March 14, 2023 | Be On Mission
Jesus is Like the Priest Melchizedek
Scripture: Hebrews 6:13-7:28 (NIV)
13 When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” 15 And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.
16 People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. 17 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
1 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, 2 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.” 3 Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.
4 Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder! 5 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. 6 This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 And without doubt the lesser is blessed by the greater. 8 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. 9 One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, 10 because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor.
11 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? 12 For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also. 13 He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. 14 For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. 15 And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, 16 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. 17 For it is declared:
“You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek.”
18 The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless 19 (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
20 And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, 21 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.’”
22 Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant.
23 Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; 24 but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
26 Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27 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. 28 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.
Devotional
British royalty is passed through the bloodline. You’ll never see Hank the plumber or Linda the teacher becoming the next king or queen of England. The same was true for priests of Israel; it was passed through the bloodline of the tribe of Levi.
An exception was a man named Melchizedek. He shows up out of nowhere in Genesis 14:18 to give Abraham something to eat and drink after exhausting battles in which he defeated enemies and retrieved his captured nephew. In this single verse, Melchizedek was identified as both king of Salem (Jerusalem) and priest of God Most High. He is the first priest mentioned in the Bible, well before the birth of Levi.
In the same way, Jesus came out of nowhere. He was from the lineage of Judah, not Levi. He simply didn’t have the bloodline to be a priest, much less a high priest. But God is less interested in bloodlines than He is the blood of Christ!
Other priests were all sinners; Jesus is “holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens” (7:26). Other priests offered sacrifices daily; Jesus did it once for all time (7:27). Other priests were mere mortals; Jesus is the eternal Son of God who is interceding for us right now (7:23-25).
Because of who He is and what He does, Jesus offers us a “better hope” (7:19) and is the “guarantor of a better covenant” (7:22). He does all this so that we can “draw near to God.”
How is Jesus, the eternal priest, calling you to draw near to God? What does the better hope and better covenant He offers mean to you?
Prayer
God, thank You for your faithful servant, Abraham, as in his time of victorious battle, he walked away not prideful and harboring earthly treasures. Instead, Abraham knew “from whom all blessings flow.” Therefore, he gave his tithe to Melchizedek, his high priest. God, may we be like Abraham that in our lives we may remember “from whom our blessings flow.” Our blessings come from God through Jesus Christ, our High Priest. Convict our hearts to be like Abraham’s so we cannot help but give our offering of the tithe in worship of the one true High Priest, Jesus. Amen.
Poem
In Front Of Me
In front of me
I have many offers
People who want to woo me
People who want to tap into my talents
People who want to buy a part of me
In front of me
I have a future
One which needs support
One which requires financial aid
One which requires my dependence
In front of me
I have benefactors
To whom will I be indebted
To whom will I give my allegiance
To whom will I owe
In front of me
I have an example
Abram said, I will take no plunder
Abram said, Not a thread or a shoestring
Abram said, God will provide
In front of me
I have a choice
Will I trust God as my sole Melchizedek?
Will I wait for God's timing?
Will I be still?
