those who have been called into the family of God by the Holy Spirit. As it is often said, here, and as recently as last week, in fact, the Holy Spirit is the author of Scripture, making it impossible to separate the Holy Spirit from God s Word. Scripture ultimately means nothing to those who do not have the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is never going to tell you something that contradicts the Word. Thus, it is important to study Scripture, asking God to enlighten our minds as well as our hearts. Paul s prayer for the Ephesians in chapter 1 is that God would enlighten the hearts of his readers so that they would know the hope to which they are called. It is the same hope that the author of Hebrews references repeatedly in his sophisticated sermon to persecuted believers. Sermons here at Grace are designed to accomplish three things: 1) Explain the meaning of the text, 2) Make personal application, and 3) Provide tools for Bible study. Oftentimes the text does not mean exactly what you think it means. I do not say that arrogantly at all! In fact, oftentimes the text does not mean what I think it means, and when I get into study in preparation for preaching the text, I learn more than I am possibly able to communicate. Do not be discouraged when you are learning and you think, I should have known that. I am often tempted to feel that way when I study, but 6
I realize that the Lord has provided teachers for the church and that I and others who preach here are blessed to pass on to you what we are able to learn from other teachers. In addition to understanding what the text means, the question that needs to be asked and answered is how does this apply to my life today? Scripture is timeless, and, therefore, means just as me as it did to the people to whom it was written, though their context was different from mine. But even sharing ways that you can apply a text to your personal life is not as exciting to me as providing tools for Bible study that will make Scripture come alive as you study on your own. Remember from a few weeks ago this does not happen overnight, and even if you have no idea what I am talking about right now, if you will hang a few more months, I imagine you will learn more about Hebrews than you ever dreamed you would know. What is really exciting is that we will be getting to the really good stuff, soon. For the moment, let s stay with the technical for our second point: 2. Speaking of using our minds, what is up with type and antitype? Melchizedek was a type of Christ. To be more specific about titles, Melchizedek was the type and Jesus was the antitype, or, the fulfillment of the prophesied type of Christ. We were already told in verse 3 that Melchizedek resembled the Son of God. It is not that Jesus resembled Melchizedek, but, rather, the priest resembled Jesus. The antitype defines the type, not the other way around. That is why it is important to understand that Jesus is the only hero in Scripture. It is not that Jesus is like Daniel, but, rather, Daniel is like Jesus. Next: 3. God s design is far more intricate and beautiful than we can possibly conceive In Genesis 14, why was Lot in Sodom instead of in the Promised Land? Why was Abraham, who had grown up in Ur of the Chaldees, even in 7
Canaan? Why did Melchizedek go out to meet Abraham as he was passing by Jerusalem? Who was this priest out of nowhere that just showed up? Everything happened to point to Jesus, and this was Plan A before the world ever began. Jesus was not a back-up plan in case the Law didn t work out. Maybe one of the most intriguing aspects of this whole scenario is the break-up between Abraham and Lot, which did not go at all according to script. Abraham s shepherds and Lot s shepherds were quarreling because there was just not enough land to support all of the flocks with which the Lord had blessed them. Abraham told Lot, We have to split up. Choose where you want to live. In that culture, the exchange should have sounded like this: No, Abraham, you should choose. Lot, I want you to choose. Abraham, it is not right for me to choose. As you wish, Lot I will choose. It did not go like that at all. Abraham said, Choose, Lot, and he said, Okay, I will take that really fertile land in the plain. Lot s decision led to the events that took place. What, in your life, has gone so much the wrong way that you cannot make any sense at all as to why you are at the place you are, either geographically or relationally or emotionally? You are living out God s intricate and beautiful design, even if it does not feel like it. God s plan is always best, no matter what. Have you ever found yourself at a place in life where you said, How did I ever get here? I did NOT want to be here! and then later you realize it was all part of a good plan? We will never see that more clearly than when we stand before Jesus, when we will know even as we are known. We will know then what we should remember now: 4. Our blessings come from God The author of Hebrews makes the clear case that it is the superior who blesses the inferior. Although there are exceptions to that in Scripture, the readers would not have argued with the principle, nor the point the 8
author was making. Even though Abraham was the Father of the Jewish nation and the one to whom God s promises had come, Melchizedek, who resembled the Son of God, blessed Abraham. All of our blessings come from God. Anytime we bless others, we are only conduits of God s blessing to them. Therefore: 5. God deserves our best A tithe was required in the Law. As far as I can tell, a tithe is not required of us in these days in which we live under the new covenant. Interestingly, Abraham was not required by Law to give a tithe, but he did. The Greek, in verse 4, is more descriptive than our English translations are where we are told that Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils to Melchizedek off the top of the heap. Abraham gave God his best. A good word for us. Do not wait until you have paid all of your bills to decide to give to the Lord. I am speaking especially to those who are under 25 because the longer you wait the more difficult it becomes to make giving a part of your life. It should be natural for believers, but, often, it does not seem to be. If God is the author of all of your blessings, you should consider it your privilege to give to him off the top. As you give from your heart, always remember: 6. Every role in God s story is important, though it may not be the role you would choose We tend to acknowledge God s design as wise after we see beauty come from ashes. Some of us only get to see the ashes in this life. Do you know why we are here today, praising Jesus? Because some of the people who first heard the sermon we know as Hebrews were faithful unto death. What if everyone had walked away from Jesus? They faced the question, Should I die for a lost cause? and concluded, If God calls me to die for Jesus, I trust him. My only hope is in Christ. Tertullian, the second and third century theologian, said that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. The more that Rome tried to 9
extinguish Christianity and the more that Christ-followers died faithfully, the more those who witnessed the faithfulness of the martyrs turned to Jesus. That s why we are here today. You may wonder why you have to struggle with cancer, why your parents had to split up, why your spouse walked out on you, why vicious and untrue rumors at work or in the neighborhood found fertile soil and have taken root. We don t like being a piece in the puzzle because we want to put the puzzle together and even determine the image on the puzzle. But, God is the maker, designer, and worker of the puzzle, and our place has been designed by him and our piece of the puzzle is exactly what and where it should be in the big picture. Your job is not to complain about your placement, but to trust the one who is both sovereign and good. In the end, we are back where we started: 7. The big deal about Melchizedek is Jesus To continue the puzzle analogy, the image being formed is of Jesus. You may have never thought about Melchizedek much, and now that you know more about him, it is not that he is such a big deal, but that Jesus is such a big deal. In saying that, it is great to remember that Melchizedek was object of God s affection in the same way that you have been on his heart before time began. Oh, that we might have the understanding and trust that God is doing a wonderful thing in conforming us to the image of Jesus! Let s pray. 10