A Different Kind of Priest: Melchizedek and Jesus

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

September 22, 2013

Genesis 14, Psalm 110, & Hebrews 7

A Different Kind of Priest: Melchizedek & Jesus

In the name of Jesus.

I.

Abraham had just fought and won a David-and-Goliath war. He'd fought to save his nephew Lot. And then after the battle, Melchizedek showed up.

Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying,

“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,

Creator of heaven and earth.

And blessed be God Most High,

who delivered your enemies into

your hand.” (Genesis 14:18-20)

Melchizedek was the king of Salem, also known as Jerusalem. And he wasn't just a king; he was also a priest, a true priest who offered sacrifices to God Most High.

As a priest of the true God, Melchizedek blessed Abraham with the name of God. Earlier God Himself had come to Abraham and promised,

I will make you into a great nation

and I will bless you;

I will make your name great,

and you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you,

and whoever curses you I will

curse;

and all peoples on earth

will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:2-3)

But a lot had happened between then and now. And so Abraham needed to hear this divine promise again. He needed to hear that his name was still bound to the name of God Most High. He needed God to say it again. And through His royal priest's mouth, God said it, “Yes, you still belong to Me and you still bear My name. Though you have no son at all, your grandchildren will number in the millions.”

“Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them. So shall your offspring be.” (Genesis 15:5)

Notice that Melchizedek did not offer a sacrifice. He didn't get a goat and kill it and burn it in sacrifice on an altar of rocks. His role was to affirm the divine promise of the coming Jesus through words. Then he's gone.

II.

Then 1,000 years later, another king of Salem, King David, completely out of the blue, drops Melchizedek's name. Understand that Melchizedek had been mentioned that one time in Genesis 14 and that was it. Abraham's name gets mentioned all over the Old Testament. But Melchizedek is a shadow. But a very important shadow. David wrote:

The Lord says to my lord:

“Sit at my right hand

until I make your enemies

a footstool for your feet.”

The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying,

“Rule in the midst of your enemies!”

The Lord has sworn

and will not change his mind:

“You are a priest forever,

in the order of Melchizedek.”

He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead

and crushing the rulers of the whole earth. (Psalm 110:1-2,4,6)

David is clearly describing Jesus, who would be born 1,000 years later in Bethlehem, David's hometown. Jesus is a priest. And what kind of priest He is, is answered later in the Bible.

III.

This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, the name Melchizedek means “king of righteousness”; then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.” Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever. (Hebrews 7:1-3)

God tells us that Melchizedek resembles God's Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, but He doesn't have a beginning. And He was crucified, died, and was buried, but His life continues to this day.

And now God explains what kind of priest Jesus is.

Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder! Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people—that is, from their fellow Israelites—even though they also are descended from Abraham. This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. And without doubt the lesser is blessed by the greater. In the one case, the tenth is collected by people who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living. One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor. (Hebrews 7:4-10)

Remember the father of John the Baptist? Zechariah was a son of Levi, one of Jacob's 12 sons. Levites were the priests of the Old Testament. They took turns making sacrifices at the Temple. (That's what Zechariah was doing when the angel showed up and told him that his barren wife Elizabeth was going to have a baby boy.) Zechariah was a priest of the Old Testament, a priest of the Law. He served to uphold the contract of obedience between God and God's people. But since God's people ignored and mocked this good and lawful contract, God in His grace sent a different kind of priest to rescue them. And this wasn't Plan B; this was Plan A, the plan Adam and Eve were promised after their sinful rebellion. Just as Abraham had rescued Lot from physically harm, this new kind of priest was going to rescue believers from eternal damnation.

That Priest is Jesus.

If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood—and indeed the law given to the people established that priesthood—why was there still need for another priest to come, one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also. He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. For it is declared:

“You are a priest forever,

in the order of Melchizedek.”

The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God. (Hebrews 7:11-19)

The law in itself is good and perfect, but to sinners, the law was useless because we don't come close to keeping it pure. But Jesus promises to keep the Law perfect for us. As our Priest He obeys the Law to the letter and keeps its spirit.

And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him:

“The Lord has sworn

and will not change his mind:

‘You are a priest forever.’”

Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant. (Hebrews 20-22)

How do we know Jesus kept the Law? Because He didn't stay dead. Human priests die and stay dead; Jesus is different.

Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

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.

(Hebrews 7:23-28)

Jesus is the Priest of the New Testament. He is the New Testament! And He gives Himself to us in bread and wine and blesses us with His name.

In the name of the Father

and of the † Son

and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.