Our Eternal Priest
Spiritual leaders are always
to direct believers to Jesus Christ,
the great high priest, not to themselves.
Here's Dr. Gene Getz:
At this point in the unfolding
of this document, the author makes
reference to Melchizedek.
Now he's mentioned Melchizedek
several times to pique our interest, I think.
And now he has it and he's
going to explain it.
Now the last reference was
in chapter 6, verse 20, where he says:
Jesus has entered there on our behalf
as a forerunner, because he has
become a high priest forever
according to the order of Melchizedek.
He now goes on to chapter 7
and he elaborates.
Who is this person Melchizedek?
So I call this passage here in 7:1 to 3,
"The Greatness of Melchizedek":
For this Melchizedek, king of Salem...
Now let me simply say that that
comes from the word 'shalom'
in Hebrew, and so it refers to peace.
That's literally what it means.
Shalom in Hebrew: peace.
...For this Melchizedek,
king of [peace] Salem [shalom],
priest of God Most High...
This man was a follower of Jesus Christ.
...met Abraham and blessed him
as he returned from defeating the kings,
and Abraham gave him
a tenth of everything. ...
Now I say, a follower of Jesus Christ.
It was by faith, just as Abraham believed.
He believed God.
We don't know what he understood
or how he had this revelation.
But he was a priest of God Most High.
...First, his name means
king of righteousness...
This was a literal king.
...then also, king of Salem,
meaning king of peace.
Without father, mother, or genealogy,
having neither beginning of days
nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God,
he remains a priest forever.
Now what does that mean?
We'll explain it a little bit more
but let me just simply say that
Abraham met him after he returned
from battling four kings
who took Lot into captivity.
And as was common, he took the bounty.
And as he came back from this battle,
Abraham met Melchizedek
and actually gave him tithes.
Because evidently, he knew that
this was a righteous man,
a man who believed God,
and believed the promises of God.
Now some believe that Melchizedek
was actually an Old Testament
manifestation of Jesus Christ.
I suppose that's a possibility
but I don't believe so.
And let me just explain why.
David made reference to this man
centuries later in one of his messianic psalms.
Evidently the Holy Spirit just brought it
to his memory or to his mind.
And this is what David said:
The LORD has sworn an oath
and will not take it back:
"You are a priest forever according
to the pattern of Melchizedek."
So David also made reference to this man.
Now at the end of the chapter,
we begin to get an explanation,
I believe in terms of why
this comparison between Jesus Christ
and this Old Testament man, Melchizedek.
To do that, he talks first of all
about our high priest, Jesus Christ.
He's been talking about that all along
but he's going to give us
more information beginning in verse 26:
For this is the kind of high priest
we need [like Melchizedek]:
holy, innocent, undefiled,
separated from sinners,
and exalted above the heaven. ...
Now Melchizedek was not that kind of man
but Jesus Christ was.
He was the God-man.
...He doesn't need to offer sacrifices every day,
as the high priests do--
first for their own sins,
then for those of the people.
He [Jesus] did this once for all time
when he offered himself.
For the law appoints as high priests
men who are weak...
Well we've seen that:
Aaron, Eli, and others.
...but the promise of the oath,
which came after the law, appoints a Son,
who has been perfected forever.
And you remember by being perfected forever,
he was tempted in every way we are
and yet without sin, so that he could
identify with every struggle,
every temptation that we have.
Now I'd like to make some
observations looking back on what we read
about Jesus Christ and what we read
about Melchizedek.
First of all, Melchizedek:
Melchizedek simply appeared
in the Old Testament story.
Now why that's important is,
he just appeared.
It doesn't mean that he wasn't born
from an earthly parent.
He just appears on the scene.
He just walks on stage.
We know nothing regarding his parents,
when he was born or when he died.
It doesn't mean that he wasn't born
and that he didn't die.
He certainly no doubt did
because he was a man.
In this sense, his story has
no beginning or no ending.
That doesn't mean he didn't have
a beginning and an ending.
It's just that the story doesn't give us
those details.
In other words, in our memory,
he is forever a "priest of [the Most High God]."
That's all we know.
So what about Jesus Christ
compared with Melchizedek?
Just so, this unusual human priest and king,
has illustrated beautifully that
Jesus Christ is an eternal high priest
who is without beginning and end.
Jesus Christ literally had
no beginning and no end.
He was born and became a human being
but he went back to heaven.
Though he was born in Bethlehem
and died on the cross in Jerusalem,
he was resurrected and returned to the Father.
Now again look at Melchizedek.
Melchizedek was not a part of
the Levitical priesthood.
All the priests that were appointed
were a part of the Levitical priesthood.
He was not.
He actually received tithes
from Abraham centuries before
the Levitical system was set up in Israel
to care for Aaron and the other priests.
Well why is that important?
Well notice observations about Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ did not come from the
tribe of Levi but from Judah.
All of the priests came from Levi.
But not Jesus.
In that sense, he was similar to Melchizedek.
Furthermore, Jesus Christ is
our great high priest, a position that is
"based on the power
of an indestructible life."
That wasn't true of Melchizedek.
Furthermore, Jesus Christ's priesthood
is permanent and [he always lives
to intercede for all who
come to God through him].
So here in the book of Hebrews,
the author of Hebrews uses
a very extensive illustration of Melchizedek
who is a significant reflection
and illustration of Jesus Christ,
our great high priest.
And that would make sense
to his audience in the first century world,
particularly to his Jewish audience.
So here's the Reflection and Response question:
Though some identify those
who serve as pastors and spiritual leaders
as "priests," why is the term
never used by New Testament authors
to identify spiritual leaders in the church?
Did you ever think about that?
The New Testament never refers
to our leaders as priests.
There are some religious systems that do.
Now one reason the New Testament
doesn't refer to leaders as priests
in the New Testament church is that
no human being has the power
to forgive sins.
And the moment you talk about a priest,
people identify inaccurately
that a priest can somehow forgive their sins.
Jesus alone has the power.
Unfortunately, this has become a part
of some religious groups
who use the term 'priests.'
Now I believe that some could
use that term priests and still teach
that they don't have the power
to forgive sins.
But boy, the connection in people's minds
is so difficult to explain,
when they understand how the word
priest is used in the Old Testament.
Confession and exoneration
is a regular requirement many times
when that term is used of their leaders,
which gives a false sense of forgiveness.
That forgiveness is only in Jesus Christ--
in the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
It's interesting, when I became a believer:
I grew up in a system,
didn't use the term priest.
But if you were going to
become a part of the church,
you had to confess your sins
to a leader of the church.
That was a requirement.
Now I knew enough from some prior teaching
that this spiritual leader didn't have
the power to forgive my sins.
I will say this: that confession was therapeutic.
And that's why we need to
confess our sins to each other, but more primarily
so we can pray for each other.
That's the reason we confess our sins
to each other.
But it is therapeutic.
But the problem is that people get confused
and believe that through that experience,
their sins are forgiven.
And what the author of Hebrews
is saying to us is: That as leaders in the church,
that are called elders and overseers
and pastors, that our functions are
to shepherd, to teach,
and to pray for our people.
And point them to Jesus Christ,
the great high priest.
And John really summarized it
beautifully in 1st John chapter 1, verse 9:
If we confess our sins,
he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.