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[Jesus] has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.Who in the world is Melchizedek? The short answer is that he is just one more character in the cast of history’s billions who would have passed from the scene unnoticed and unheralded except for the link between him and Jesus. True, he would have been a creature of dignity and worth because of the image and likeness of God in him. But he would not have stood out. He would not have been particularly unique. His name would not have been written in such bold letters in Scripture by Spirit-led authors. His life would not be particularly insightful to our faith. And we would not find strength for our own spiritual journey by knowing about him. By virtue of his connection to Jesus, however, he has great significance to the preacher-writer of Hebrews. Why, that makes Melchizedek just like the rest of us! Except for my connection to Jesus, my name would not be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Except for your link to him, your life would be essentially this: She was born, she lived a few years, and she died. Because of Jesus, however, you can have a share in eternal life. You can have pardon for your past and support in your present struggles. You can have the guarantee of complete salvation. And your life can supply encouragement to others. But that’s only the short answer. The longer answer is given in Hebrews 7. This section of our preacher’s manuscript fairly soars with assurance for his original hearers. They were discouraged, and their faithfulness was in question. By his skillful use of a couple of Old Testament texts, our writer supplies one more reason for them to take heart and hold on. If we can grasp his point, we will be encouraged too. There is a device used several times in Scripture called typology that figures into our ability to appreciate this chapter. It isn’t to be confused with allegorizing a biblical text – a process that can lead to some bizarre and fanciful results. To the contrary, typology is rooted in a particular view of history as the arena of God’s activity. Before I try to define it, let me illustrate it from a text in the Gospel of John. In the famous night conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, the issue of how “earthly things” and “heavenly things” relate to one another came up. Jesus had used the earthly event of human birth to tell Nicodemus that he needed to be born from above (i.e., spiritually) in order to experience the kingdom of God. That is one way earthly and heavenly things may be tied together; one can be used to illustrate the other. In the same conversation, Jesus went on to cite another way. “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:14-15). Numbers 29 tells how the Israelites in the wilderness were bitten by deadly snakes. When they cried out for Yahweh to save them, Moses was ordered to make a bronze serpent, set it on a standard, and offer relief to the people. Anyone bitten by a deadly serpent was challenged to look at the brass snake to be healed – by the supernatural power of the Lord. All who did so lived, and those who refused died. That Old Testament event was offered as a foreshadowing or prototype of our salvation by means of the crucifixion. Jesus would be “lifted up” in his death, and all those who are dying in our sin would be invited to look to him for life – eternal life. That is a simple and clear case of typology. It is when an interpreter finds a correspondence in one or more respects between some person, thing, or event in the Old Testament and a person, thing, or event in his New Testament setting. There is first a type (i.e., foreshadowing, pattern, image) and then the antitype (i.e., fulfillment, thing symbolized). There are several instances of this device in Christian literature. Our text is certainly a case in point. Melchizedek is taken by this preacher to be a type of Jesus, with the mysterious and unique priesthood of the former anticipating the unique and perfect priesthood of the latter. Typology works for a biblical writer such as ours because of his view of history and Scripture. History is not random events without meaning. It is the context of heaven’s deliberate activity to save humankind. Scripture is the Spirit-revealed meaning of history as seen through the eyes of God. The theme of the redemption of sinful mankind through the workings of divine grace is traced from Old Testament through New Testament. So the New Testament writers see it as axiomatic that things which went before were only shadowy anticipations of what would become clear in Jesus. It goes without saying that the Platonic worldview of the New Testament era would be very congenial to such readings of Scripture. Just as Plato believed that events on Planet Earth were imperfect copies that amounted to nothing more than shadows of the true reality embodied in transcendent Forms, so did writers such as ours believe that the people, things, and events of things before Jesus were only dim reflections designed to make us long for completion and fulfillment in the Son. It is from this perspective on history that Melchizedek becomes a type of Christ. He prefigured what would be revealed in Jesus. He had some dim level of participation in the reality that Jesus would bring to light. The shadowy figure mentioned only at Genesis 14:17-20 and Psalm 110:4 is offered in Hebrews 7 as an Old Testament anticipation of Jesus. Melchizedek didn’t get his priestly appointment through family ties as a descendant of Aaron. Indeed, insofar as the biblical record itself goes, he has no ancestry! Of course he had parents. And he may have had children. But insofar as the biblical data on him, we have no family tree. He is “without father or mother, without genealogy.” Why, one could even go further to say that the priest-king of Salem was “without beginning of days or end of life” – again, insofar as the record itself give us no details – and thus “remains a priest forever.” Although some have wanted to press these typological features far beyond what is reasonable or necessary in order to claim that Melchizedek was an Old Testament theophany of the Son of God, that doesn’t fit our preacher’s understanding. By virtue of the hermeneutical method he chose to use, Melchizedek was only “like the Son of God” in a typological reading of Scripture. Furthermore, in keeping with his motif of the superiority of Jesus, he proceeds to demonstrate the preeminence of Jesus even to Father Abraham. Although strange to us, the Jewish people not only had a sense of community but of solidarity. So when Abraham paid a tithe to Melchizedek, not only Abraham but all his descendants (i.e., those “still in the body of” Abraham) – including Aaron and the high priests descended from him – were granting the superiority of Salem’s priest-king to Abraham. Thus if it can be shown that Christ’s priesthood is of the Melchizedekan order, it will be proved – to our writer-preacher at least – that Jesus is superior both to Abraham and to the system of priests and offerings within Judaism. Within the Hebrews material itself, we have already been prepared for the introduction of Jesus as high priest from this earlier text: “For this reason [Jesus] had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people” (2:17). From this groundwork statement in Hebrews, we will try to interpret the meaning of Jesus’ role as a high priest of the Melchizedekan order. True to what I believe is going on the Hebrews, we will be far less concerned to focus on the details of Melchizedek’s life and career than on Jesus. The Israelites understood that priests functioning within their community must come from the Tribe of Levi and that high priests must be descended from Aaron. So how could Jesus – who is of the Tribe of Judah – qualify for the priesthood, much less for the role of high priest? That is the question addressed next: If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the law was given to the people), why was there still need for another priest to come — one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law. 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:The priestly office of Jesus did not come to him through physical lineage or playing for political advantage. First, it came to him on oath (v.21). And that oath came not, mind you, from him as a would-be priest. (The priests under Moses’ Law had to take an oath of faithfulness to Yahweh and to the people.) The oath was God’s own to the one who was anticipated in Psalm 110. But how would we know the identity of that person who was destined to a unique priesthood? Second, it came “on the basis of the power of an indestructible life” (v.16b).“You are a priest forever,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. This preacher is like all the other teachers of the early church. He believed that the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ was the ultimate authentication of the Son’s identity, mission, and power. Who could doubt that he was who he claimed to be? Who could doubt that he could keep all his promises to save those who believed on him? Who could question his right to be All-in-All to his followers? His “indestructible life” has set him apart from all others! This permanent change of priesthood has several implications. For one, it means that the covenantal system embodying the Aaronic priesthood would have to be changed. Indeed, it has been! Not nullified. Not invalidated. But fulfilled so as to allow a variety of changes from the system given through Moses. Indeed, Jesus had anticipated such a possibility (Matt. 5:18). Both Stephen (Acts 6:14) and Paul (Gal. 4:24ff) declared it accomplished. For another, it means that we have the possibility now for “perfection” in Christ. After all, even the most devout adherents to the Law of Moses knew that it “made nothing perfect” (v.19a). The concept of perfection associated with Christ Jesus has already been raised in Hebrews: “In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering” (2:10). “Once made perfect, [Jesus] became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him” (5:9). Here it is discussed negatively. Perfection was not in view with the Law of Moses. It could not make those who lived under its ordinances and rituals perfect, and – to borrow the language of Paul – served best to make its subjects aware of their sinfulness and of their need for something more than its rules and regulations. “No one will be declared righteous in [God’s] sight by observing the law,” he wrote, “rather, through the law we become conscious of sin” (Rom. 3:20). Insofar as the ability to clear people of all charges under law and to declare them “righteous” before God, the Law of Moses was – according to the preacher here – “weak and useless” (7:18b). Or, to use Paul’s discussion of the same subject, law can never “impart life” or bring “righteousness” to its subjects. It would take a personal relationship with God through a perfectly righteous mediator to accomplish so great a goal. “So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith,” he explained. “Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law” (Gal. 3:24-25). Jesus is much more, however, than a mediator. “Jesus has become the guarantee (Gk, engyos) of a better covenant” (v.22). This term found only here in the New Testament is used in the papyri in legal and promissory documents to identify a guarantor or someone who stands security that a promise will be kept. Jesus is the personal guarantor whose indestructible life means that he is always on duty to see that we triumph over Satan’s devices. If his death was the ultimate sacrifice for sin that made further sacrifices unnecessary, his present function on our behalf as high priest means that we need not cower before threats and persecution (cf. Rom. 5:9). “Christ Jesus, who died – more than that, who was raised to life – is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us” (Rom. 8:34). His work has brought us into a “better covenant” with God; it is a covenant written on hearts rather than stone tablets and carries the promise: “I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” (cf. Jer. 31:31-34). How wonderful it would be to have such a high priest on duty for us! But priests die. A new high priest might come to office with whom we have no personal relationship. We might have to start all over again. But, no. That is impossible! Jesus is alive forever and will never be replaced in his office, so we need never fear losing so favored a status! The language that follows is the great assurance our preacher-writer wanted the discouraged believers of his time to embrace. 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.What incredible language! “He is able to save completely those who come to God through him.” He doesn’t do a half-work of saving. He doesn’t, for example, forgive our past and then leave it to us to defeat Satan from now on. “He always lives to intercede for them.” He not only forgives but empowers, renews, and gives wisdom to enable us to live in a hostile world. “Such a high priest meets our need.” Indeed, he does! He is perfect – “perfect forever” as our guarantee of victory. And – well, I’m going to cheat here and sneak a look ahead in order to round out this incredible process of redemption – his gracious relationship with us makes us perfect in God’s eyes, even while we are stumbling and fumbling around down here! “By one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy” (10:14). The preacher-writer of our text wanted his desperate hearers-readers to know there was one place they could go in their distress. Don’t quit on faith. Don’t turn back. Don’t give in to the pressures. Let your distress drive you to Jesus! Isn’t it Lincoln who is supposed to have said, “I have been driven to my knees many times by the overwhelming conviction I had nowhere else to go”? Would that such despair guaranteed so positive an outcome, but it doesn’t. Many shake their fists in God’s face. Curse him. Abandon him forever. In his little book Jesus Loves Me, Calvin Miller tells about a woman he knew who was severely challenged by cerebral palsy. In her mid-forties, she told him one day that more than anything she wanted to have a home, a husband, and children. But her awkward, distorted, and convulsive movements had relegated her to a very different fate. “All my life I have prayed for a home – and I know I would make a good wife and a good mother. But who would marry me?” After a pause, she continued, “Do you know what bothers me the most? Not in all these years has anyone ever seen me as pretty.” Miller confessed to the awkwardness of that moment for him. What was he supposed to say? What do you say to a woman who has expressed her deep longing to be seen as attractive? Desirable? He hadn’t thought what to say until the woman picked up her own conversation. “Still,” she continued, “the bright thing about my future is what remains the bright thing about each day: Jesus will never be an incidental luxury for me. I must have him or there is no sunrise and old age is impossible.” The beleaguered saints to whom Hebrews is addressed had found themselves awkward, unlovely, and undesirable. They didn’t fit their past social environments. Their old friends weren’t friends anymore. For some, even family had cut them off. Yet all of us need to be wanted! So Jesus could never be an “incidental luxury” or occasional Sunday guest for them. They would need him as their one bright thing for each day – until he came again for them. And so do we! This text isn’t really about Melchizedek – any more than previous ones have been about angels, Moses, Joshua, or Sabbath. They are all about Jesus. For this preacher, everything is about Jesus! Tying together 2:17 with 7:1-28, watch the three key terms he has used of him. First, Jesus is faithful. Tested though he was, he not only survived but passed with flying colors. He is “holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens” in his unsoiled nature as Son of God. Second, he is merciful. Although “set apart” in his personal holiness, Jesus has chosen not to set himself apart as aloof and unavailable to us. He has shared our humanity, endured our unbelieving rejection, borne our vulnerabilities, and taken our sin debt onto himself at Calvary. Oh, he is merciful beyond comprehension. And, finally, he is perfect for our situation of need. He forgives, empowers, disciplines, and reassures; at the end, he will raise us from the dead and transform us into the very likeness of his own indestructible, conquering, and glorious self. His work will be finished only when our journeys are complete. Until then, he gives strength for the journey – and the assurance that we are loved and wanted by the God who created us. media   |
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