Hebrews 7:20-25
The author is continuing his sermon on Psalm 110:4, exploring the Melchizedek priestly order that Jesus has become high priest in. The author now focuses on the oath that God made to this priestly line, and to the Messiah in particular, and the new covenant that Jesus brings in as the high priest in the order of Melchizedek. This goes back to the author's main point: the supremacy of Christ and of the new covenant.
He argues his point by contrasting the Melchizedek priestly order with the Levitical order: First, God has guaranteed that the Melchizedek order would be eternal, and that the Messiah would be the eternal high priest, by an oath; he has never made that guarantee to the Levitical order. Therefore, the priesthood of Jesus rests securely on God's promise and oath and is therefore superior to the Levitical priesthood. Second, the Levitical priests were mortal and therefore there were a lot of them; Jesus' priesthood is eternal because Jesus lives forever. Therefore, the priesthood of Jesus is superior because it lasts forever. This means that the covenant that we have under the priesthood of Christ is also superior in that it rests on God's oath, lasts as long as Jesus is high priest (forever!) and, therefore, we are offered a complete salvation (contrasted to the "partial" salvation available under the law).
My salvation rests in Christ's ability to intercede on my behalf. Because he is always alive, he is always able to point to his blood that was the payment for all my sins. When I ask for forgiveness, Christ, as high priest, takes that request to his Father, pointing to his shed blood which demands that God forgive my sin because Jesus has already paid for it and it would be unjust for God to demand two payments. What an incredible plan God has brought! What a great salvation has been purchased on my behalf! There is no reason to fear that God's mercy will ever run out because my forgiveness depends as much on his justice as it does his mercy. Jesus sacrifice completely and forever satisfies the justice of God and I am saved for all time in all areas of my life. Thank-you for saving me! What can I say?
Showing posts with label Melchizedek. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Melchizedek. Show all posts
Monday, November 2, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Priesthood of Melchizedek
Hebrews 7:11-19
It's certainly true that the author is going to leave the elementary teachings! This is some tough stuff to figure out. Basically the author is comparing the Levitical system to the new system that has been brought in under Christ. So the key words in this section are: priesthood, law, change, hope. The author is continuing his exposition of Psalm 110:4 (You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek). The author has explored who Melchizedek was and why his priesthood was greater than the Levitical priesthood (see the previous post). Now the author is setting out to prove that Jesus was a priest in the order of Melchizedek and therefore fulfills Psalm 110:4. This is to prove the greater point of the supremacy of Christ over any Jewish system, covenant or ritual. The author uses the following points to prove his point: 1) The eternal nature of the Melchizedek order indicates that the Levitical order was not enough to achieve perfection. Therefore the Melchizedek order is better than the Levitical order. 2) With a change in priesthood comes a change in the law. It is only possible for Jesus to be a high priest if there is a change in the law since under the Old Covenant, only descendants of Levi could be priests and only descendants of Aaron could be high priests. Since the Melchizedek order is greater than the Levitical order, then the covenant that the new order brings in must be greater than the covenant that existed under the Levitical order. 3) Jesus did not belong to the tribe of Levi or the line of Aaron. Therefore he could not be a high priest in the Levitical order under the old covenant. Jesus becomes a high priest by virtue of his indestructible life (his resurrection) and therefore fulfills the "forever" part of Psalm 110:4. 4) Through the resurrection of Christ, the Melchizedek order has been brought in and with it a new covenant which offers us a new hope - a better hope.
Not only is Jesus both Priest and King, just like Melchizedek, he has made us to be a kingdom of priests. This means that we, as disciples of Christ, are to be facilitating the worship of our families, of our fellow disciples and of those who do not yet know Christ. The question for me is: am I facilitating access to God through Christ or am I building structures, barriers, rituals, etc. that are keeping people from Christ? This does not mean that structures and rituals are bad. It just means that they must be a means to helping people connect to Christ. We have a structure and an order to our youth nights. However, the structure is not the point - the point is that students have the opportunity to connect with Christ and we use the structure to make that possible. So, what structures am I creating? Are they helping others (and myself) to connect to Christ or erecting barriers that are preventing access?
It's certainly true that the author is going to leave the elementary teachings! This is some tough stuff to figure out. Basically the author is comparing the Levitical system to the new system that has been brought in under Christ. So the key words in this section are: priesthood, law, change, hope. The author is continuing his exposition of Psalm 110:4 (You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek). The author has explored who Melchizedek was and why his priesthood was greater than the Levitical priesthood (see the previous post). Now the author is setting out to prove that Jesus was a priest in the order of Melchizedek and therefore fulfills Psalm 110:4. This is to prove the greater point of the supremacy of Christ over any Jewish system, covenant or ritual. The author uses the following points to prove his point: 1) The eternal nature of the Melchizedek order indicates that the Levitical order was not enough to achieve perfection. Therefore the Melchizedek order is better than the Levitical order. 2) With a change in priesthood comes a change in the law. It is only possible for Jesus to be a high priest if there is a change in the law since under the Old Covenant, only descendants of Levi could be priests and only descendants of Aaron could be high priests. Since the Melchizedek order is greater than the Levitical order, then the covenant that the new order brings in must be greater than the covenant that existed under the Levitical order. 3) Jesus did not belong to the tribe of Levi or the line of Aaron. Therefore he could not be a high priest in the Levitical order under the old covenant. Jesus becomes a high priest by virtue of his indestructible life (his resurrection) and therefore fulfills the "forever" part of Psalm 110:4. 4) Through the resurrection of Christ, the Melchizedek order has been brought in and with it a new covenant which offers us a new hope - a better hope.
Not only is Jesus both Priest and King, just like Melchizedek, he has made us to be a kingdom of priests. This means that we, as disciples of Christ, are to be facilitating the worship of our families, of our fellow disciples and of those who do not yet know Christ. The question for me is: am I facilitating access to God through Christ or am I building structures, barriers, rituals, etc. that are keeping people from Christ? This does not mean that structures and rituals are bad. It just means that they must be a means to helping people connect to Christ. We have a structure and an order to our youth nights. However, the structure is not the point - the point is that students have the opportunity to connect with Christ and we use the structure to make that possible. So, what structures am I creating? Are they helping others (and myself) to connect to Christ or erecting barriers that are preventing access?
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Melchizedek
Hebrews 7:1-10
This Melchizedek character is a bit mysterious. He shows up in only two other places: once in Genesis 14 where we learn that he is both a priest and king, that he blesses Abraham and that Abraham gives him a thithe. In all, the incident takes up three verses. The other place his name is mentioned is in Psalm 110 which is a Messianic psalm, acknowledging the dual role of priest and king that the Messiah will play. Melchizedek is found in one line: "You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek." It is to that line that the author alludes to at the very end of chapter six - it is not quite a direct quote but so close that in a college paper, the prof would definitely require an aknowledgement of source.
From the amount of time that the author spends on Melchizedek here, more than in any other place in Scripture, it seems that Melchizedek is a revered figure in Hebrew legend. The author points out that he was greater than Abraham because he blessed Abraham (the greater blesses the lesser) and because Abraham paid him a tithe. The author argues that as the father of all Jews, Abraham is the father of the Levites and therefore the Levites share in the tithe that Abraham paid to Melchizedek and concludes that the order of Melchizedek is greater than the order of the Levites. He is setting the argument that Jesus fulfills the role of both priest and king (and is therefore the Messiah) because whether or not he is a Levite, he is a priest in the order of Melchizedek.
The author is returning to his main argument that Jesus is the pre-eminent high priest. He has argued so far that is ultimate because he empathizes with our temptations, he is in heaven and became the source of eternal salvation for all who believe. The author reminds me that it is all about Jesus. That in Jesus I have something infinitely greater than any religious system and that my life has been reorganized with Jesus at the center and everything else revolving around him.
This Melchizedek character is a bit mysterious. He shows up in only two other places: once in Genesis 14 where we learn that he is both a priest and king, that he blesses Abraham and that Abraham gives him a thithe. In all, the incident takes up three verses. The other place his name is mentioned is in Psalm 110 which is a Messianic psalm, acknowledging the dual role of priest and king that the Messiah will play. Melchizedek is found in one line: "You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek." It is to that line that the author alludes to at the very end of chapter six - it is not quite a direct quote but so close that in a college paper, the prof would definitely require an aknowledgement of source.
From the amount of time that the author spends on Melchizedek here, more than in any other place in Scripture, it seems that Melchizedek is a revered figure in Hebrew legend. The author points out that he was greater than Abraham because he blessed Abraham (the greater blesses the lesser) and because Abraham paid him a tithe. The author argues that as the father of all Jews, Abraham is the father of the Levites and therefore the Levites share in the tithe that Abraham paid to Melchizedek and concludes that the order of Melchizedek is greater than the order of the Levites. He is setting the argument that Jesus fulfills the role of both priest and king (and is therefore the Messiah) because whether or not he is a Levite, he is a priest in the order of Melchizedek.
The author is returning to his main argument that Jesus is the pre-eminent high priest. He has argued so far that is ultimate because he empathizes with our temptations, he is in heaven and became the source of eternal salvation for all who believe. The author reminds me that it is all about Jesus. That in Jesus I have something infinitely greater than any religious system and that my life has been reorganized with Jesus at the center and everything else revolving around him.
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