The Mysterious Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:1-10) with Pastor Andrew Courtis

Well, do turn with me in your Bibles this morning to Hebrews chapter 7.

Hebrews 7 · chapter mention

Hebrews 7 and our reading is verses 1 through to 10.

We're going to spend our next few weeks in this new chapter, a profound chapter, a mysterious chapter, but a deeply meaningful chapter.

Hebrews 7, and our reading is verses 1 through 10.

Let us hear the word of the living God.

For this Melchizedek, King of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated King of righteousness, and then also King of Salem, meaning King of Peace, without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.

Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils.

And indeed, those who are of the sons of Levi who receive the priesthood have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham.

But he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham, and blessed him who had the promises.

Now beyond all contradiction, the lesser is blessed by the better.

Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witness that he lives.

Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.

That is the ending of God's holy word.

Very simple, huh?

We will see.

Let's come before the Lord in prayer.

Our loving and gracious Father, we thank you for all your word.

There is not one part of Scripture that is not breathed out by you.

Not one part that isn't profitable.

All Scripture is breathed out by you and is profitable for us.

So I pray that you would now minister to us as we consider this most mysterious yet meaningful section of Scripture.

Help us to be found pleasing to you in our thoughts.

Help us to focus on those things that are most important.

Remove from our minds any unnecessary distractions, and prepare our hearts well, I pray.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Well, if you have been tracking in this series to the Hebrews, you'll notice that a name had shown up back in chapter 5.

Prior to chapter 5, the writer has been making the argument that Jesus, the Son of God, is supreme.

He is the best, he is the greatest.

There is no one like the Lord Jesus.

He established in chapter 1, verse 4 to 14 that the Son of God is better than the angels.

He moved in his discussion over in chapter 3 to establish that the Son of God is better than Moses.

Then he moved into the theme to say that the Son of God is better than Joshua.

And beginning in chapter 5 and verse 1, all the way through to the next few chapters, his argument is now that the Son of God is better than the Levitical Priesthood.

This was really important to the audience that the writer presented this to because they were Jewish Christians and they were going through temptations and trials.

And before them was the lure of going back to Judaism.

Perhaps if they step back and go into that religion, they won't experience the same intensity, harshness, and persecution that they were receiving from their peers.

But also, they will be worshipping something that's visible and tangible, and the reality of those things will bring perhaps a validity to their experience.

They were feeling the pull.

And the writer with genius and passion, with clarity, in a compelling way, urgently calls for his readers to consider Christ, to look to Jesus, to continue on serving him because he is better.

But I mentioned that as he began that new section in chapter 5, verse 1, in fact, it's chapter 5, verses 1 through to 10, where he introduces us to the fact that the Lord Jesus is our great high priest.

He's greater than the Levitical priests.

Over there in chapter 5 and verse 6, and again later on in that same section, he mentions a name and he opens up a can of worms, but then he stops.

You know the name.

And he wants to talk about him.

He wants us to know that Jesus has a superior priesthood compared to the Levitical priests, the Old Testament system in Israel, because the priesthood of Jesus doesn't come from the order of the Levites.

The priesthood of Jesus comes from the order of Melchizedek.

And he gets into some really deep and meaningful theology here, but he stops.

You recall in chapter 5 and verse 11, he says, I can't talk about this right now.

Not because I'm being mysterious to you, not because I'm playing games, it's because you, he says, you're sluggish, you're spiritually immature, and I don't think you can handle it.

And he goes on and warns them about their spiritual immaturity and that they should be teachers by now and not just those who are being taught.

Not just those who receive, but those who give.

And he gives them a huge challenge, and he even reminds them of the grave sin of apostasy.

But then after doing that, we saw in chapter six, verses thirteen to twenty, three messages on the theme of blessed assurance.

He reminded them of the assurance that they can have, an assurance that is anchored in the glorious covenant and promise of God given to Abraham, that is most meaningful to those who are in Christ Jesus.

Now that he has given them that blessed assurance, he says at the end of chapter six, I want you to see it in verse 20.

After talking about the Lord Jesus who has ascended up to the glory of heaven, gone behind the veil, he says, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become high priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.

Melchizedek is back in his discussion and he's ready to talk about who Melchizedek is, but not so much focus on Melchizedek, but show us that Jesus is superior to the Jewish priestly system because Jesus has a priesthood that is more significant, superior, because it comes from a different order.

It comes from the order of Melchizedek.

Now, with that in view, we see in chapter 7 and verse 1 these opening words for this Melchizedek.

Melchizedek is now going to be discussed.

And what I find interesting about this character Melchizedek is if it wasn't for Hebrews 5, Hebrews 6, and Hebrews 7 especially, we would actually know very little about this man.

Outside of Hebrews, there's only two passages of scripture where Melchizedek is mentioned.

Genesis chapter 14 and Psalm 110.

Genesis 14 · chapter mention

And in these three sections of Scripture, these three sections of Scripture do three different things with Melchizedek.

The way I like to remember it is this Genesis 14 focuses on the historical purposes of Melchizedek.

The historical purposes.

We learn about his history in Genesis 14.

It's a narrative, a story.

Psalm 110 tells us about the prophetical importance of Melchizedek.

A prophecy is given in relation to him.

And then Hebrews 7 tells us, and get ready for this word, it gives us a typological significance in relation to Melchizedek.

Historical, Genesis 14, prophetical, Psalm 110, and typological, Hebrews 7.

We're keeping up with all of this.

What do I mean by historical, prophetical, and typological?

Well, I want to just quickly give you a definition, and then we're going to break some of this up as we go through the message today, but also in what we're going to be looking at in the weeks to come.

Of course, when we say historical, we're just simply talking about the historical facts that happened in his life.

That's the easy one.

Genesis 14 introduces us to a character.

Now there's mystery in the history.

He comes out of nowhere, and we don't know anything about him other than what the text says, and then he just disappears again.

So there is mystery in the history, but Genesis 14 is just simply giving us the historical background to this man.

I think we can track with that one quite easily.

But then Psalm 110, and I do just refer you to that for just a moment.

Psalm 110, we use it as our call to worship today.

Psalm 110 is the second place where he shows up.

And he appears in verse 4, and out of interest, Psalm 110, verse 4 is going to be explained thoroughly in Hebrews 7, verses 11 to 28.

Psalms 110:4 Hebrews 7:11–28

So Hebrews 7, 11 to 28 is simply an expository sermon on Psalm 110, verse 4.

Psalms 110:4

So we'll cover that with more detail when we get there.

But just note what it says in verse 4.

It says, the Lord has sworn and will not relent, referring to the Messiah here, to the Son of God.

He says, You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.

Here it is speaking in prophetic terms that the Messiah will be a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.

He will have a priestly ministry, but his priestly ministry will not be the same as the Levites.

But then we come to Hebrews 7, and Melchizedek shows up again, but this time with the greatest of detail.

I've lost count as to how many times his name features in the book of Hebrews, but it's quite a few.

But when he's mentioned in the book of Hebrews, the focus isn't so much on the history, though there's a little bit of that in the first three verses, nor is it on the prophecy, but Melchizedek is being used in what we call typology.

He's being used typological typologically.

What is typology?

Melchizedek is a type.

And when we say a type, what that means is a type is a person, an institution, or a practice in the Old Testament that was ordained by God to be a preview of the greater reality in the New Testament, namely Christ.

Now we have to be careful because some Christians find types everywhere in the Old Testament, but really they're more applications or they're more illustrations.

The best way to know if something is a type is primarily when the New Testament makes a big point about it.

And that's where we clearly see it's a type.

So when we say a type, a type is a shadow in the Old Testament, but the substance is found in Christ.

Let me just give you a few types, and I think by giving you these illustrations, you can relate to this.

In the Old Testament, a part of the sacrificial system and the access to God and worship was the sacrificing of animals.

You had lambs and goats and bulls were being sacrificed.

And we see particularly the practice of Passover.

You remember the Passover that was instituted in Exodus 12?

And in this Passover, which would become a meal, it was a real meal.

It was a real sacrifice.

But we learn in John 1 and verse 29, when John saw Jesus, he said, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

So what's going on there is the Passover lamb in the Old Testament was a shadow, but the substance was Christ.

The practice of Passover in the Old Testament was a representation, but Christ, he is the reality.

Let me give you another example.

God not only had this institution of the Passover given to the people of Israel, but he also had the establishment of the temple.

It was a real temple made with real objects.

It was beautiful to behold.

It was a physical structure, a tabernacle that was portable, but later on a temple that was permanently mounted in the location in which it was placed.

But Jesus in John chapter 2 makes it very clear that he is the temple.

John 2 · chapter mention

And Jesus will then say through his apostles in 1 Corinthians 3, in 2 Corinthians 6, in Ephesians 2, and in 1 Peter 2, that the church, those who belong to Christ, those who are connected to him by faith, they are the temple.

So the temple was a type in the Old Testament.

It was a shadow, but the substance is now Christ.

It was a resemblance in the Old Testament, but the reality is Jesus.

And of course, you've got that example of the serpent, the brazen bronze serpent on the pole being lifted up in the wilderness.

Remember that story in the book of Numbers?

And if the people who had rebelled against God would just look, they would live.

And we are told that Jesus declared in John chapter 3 that he, just like that bronze serpent, he would be lifted up.

John 3 · chapter mention

And if you look to the Lord Jesus Christ, you will live.

So there's just a few examples of these real people or institutions or practices in the Old Testament, but they were designed by God to point to the greater reality.

They were previews of the reality, they were resemblances of the reality, they were shadows of the substance.

That is called typology.

Melchizedek is a type.

And what I mean by that is Melchizedek isn't the reality.

He's the resemblance of the reality.

God raised Melchizedek up to be the resemblance of the reality, to be the shadow of the substance, to be an individual who will point to Christ.

Some Christians get into all sorts of debates.

In fact, it's not just Christians, even in ancient Jewish history, as to who is this Melchizedek?

Now, I don't really, I'm not exaggerating when I say this, I do not have the time to tell you about all the views.

There's so many of them.

If you're really curious, I'd be happy to sit down with you and just share with you.

And I think I'll have the great ability of helping you fall asleep quickly to learn about all these interpretations as to who he is.

But if I could just very quickly say that the main views have been, uh, first of all, uh there are those who would say that Melchizedek was an angel.

It was an angel just sent from heaven.

He just showed up in Genesis 14 and then he vanished again.

He he's an angel, he's not a human being.

Uh, there are others, and this has been a pretty big view, and and that is to say that he is a Christophany.

Um, what is a Christophany?

It's an appearance of Christ in the Old Testament, a pre-incarnate um appearance of Christ, the Messiah.

He, the Son of God, appeared in bodily form through Melchizedek, then disappeared, and then came back as the glorious Son of God in the Gospels.

But then there is another view, and the final view is the one that I've already hinted at, and that is, well, Melchizedek was a man, a real historical figure, and he is to be understood as a type, a real man who God had ordained to come into the world in a particular way, and with particular things being concealed about him so that no one would know, so that he would actually function as a shadow of the substance, so that he would be a perfect illustration of the reality, that he would resemble the reality, that he would point to Christ.

And that's the interpretation that I take.

That is the main consensus view that scholars take.

And I argue that because, first of all, in order to be a priest, someone who represents man before God, according to Hebrews 5, any priest has to be taken from man.

So it can't be a deity.

Okay, that's what Hebrews 5 says.

But secondly, and I think more convincingly, Hebrews 7 and verse 3 tells us at the end of verse 3 that Melchizedek was made like the Son of God.

He's not the Son of God, he was made like him.

And so what that means is Jesus isn't a picture of Melchizedek.

Melchizedek is a picture of Christ.

God made Melchizedek to be like Christ so that he would function as a type.

And that's what types do.

God makes the type so that it prepares us for the reality.

And this is the thing, too: the reality is always better than the resemblance.

The substance is always better than the shadow.

Christ is better than Melchizedek.

But Melchizedek is better than the Levitical priesthood.

And that's the point that the writer wants us to see.

That Jesus has a priesthood, but his priesthood isn't according to the Levites, his priesthood is according to this mysterious Melchizedek.

Well, I hope I haven't confused you this morning.

That's just a little bit of an introduction to Melchizedek.

But now we're going to get right into the nitty-gritty of it.

Let me just show you what he's doing overall in this chapter.

In the first 10 verses, he introduces us to the mysterious Melchizedek.

That's what we're going to look at.

Then in the middle section, verses 11 down to verse 14, he's going to tell us about the meaning of Melchizedek.

And then in verses 15 to 28, he's going to give us the message.

Of Melchizedek.

And just so you know, the message ultimately is Jesus has come in the order of Melchizedek, and his priesthood can do what no other priesthood could ever do.

Jesus can do what Aaron couldn't do.

Jesus can do what the Jewish system couldn't do.

Jesus is unique.

He is the best.

Well, I have two points for you this morning, and we won't linger too long in them.

I want to give you these points up front.

As we talk about the mis mysterious nature of Melchizedek, mysterious Melchizedek, I want you to see two things.

In verses 1 to 3, I want you to see the significance of Melchizedek.

And then in verses 4 to 10, I want you to see the superiority of Melchizedek.

But know this conclusion.

I'm not sharing this with you, nor does the writer share that with you, so that you now are just greatly informed about a mysterious man in the Old Testament.

We learn about Melchizedek's significance, verses 1 to 3, and his superiority, verses 4 to 10, so that we see the significance and superiority of our Lord Jesus and why that should comfort you in all of life.

That no matter what trial breaks into your life today or tomorrow, no matter what difficulty will knock on your door, no matter what you are experiencing right now, you must know that you have a great high priest who is significant and superior to anyone else.

And there is comfort for you.

And I think you'll see that particularly as we lead our way into the Lord's table today.

So we begin with the words for this Melchizedek.

Last time I checked, it's not a common name in church circles.

Is there any Melchizedeks here today?

I know that there are a few Mel's, but I don't think it's short for Melchizedek.

Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.

We'll see after spending two or three sermons in Hebrews 7.

Maybe there'll be some babies born in months to come who might be called Melchizedek.

No, I think you'd love your child more than that.

For this Melchizedek, let's begin with the first point, the significance of Melchizedek.

The significance is seen in the first three verses.

The significance is seen in the fact that he was unique.

What made him unique is seen in the opening words.

For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God.

That is significant.

Why?

Because if you lived in the economy of national Israel, which hadn't been set up yet at this point of time, because this is referring to a time of Abraham, but when God, through the civil and ceremonial laws given to the nation of Israel through Moses, there were three grand offices that would take place in the nation of Israel.

There were prophets, there'd be priests, and there'll be kings.

But here's the thing: there was a petition between the three.

You could not hold multiple offices.

If you were a priest, you couldn't be a king.

If you're a king, you couldn't be a priest.

And one of the ways in which that was regulated was a king had to be from the tribe of Judah.

If you were not from the tribe of Judah, you could not be a king.

And if you were to be a priest, the priest would have to be from the tribe of Levi.

This regulation prevented an overlap between the officers.

There were many priests in the nation of Israel, but every priest was from the Levitical tribe, originally descendants of Aaron.

There were kings, and these kings before the departure and the division of the kingdom, but the kings were from the tribe of Judah.

That's what the Lord had required, and that continued on in the southern kingdom.

But God also gave prophets.

Prophets didn't have to come from any particular tribe, but prophets were raised up by God to rebuke the kings and the priests for not doing their job.

The prophets were to preach at them and say that you are to not be corrupt, you are to remember your responsibility.

But what's unique about this mysterious figure called Melchizedek is he is both a king and a priest.

But notice the language here, he is not described in the same way as the priests are in the Old Testament.

He's described as a priest of the most high God.

This is a term that is emphasizing the global nature of God's kingship.

Yahweh is God's name, but the name Yahweh is used in relation to his covenant relationship with his covenant people.

But the reference to the most high God shows that this is a global name.

There is nothing particular about this in terms of his relations to a particular group of people.

This is global.

The most high God, it is Yahweh, it's the same God.

But here we're told that Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of the Most High God.

He was a believer.

He was a believer in God.

We don't know where he came from, we don't know his family.

We don't know his backstory.

We don't know how he came to know the Lord, but he is a believer.

And he is not only a believer, he's a king and he's a priest.

He holds the two offices.

He's a king of Salem.

That would become Jerusalem.

And he is a priest.

Well, we're told in verse 1 that he met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him.

We don't have time to cover the fullness of that story.

But if boys and girls, if you were to go back and read Genesis chapter 14, you will read an epic battle, a battle of these kings.

Genesis 14 · chapter mention

And there is a big battle between these kings.

There is so much bloodshed, there's swords, there's fighting.

It is epic.

But in the midst of this battle, Lot gets kidnapped.

And as Lot gets kidnapped, Abraham, the patriarch Abraham, the one that God had made these glorious promises to in Genesis 12, Abraham decides to go on a mission.

He is gonna rescue his nephew Lot.

And you know what happens?

Abraham wins.

He defeats the kings and he rescues Lot and he gets all the spoils, all the treasures, and he brings them with him.

And as Abraham comes back, he's greeted by two kings, a king of Sodom.

We won't worry about talking about him, but he meets another king, the king of Salem.

It's Melchizedek.

And you know what Melchizedek does?

Melchizedek gives him bread and wine.

And as he gives him bread and wine, Melchizedek blesses Abraham.

And you know what Abraham does?

In worship of God, he takes a tenth, a tithe, of all the spoils, and he gives them to Melchizedek as an act of worship to God.

That shows how significant Melchizedek was.

That the great patriarch Abraham, who was a formidable character, a man who won a war.

Have you ever thought of Abraham in that light?

Like he is warrior man.

He just won a battle.

He rescued his nephew Lot.

Uncle Abraham, thank you for saving me from these kings and from the war.

But then this great Abraham, who's been given the promises of God, meets another great man called Melchizedek.

And Melchizedek's a king, but he's a priest, and he worships the Most High God, the same God that has made the promise to Abraham, and Abraham gives tithes to him.

We see that in verse 2 as well, but the emphasis goes on to show the significance is not just seen in the act of Abraham giving tithes, but also seen in the titles of Melchizedek.

Look at the emphasis here.

His name is Melchizedek.

And what does Melchizedek mean?

It's made up of two Hebrew words that mean king of righteousness.

And he's the king of Salem.

And the word Salem means peace.

It's from that word later we get the term Shalom.

So Melchizedek is a king of righteousness and a king of peace.

This shows the significance of him.

But the significance goes beyond that.

Verse 3 mysteriously says that he's without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life.

Now at first we read that and that makes people think, see, he's eternal.

He must be the Son of God.

We know that's not the case because it goes on to say, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.

And there's the clue.

What verse three is saying is that Melchizedek, as we read about him and what we know about him, he's presented to us as someone as if he has no mum and dad, no genealogy.

There's nothing written about him.

So from the perspective in which we read about him, he's this figure who's just got no background.

And he serves as a perfect illustration of the Son of God who, as to his priestly ministry, will not require it to be from the tribe of Levite.

Note, Jesus came from the tribe of Judah, and that's why he is a king.

Jesus is king.

But Jesus is also going to be priest.

So how can Jesus be a priest for his people?

How is Jesus going to be better than the temple?

How is Jesus going to be better than the Levitical priest?

Because Jesus also has a priesthood, but his priesthood is from a different order.

It's from the order of Melchizedek.

And so what it's saying here is from the perspective of the readers, Melchizedek just seems to come out of nowhere.

In order to be a priest in Israel, you had to have a genealogy.

If you could not prove that you're a Levite, you could not be a priest.

So if you had no genealogy, you can't be a priest.

And not only that, if you were a priest in Israel, there was a term limit.

You weren't allowed to serve and help the priests if you're a Levite until you're the age of 25.

But then when you reach the age of 30, you can actually start serving formally as a priest.

But when you hit the age of 50, you're out to the pasture.

You have to retire.

You're no longer allowed to be serving as a priest.

So a Levitical priest had a genealogy and had a term limit on their ministry.

Melchizedek, well, they don't know what his genealogy was.

He wasn't under the same regulation.

And as he's presented in scripture, we don't know where he came from, we don't know where he goes.

So it's as if he's still a priest.

And what it's saying here is the Son of God, he comes from that same order.

His genealogy isn't written down in terms of his Levitical requirements.

He is the eternal Son of God.

And the Son of God is a priest who ministers continually.

That's why Jesus is better than the Levites.

The Levitical priest could only represent you before God for a limited amount of time.

Jesus, as our high priest, he can represent you continually.

He doesn't have to retire.

He is always functioning because his priesthood is from a higher order.

That's the point of the first three verses here is Melchizedek is significant.

But that significance is seen in a greater way in Jesus.

Because just as Melchizedek was described as a king of righteousness and a king of peace, Jesus is the reality of what Melchizedek resembled.

If Melchizedek was significant because he was a king of righteousness and a king of peace, how much more significant then is the substance, and that is Jesus?

Listen to some ancient prophecies about Jesus.

Isaiah 9.

In Isaiah 9, you know the passage and you know it well, verses 6 and 7.

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, the government will be upon his shoulder, his name will be called, wonderful, counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward even forever.

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

That text tells us that the Son of God, the Messiah, he is both one who is called peace and righteous.

And his righteousness and his peace will have far wider consequences than what we see in Melchizedek.

Listen to what it says in Romans 5.

Romans 5 and verse 1.

The Apostle Paul says, Therefore, talking to believers here, having been justified, declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand.

Friend, you have access to the throne of God, you have peace with God, and you have been declared righteous before God because you have faith in Jesus, who is the true King of righteousness and the King of peace.

And I want to add more to this.

Melchizedek was not only a king of peace and a king of righteousness, but note, he was a king and a priest.

And listen to this beautiful prophecy in Zechariah 6.

Zechariah 6, verses 12 to 13 say, Thus says the Lord of hosts, behold, the man whose name is branch.

Zechariah 6:12–13

This is referring to the Messiah, okay?

The Son of God.

Behold, the man whose name is the branch, from his place he shall branch out, and he shall build the temple of the Lord.

Yes, he shall build the temple of the Lord, he shall bear the glory, he shall sit and rule on his throne, he shall be a priest on his throne, and the council of peace shall be between them both.

What that's saying is that the Messiah will be priest and king, and as priest and king, he will build.

What did Jesus say in Matthew 16?

I will build my church.

The same one who said in John 2, I am the temple, and the same one that Paul will say to the Christians in 1 Corinthians 3 that you are the temple of the living God, Jesus is building.

Why?

Because he has what no one else has.

He is a priest and he's a king.

And as a priest and a king, he rules and he also represents us so that we have righteousness, and as a result of the righteousness that's his, we then have peace with God.

That's Hebrews 7, 1 to 3, the significance of Melchizedek.

Now we see in verses 4 to 10 the superiority.

I want to just simply read to you verses 4 to 10 and summarize it for you.

Now consider how great this man was.

You see that opening line?

Now consider how great this man was.

That's saying, let's now consider the superiority of this man.

Superiority compared to who?

Compared to the Levitical priests.

You have a Levitical priesthood in Israel, and then you have a Melchizedekian priesthood.

And the writer is saying, let's now consider how superior Melchizedek was to Aaron and to the Levites.

Now, someone who's really intelligent will say, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute.

How can he sort of compare them both when they weren't around at the same time?

I've heard the debates, you know, with basketballers.

This is the goat, the greatest of all time.

And they go, No, this guy in my generation is a no one.

How will we ever know?

Because they're not going to play at the same time.

And there's always these debates as to who's the greatest.

Well, the writer's kind of doing that here.

He's saying, Here is a man from this generation, and here is a priesthood from this generation, but this man is superior.

But he's got a good argument for it.

And you have to be careful in how he tracks with it.

He says, Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth the spoils.

And even those who are of the sons of Levi, who received the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham.

But he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham, blessed him who had the promises.

Now beyond all contradiction, the lesser is blessed by the better.

Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witness that he lives, even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.

What is that saying?

How is that saying Melchizedek is superior?

What it's saying is this the Levites were to receive tithes.

And they had to give them to the tribe of Levi, and tithing the tithe would then fund the priesthood and maintain the priesthood in the nation of Israel.

And here it is saying that Abraham gave tithes to Melchizedek.

And Abraham is the father of all Israel, including the Levites.

And what the writer's saying is so, in effect, the greatest one of Israel, Father Abraham, the patriarch of that nation, though the Levitical tribe had not yet been allotted and appointed, the Levitical tribe is in the loins of Abraham.

And Abraham, the greater one, Abraham is greater than even the Levites.

If the great one of the nation of Israel, who was carrying in his loins this future Levitical tribe, himself submitted to the significance of the priesthood and kingship of Melchizedek and gave a tithe, he's saying, in effect, the Levitical tribe even tithe to Melchizedek.

That's a Jewish way of reckoning.

And if you want an Old Testament passage that does that, go to Deuteronomy 6, where the writer says to the generation that wasn't in the early stage of the wilderness, he says, You are guilty.

They weren't there, but the reason they're guilty is because they were represented by the generation before.

There's a Jewish way of reckoning, it's it's solidarity, it's it's belonging to covenant affiliation.

And so what he's simply saying here is if Abraham the great one, the one that the Levites admired and said, He is our father.

In fact, the text says, verse 7, beyond all contradiction, the lesser is blessed by the better.

Melchizedek was better.

Not in terms of intrinsic value, but in terms of his function, by virtue of who he was, by virtue of his titles, and Abraham knew that.

Abraham submitted himself to this man and gave his tithes in worship of God and recognized the greatness of this man.

And the writer here is showing us that Jesus' priesthood comes from that same order, it comes from what Melchizedek's priestly order resembled and pointed to.

So, in other words, God had always designed Jesus to be the great high priest, greater than the Levitical tribes.

So God, in his infinite wisdom, actually brought about a man called Melchizedek who would function in this unique way with concealed details, just so he would be a great preview of Jesus.

That's a summary of what's going on in this passage.

Now, let me just bring this to a close.

What does this mean for us?

What this means for us is that we serve the greatest high priest in the universe.

We serve the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who is both king and priest.

And as king and priest, he is able to give us his righteousness so that we can be declared right before God, though we are guilty in and of ourselves.

And when we are declared right, we have peace with God.

Peace with God, no hostility with him anymore.

We have direct access, and it's all because of our forerunner who has gone through the veil, he is seated on the throne, and he right now is reigning as king of righteousness and king of peace.

And he is not only reigning as king, he is representing us as priest.

Are you feeling troubled?

Are you feeling weighed down?

Know that you have access to the throne of God because of your great high priest.

But I want to finish with one more thing.

Melchizedek blessed Abraham.

How did he bless him?

He gave him bread and wine.

Friends, let's look past the shadow and let's look to the substance.

Let's look past the resemblance and look at the reality.

What did Jesus give his disciples in that upper room?

He gave them bread and wine.

But the difference is, Jesus continues to give this to his church.

He continues to give us the bread and the wine as the host of the Lord's table and asks us to remember.

And as we partake of this spiritual feast, we experience the blessed means of God's grace, as our faith is strengthened in the Lord Jesus as we remember Him.

Melchizedek gave bread and wine.

Jesus continues to give bread and wine, but the bread and wine that Jesus gives points to the greater reality, and that is his life and his death that gives us access to God.

Friends, we are going to be blessed by the Master this morning.

Let us pray.

Our gracious and mighty God, thank you.

For our Lord Jesus Christ, our great high priest, King of righteousness, King of peace.

I thank you in Jesus' name.

Amen.