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All right, well, beautiful singing. If I’ve not met you, my name is Aaron, and I’m the preaching pastor here. I’m glad you’re with us this morning to be here together to worship the King, Jesus, with us.
So if you have a Bible with you, which I hope you do, please open up to the book of Hebrews, to Hebrews 7 specifically. If you don’t have a Bible with you, there are Bibles scattered throughout the church, and you can grab one from there. If you want to open up to Hebrews 7 and you’re not sure where Hebrews is, it’s in the back, maybe a quarter or so of the Bible. So if you can find Hebrews, then chapter seven.
I debated back and forth on how to break up chapter seven, whether this would be two sermons or one, and I decided to keep it as one because I think everything kind of fits together. We’re going to cover a lot of scripture today, but for this time here, I’m just going to read verse eleven of Hebrews 7 . Then I’m going to pray for the Lord’s help through this passage. So would you follow along with me?
“Now, if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood, for under it the people received the law, what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek rather than one named after the order of Aaron?”
That’s God’s word for us this morning. Would you please pray with me?
Lord, thank you for bringing us all here together into this room, into this time, and Lord, to sit under the teaching of your Word. God, please help me to be a good communicator of this text, my words to be clear. Lord, please help the congregation have good ears to listen and hear what the Spirit is saying through your Word. And Lord, please help us to rightly abide the truth—your truth this morning—in ways that we better see Jesus. In His name, we pray. Amen.
So every good story starts out with, “So there it was.” Let me tell you a story that I think I may have shared some years back. You know, I’ve been at this a long time now, so I’m not actually sure if I shared this with you. Maybe I have. Anyhow, there I was. I was in the fifth or sixth grade and had a friend who I knew was much more religious than I was. I knew that he and his family were much more religious because they had Bible verses all over their house on wall decorations. They were pretty committed to going to church, and my friend was involved in something called a youth group, which I was not sure what that was. Outside, it had something to do with church and summer.
When I was in fifth or sixth grade, my friend’s youth group was getting together with a bunch of other youth groups to go to a Brewers baseball game in Milwaukee. I had no idea what a youth group was, but I certainly knew who the Brewers are. I’ve loved Brewers baseball since I was little, so I was excited when my friend asked me to join him on this trip. Happily, I accepted his invitation. My friend and I, along with his youth group, piled into a coach bus and headed to Milwaukee.
Before we arrived at the game, we were going to meet up with a bunch of other youth groups at a large church in the Milwaukee area for lunch and a youth service with a message. I knew what lunch was, which I was excited about, but I was not familiar with the term “message.” I knew “sermon,” but not “message,” so I guessed it might be some explanations on how we were to behave at the game—not quite sure.
We got to the large church building and the parking lot. There were grills all over cooking up food, youth leaders everywhere. I learned that the speakers were playing Christian rap music. I had never heard of Christian rap, but I was blasting all of the speakers and honestly, I kind of liked it. I asked my friend what the group was listening to and was told it was a group named DC Talk. I had never heard of them, but apparently, they’re pretty popular in youth groups.
After a late lunch, it was time for the message. I’m sure there were probably instructions on how we’d act at the Brewers game, but I learned that the message was primarily a teaching from the Bible concerning Jesus Christ. I did hear Jesus mentioned. My family and I attended a small country church, so I knew some things about Jesus. However, the church I grew up in was very formal and ritualistic. We talked about Jesus, but outside of that one-hour service on Sundays, He had no bearing on anything else in our lives.
At this youth event and in this message, Jesus seemed very real to the speaker and the other youth at the event. He was not just a figure for rituals once a week. Rather, He was relational, real, and present, affecting all areas and every moment of our lives. In that message, I heard about the death of Jesus on the Roman cross, His resurrection from the dead, and the empty tomb. It was being communicated that these events meant everything to us. As far as I remember, this was the first time anyone talked about Jesus in this way.
After the message, we went to the game. I don’t remember what happened at the game—let’s just assume the Brewers won. After I got home, I was pretty intrigued by all the different things that happened on the trip. In fact, I was so intrigued that I was able to find and purchase a DC Talk CD at the record store. For a time, I even listened to the CD enough to wrap along beside it as it played. But soon after that event, everything kind of faded to the back of my mind—just one of many events in my life, interesting in the moment but seemingly unimportant in the grand scheme of things.
Fast forward to my early twenties, where a different friend in college invited me to a college Bible study, which I agreed to attend. I knew Bible studies existed, but I had no idea what was actually involved in them. The study meant people who were very engaged in their faith. I heard a similar message to what I heard years back at the youth event. Through this study, God grabbed ahold of my life in ways that I repented and believed. Jesus moved from being a ritualistic figure to someone very real and personal to me—the one who meant everything to me in Biblical language. Through that Bible study, I was saved. God saved me from sin, from judgment, and saved me to Himself in eternal life. My life completely changed.
Shortly after I trusted in Jesus and my life was changed by Him, I began to pull on the thread a bit, to retrace the hand of God—how He had been at work in my life leading up to that point of salvation. As I pulled on the thread, it was like going to the college Bible study had to happen for that to happen, and that had to happen, and so on. It was humbling to retrace all these things of how God was at work in my life well before the moment I first believed.
As I began to pull on the thread, there was a place I had to stop and think about—a place I had actually forgotten about, a place that had faded into my past shortly after it happened and didn’t seem that significant. Yeah, you guessed it. It was going on a youth mission trip to Milwaukee—not a mission trip, but a youth trip to Milwaukee to watch the Brewers—where, for the first time, I think I met genuine Christians and heard the message of Jesus in ways I’d never heard explained before. Looking back, I realized how incredibly significant that seemingly insignificant event was in my life. It was a real part of my salvation, showing that God was at work in my life even though I didn’t see or understand it in the moment.
This story sets us up for our text today, which tells the story of a man named Melchizedek, someone we met in our study of Hebrews a few weeks back. He seems like a minor, insignificant character in the Old Testament, with only a lone passage about him in the book of Genesis. That’s interesting but seemingly insignificant. However, as the writer of Hebrews looked back through the Old Testament, pulling on the thread of the Bible’s storyline, we see how God was at work in this seemingly insignificant character in incredible ways, leading us to salvation in Jesus Christ.
That was the introduction. If you look back at me starting in verse one, if you are new to us today, we’re really happy you’re with us. If you have that Bible open, keep it open. All I’m going to do is try to walk us back through the passage. We have a lot to cover today, and as you go through this passage, it’s a pretty heavy one. In fact, one of the commentaries I read this week talked about the density of this passage. As we go through chapter seven, it might feel a bit muddy, but let me encourage you to hang in there and work hard to follow along. I think as we get to the end, things will clear up, and you’ll feel very encouraged. If at any point you get bogged down, I’ll give you, in short, what this text is about. The entire text communicates that Jesus is better. He is so much better than anything else.
“So we can see there that our Lord was declared to be a priest of the order of Melchizedek. For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him.”
In verse one, we read more details of Melchizedek, who the author briefly mentioned prior. This is from chapter five, as well as the final verse where we left off last week. In our text today, we read that Melchizedek was the king of Salem, a priest of the Most High God. He met Abraham, who we talked about last week—the father of faith—with whom God made an incredible covenant that through Abraham, all nations would be blessed.
In our text, we see that these two men met while Abraham was returning from the slaughter of the kings. As they met, Melchizedek blessed Abraham. A few things here:
1. Salem: This seems to be a place eventually called Jerusalem.
2. This is the only time in the Old Testament where an individual is both a priest and a king.
We talked about this briefly a few weeks back when we first met him, but it’s very significant. Melchizedek is both a priest and a king. The author of Hebrews continues to bring this reality to the forefront.
3. This story of Melchizedek and Abraham comes from the book of Genesis, specifically Genesis 14 . This is the only time we read about Melchizedek in terms of historical details in the Old Testament. The book of Psalms points to him, which Hebrews quotes. That’s it in the entire canon of the Old Testament—just a mention in Psalms and the story in Genesis 14 , after which he fades into the background.
“Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, the name Melchizedek means ‘king of righteousness.’ ‘Melech’ means king, and ‘Zedek’ means righteous. As the king of Salem, he’s also the king of peace. Salem basically means peace.”
In our culture, names have significance, but in the culture of the Old Testament, names are incredibly important as they help tell the story of the character. For Melchizedek, he’s the king of righteousness and the king of peace.
“He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.”
This verse is the most talked-about part of Melchizedek’s biography throughout church history. It revolves around the debate on what these details are communicating to us. Specifically, does Melchizedek being without father or mother or genealogy, having no beginning or end of life, mean that he was a pre-incarnate Christ? Was this a Christophany where Christ appeared in the Old Testament before His incarnation?
Many good Christians throughout church history have affirmed that Melchizedek is indeed Christ. Not just because of the details in verse three, but also because of the names we saw in verse two, which Christ alone fulfills as He is righteous and gives peace. Additionally, verse one ties Abraham to him in ways that resemble acts of worship.
However, I believe the author’s point in verse three is to highlight how mysterious Melchizedek was—a figure so different from all other figures in Genesis. In Genesis, we see many genealogies detailing who was born to whom, including Abraham in Genesis 11 , and the ages at which people died. But for Melchizedek, we don’t have those details. He is mysterious, resembling the Son of God, the true eternal one with no beginning or end. Therefore, I think Melchizedek is a type—a picture of Christ to come—helping us better see who Christ is. The Old Testament is filled with such types, and the book of Hebrews is very helpful in this regard.
“Such was the first one to come; without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.”
See how great Melchizedek was, that even Abraham, the great patriarch and father of faith, gave a tenth of the spoils to him. The descendants of Levi, who receive priestly offices, have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, from their brothers—the people from the tribe of Israel. But this man in our text, Melchizedek, received tithes from Abraham, who had the promises.
This is a lot happening in these verses. Let me slow down to explain. Levi is the great-grandson of Abraham, one of the sons born to Jacob. In the Old Testament law, the tribe of Levi was set apart from the other tribes to be priests. Israel was to support the Levites by taking tithes. Here, the author points out that Melchizedek received a tithe before the law, before the Old Covenant was given. Melchizedek was before Levi in terms of when he lived.
The author of Hebrews is comparing and contrasting Melchizedek with the Levites to show how superior the order of Melchizedek is. This sets the stage for how Jesus is better, as discussed in verse seven.
“Then Levi, who receives tithes, paid a tenth of the proceeds of the first fruits. It is not without reason that the author of Hebrews says that Levi, who receives tithes, paid a tenth of the proceeds of Abraham, though he was a descendant of Melchizedek.”
The inferior is blessed by the superior. Here, Abraham is inferior to Melchizedek, who is superior. In the case of the Levites, tithes were received by mortal men, who would eventually die. In contrast, Melchizedek has no recorded death and is considered to live. This further shows why Jesus, a high priest from the order of Melchizedek, is better than the Levites. Jesus has a recorded resurrection and now lives eternally, fitting Him into the order of Melchizedek.
“One might even say that Levi, who receives tithes, also paid tithes through Abraham, for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.”
This suggests that the giving of Abraham to Melchizedek was done in a representative way, representing all who came after him, including Levi. The author underscores the superiority of Melchizedek’s priesthood over the priesthood of Levi.
“Now, if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood, for under it the people received the law, what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek rather than one named after the order of Aaron? Therefore, it is evident that our Lord was declared a priest of the order of Melchizedek.”
The Levitical priesthood, under the Old Covenant, provided the law. If perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood, there would be no need for another priesthood. However, because the Old Testament law was not sufficient to make one righteous, we need a new, better, superior priesthood.
“Now 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 signifies a change in the law. We don’t just change the priests; we also need to change the covenant structure because the law alone cannot make us perfect. We need something new and superior, which comes from a different tribe—not Levi—but from the tribe of Judah.
“Then Jesus, after He has been made perfect, became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him, because He always lives to make intercession for them. For it is evident that our Lord was declared a priest of the order of Melchizedek.”
Jesus descended from the tribe of Judah, and unlike the Levitical priests who were appointed based on birth from the tribe of Levi, Jesus was appointed by the power of an indestructible life. This is why He is the great priest and king.
“Therefore, it was necessary for another priest to arise in the order of Melchizedek, since a priest of the order of Aaron has been established. But it is clear that He does not lie within the regulation of Levitical priesthood as long as the life of Aaron continues. For the Son of God has sworn an oath.”
The Levitical priests were appointed based on their lineage, but Jesus was made a priest by an oath from God, establishing a superior and eternal priesthood.
“Therefore, He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them. For all the priests under the Old Covenant were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office. But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood.”
Jesus is our eternal priest who saves completely those who come to God through Him. Unlike the Levitical priests, who were many because they were mortal, Jesus’ priesthood is unchangeable because He lives forever.
“For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and who has become exalted above the heavens. He does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when He offered Himself.”
Jesus, the better priest, offered Himself once for the atoning sacrifice for the sins of His people, unlike the Levitical priests who had to offer sacrifices repeatedly.
In conclusion, Jesus is our great high priest and king from the order of Melchizedek, offering a superior and eternal priesthood that fulfills and surpasses the Old Covenant. Through Him, we have a better covenant, one that brings us closer to God and offers complete salvation.
Lord, thank you for Jesus. Thank you for sending your eternal Son to live the life that we cannot live, to die on the cross in our place, and to rise again from the dead to prove that He is indeed from the order of Melchizedek. Thank you that He is the promised one of Judah and is able to save. Lord, thank you for the incredible truth that for those who are in Christ Jesus, we have confidence and hope that our Lord Jesus is interceding for us. Please help us to find comfort in that. And Lord, I pray that those here who have not yet trusted in Jesus today, through the power of Your Spirit, would open their eyes to taste and see that You are good. May they believe that indeed Jesus is better and are worth leaving all things behind to have Him. In Jesus’ name, Amen.