Melchizedek II - Hebrews 7:11-22
In Hebrews
7, we find the Old Testament priesthood, the priesthood in the order of Aaron,
being superseded by a better priesthood, the priesthood in the order of
Melchizedek. We find the Lord Jesus
Christ coming and making the Aaronic priests obsolete. v1-10 taught us that Melchizedek is
superior to Aaron. In this morning’s passage, we’re
going to see that we need a high priest in the order of Melchizedek.
This is an
important passage. No doubt someone
will come up to you some time and tell you that the Jewish priesthood will be
re-established at the end of time.
You’re going to need to understand the implications of Hebrews 7:11-22 if you’re going to be able to answer
them.
i
Perfection
God is
perfect. See Psalm 18:30 and Matthew 5:48. He is perfect in every respect: perfect
in power, perfect in wisdom, perfect in justice… But there’s one particular area of God’s
perfection which comes into focus in Hebrews 7. God is perfect in his purity. He is complete in his purity. There is nothing missing from it at
all.
What is
more, God demands perfect purity of you and me too. But that’s impossible, isn’t it? You know – if you’re an honest man or
woman – that you are not perfectly pure.
And with that in the background we come to v11. Bearing in mind that we’re not perfect in
and of ourselves, how can we obtain perfection? Answer: not through Aaron and the
other old covenant priests. After
all, if the Aaronic priesthood had been good enough, David would not have had to
have spoken about a priesthood in the order of Melchizedek in Psalm 110.
It’s hard
for us to realise the impact these words would have had on the original readers
of the letter. They were Jews. They were used to 1500 years of priests,
and they were all priests in the order of Aaron. But now, here comes this writer, and
he’s pointing to a better priesthood, a priesthood in the order of
Melchizedek. And v11 must have raised a question in
their minds. “But what about the
law? What about all those Old
Testament laws about the priests?
They’re not all wiped away,
are they?”
v12
answers. The Melchizedek priesthood has replaced the Aaron priesthood, so there must have been a change in the law. And v13-14 give one example of that. The Aaronic priests came from the tribe of Levi. Jesus, our priest in the order of Melchizedek, came from
This would
have raised another question in the minds of the original readers. “But how can we be sure that the
priesthood of Melchizedek is genuine?” And the answer comes in v15-17. Jesus became high priest on the basis of
the power of an indestructible life.
His endless, indestructible life qualifies him to be our priest. More on this next week in v23-25.
v18-19 summarise what the writer
has said. The old covenant system
was weak and useless because it did not have the power to give perfection. And so, it’s all set aside, never to be
reinstated again.
There will never
be any need for that kind of priest again, not now, not at the end of the age,
not ever. Now, however, we have a
better hope. Perfection is
available. And with that
perfection, we can approach the God of perfect purity. It all
depends on our new covenant high priest, Jesus Christ, who belongs to the order
of Melchizedek.
Hebrews
10:14
best
explains how this perfection comes to people like you and me. It says, “By one sacrifice he [Jesus] has made perfect for ever those who are
being made holy”.
God sees
Christians as perfect because our Saviour’s obedience and blood hide all our
transgressions from view. As he
looks at you, Christian, he sees the beauty of his Son. He sees the spotless, undefiled
righteousness of Jesus Christ. He
does not see your sin because your Saviour gave his life to take it all
away. Past sins, present sins,
future sins: all have been atoned for by Christ. You are just as perfect as Jesus Christ
in God’s eyes because of his obedience and sacrifice. Doesn’t
that give you great assurance?
And
doesn’t it give you hope if you’re not a Christian? Confess to God that you’re a sinner. Confess to him that you can do nothing
to save yourself. Cry out to him to
save you simply because of what Jesus Christ has done. Ask him to make you perfect and trust in
Christ as the only reason why he should.
And if you truly do that,
God will save you.
ii
Pledge
v20-22 teach that Jesus is God’s
pledge of his new covenant, a better covenant. When the old covenant priests took
office, God did not swear an oath to say something like “I have sworn and will
not change my mind, ‘You are my chosen priest!’” But when Jesus became priest, God did
swear an oath. When God speaks,
it’s certain. When God confirms his words with
an oath, as we saw two weeks ago, it’s even more certain than certainty
itself.
But that
oath is even more significant that we might think. Because of it, says the writer, Jesus
has become the guarantee of this better covenant. Just as a Jewish father might have given
a down-payment to his daughter’s husband-to-be as a guarantee that he’d pay a
full dowry on her wedding day, so Jesus is the guarantee of the new
covenant. His death and
resurrection life guarantee to men and women that all the blessings of the new
covenant will come to them. At the
last, God will receive us into his very presence. Jesus is the down-payment, the cast-iron
guarantee, that all of God’s blessings will come to his people. He
guarantees that the covenant will be honoured in full by God
himself.
And that’s
great! It’s great because it gives
us an extra sense of certainty as God’s people that we are safe. Nothing can go wrong, nothing! Christian, rejoice that you are safe in
your God. And above all, trust
him. He will keep you to the end,
no matter how it might feel to you at the moment. Jesus is God’s pledge that all this is
true. Praise his
name!