The text this morning is from the Epistle to the Hebrews, the fifth chapter:
For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people. And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was. So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”; as he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.” In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
One of the first questions I want to ask God when I see Him face to face is a weird one, I know. I want to know who Melchizedek is. I’d like to meet him. Melchizedek, King of Salem, his name literally means the Righteous King of Peace, of Shalom. This guy only appears once in the Old Testament, Genesis chapter 14, and then he disappears. He’s mentioned only once more, in the Psalms, until the author of the Letter to the Hebrews picks up on it.
Melchizedek seems to be some kind of combination of priest and king. He met Abram after Abram went out and rescued Lot from slavery. The priestking brought Abram bread and wine, and blessed him, and in return, Abram gave the priestking a tenth of all he had. That’s it. That’s all there is about Melchizedek. Until Hebrews.
The author of the Hebrews seems to imply heavily that Melchizedek is more than meets the eye. He is a type and shadow of what would come in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus, being the prophet, priest, and king foretold through all the prophets is a better Priestking of Peace than any earthly king could be. I want to know if Melchizedek was really a man, or if, like the Angel of the Lord who appears throughout the Old Testament, was the Son of God in a different, spiritual form. I’m just curious.
Because, here’s the thing: Melchizedek is the model for all the priests of God who were to come. He would serve the people, the people would give freely to God. I mean, this even echoes what our Lord Jesus does, doesn’t it? Jesus comes to serve us bread and wine that He might give to us that which we need, not just physical strength, but real, actual spiritual strength through His meal? And what is our response? We give generously to our God, not because He needs to be paid for His services, but because it is a mere token of the depth of gratitude we have for all that He does, and we do want to keep it going. So, as an aside, if you’re not responding to our Lord’s gifts of Word and Sacrament by being a cheerful giver, you may want to ask yourself if you’re truly understanding what is going on in this place and why you continue to need it.
The point of all this is that Melchizedek was the first called priest. As far as we know, God called Melchizedek into service, just as He called His Son into service. The Son did not set Himself up to be the Savior, though, as God, it was His right. Rather, His Father put Him in such a position that He might redeem the world and intercede for it to His Father. The Lord, just like the priests, just like your pastors, has been called to a specific task at a specific time to say a specific word. It’s not something they choose, but something for which they are chosen.
And what is that word? It is that they go before the face of God on behalf of men and women to offer gifts and sacrifice for sins. Now, in the priests of the Old Testament, I think we see that. In the person of Jesus Christ, we most assuredly see that He is the sacrifice for all sins. But a pastor? It’s true, not that we sacrifice anything, not that the Lord’s Supper is a resacrifice of Christ as the Roman Catholics teach, but that we go to God on your behalf pleading the sacrifice of Christ so that He might look upon you with favor, as He has promised to do.
You see, Jesus is a greater priest than I ever could be. I lift you up in prayers as much as I can, He does it all the time. He knows your needs before you do, I know what I’ve been given. He forgives your sins from His cross, I only announce that forgiveness to you through Him. It’s not that a pastor can’t be a great priest, but a pastor can never again be a high priest, not when we have our Jesus.
Jesus is the Great High Priest, never giving up that role. He is the one who goes before the Father, pleading, begging, supplicating, praying that His brothers and sisters would receive from His hand all good things that have been promised. And Jesus can do this, He can serve in this role, and He’s the only one who can serve in this role, because He is like both of us. He is like mankind, in that He shares in our flesh, having taken for Himself the flesh of His mother, Mary, and He can do this because He was first and always God, never created, always existing, divine, all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present. The God who created all things bound Himself into His creation that He might always be man forever just as He is God forever.
Jesus is both God and man, and because of that, He can stand before both parties and mediate. When a person takes another person to court, it often has to go through a mediator, someone who works to give both sides what they want. Jesus is our mediator. He is like God, for He is God, so He can argue for God’s good case. And He is like man, for He is man, so He can argue on behalf of humanity.
He’s not impartial, though, as a priest. He knows the truth, and He lets the truth alone speak. What is that truth? That God is angry at sin, that God must punish sin, that humanity is guilty of breaking the Law of God, the Law that its Creator wrote upon their hearts, guilty of destroying the creation and sending it into a dizzying tailspin towards death. God demands justice, vengeance, righteousness, and it must be paid in blood. Yet, humanity, well, it doesn’t really have a case against God in the same way, it can’t stand on its own two feet. But, humanity has this going for it: Jesus loves you. He loves you so much. The mediator between God and man loves you so greatly that He hears the Word of the Lord and will not let you pay the fine; He will take the punishment. He will be judged as a sinner, though He had no sin. He will have vengeance poured upon His head, feeling the wrath of His Father for the first and only time. He will give up His righteousness and bequeath it to you.
He counts you as righteous. He says it’s yours, and so it is. And the meditator stands between God and man and takes the punishment meant for man on behalf of them. This is what makes Jesus the Great High Priest. He does what no other priest can do. He doesn’t just make the sacrifice and sprinkle the people; He is the sacrifice and His blood cleanses the people from their sins, cleanses you from your sins.
And because He stands in this place, He gives you then all the gifts of God. Remember, the punishment for breaking the Law of God is death, but the gift of keeping is life, is reward upon reward. And Jesus, in giving you His righteousness, gives to you also every good thing. What He has, you have. If He is raised, you will be raised. If He rules over the earth, you shall rule over the earth. If He is blessed, so, too, are you. He is the source of all good things, the source of salvation, and He gives all good things to you as the source of a great river gives it all of its water.
You share in His life for He shares His life with you. And because He is the Great High Priest, you know that you have an advocate, the mediator with God, forever. In this life, I may never know who Melchizedek really was, but I know I have a great Righteous King of Peace in the Son of God, who has died for your sins and mine, and brings Himself to you, even this day, in His bread, which is His body, and His wine, which is His blood. He is the host and the meal, and He welcomes you to everlasting life. That’s a great Great High Priest. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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