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Jesus is a High Priest in the Order of MelchizedekThis text, and the chapters immediately following it, are perhaps some of the most odd and mysterious passages in the New Testament, and are often avoided for that reason. However, if we are not shy about it and dig in a little bit, there is something within them that can be of benefit to our faith, particularly as we understand better what it is that Lord Jesus does for us in his priestly role.
There are a couple of texts which are prerequisites for understanding the argument. The background story about Abraham and Melchizedek is found in Genesis 14. Hebrews' argument is also critically derived from Psalm 110, particularly verse 4.
The letter has been pointing towards the argument that will be developed in this chapter, giving us subtle bits of foreshadowing at 5:6, 10, and perhaps also 2:17 and 4:14. Additionally, 1:13 is also a reference to Psalm 110, and may be subtle pointer towards the argument which is going to grow out of 110:4 here in chapter 7. Also, the section from 4:14-5:10 began to pave the way by drawing a picture of Jesus as a high priest. Now the author is ready to flesh out a little bit more about Jesus' high priesthood is to be understood.
Under the Levitical law code (The Law of Moses), the role of priest was only given to a subset of one tribe, Aaron's descendants of the tribe of Levi (Exodus 28-29, 40, Leviticus 8-9, 21-22, Numbers 3). Jesus descended from Judah. So a natural question for someone living within the Levitical code is how in the world Jesus can be a priest. Jesus' ancestors dare a liability here, and at first glance, the argument here is in place to address that liability. But upon further analysis, the author's aim is not to simply to describe Jesus priesthood as legitimate, but as superior to any levitical priesthood.
Understanding the TextChapter 7 opens by giving a brief recap of the story of Abraham and Melchizidek that takes places after Abraham rescues Lot. The version in Genesis 14 offers a bit more detail, but the parts that are important for the author of Hebrews are few and simple.
- Melchizedek was “king of Salem” and priest of “God Most High”.
- Melchizedek met Abraham after his battle, and blessed him.
- Abraham gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.
Hebrews offers the short recap, then playfully interprets Melchizedek's name and city morphologically, dissecting the names into their parts and their root Hebrew meanings. Melchizedek is derived from two Hebrew words, melek and tzedek, which mean “king” and “righteousness”, so the author interprets this to mean that Melchizedek is a “king of righteousness”. The author also interprets the title Genesis gives Melchizedek “king of Salem” to mean “king of peace. Together, these playful linguistic arguments don't contribute much to the logical argument, but they aren't purposeless. The first step in the argument is going to be to demonstrate Mechizedek's worthiness. So to give him a title of a king of righteousness is a good way to get the ball rolling. What I mean by playful is simply that by strict means, there isn't any logical value in the arguments. Just because someone is named “Charity” doesn't mean they are loving, nor does the name “Grace” indicate that you can expect forgiveness from a person named thus. Nor would we assume that Michael Nutter is a man of uncommonly brotherly love just because he is the Mayor of Philadelphia. But it is a playful way of putting the ideas in our minds! And the author has more convincing evidence up his sleeve anyways.
There are two main arguments in favor of Melchizedek being worthy of honor. First, Abraham pays him a tithe. This is of course long before the Tithing requirements of the Levitical law were instituted, and the author takes this to mean that abraham had great respect for Melchizedek as a priest. In fact, the argument is made that in a way even Levi, whose descendants will collect the tithe from the other tribes, paid the tithe to Melchizedek through his great-grandfather Abraham.
The second argument is that Abraham received a blessing from Melchizedek. In the culture of the patriarchs, it was the greater person who gave a blessing to a person of lesser honor. So the conclusion is that Abraham honored Melchizedek and recognized his priesthood.
In verse 11 the argument shifts from the passage in Genesis to the material in Psalm 110, which indicates that there is someone who is given a priesthood in the “order of Melchizedek.” This is a different sort of priesthood, one that is “forever”. Hebrews interprets this as meaning that there are imperfections within the Levitical priesthood, since if that were not the case, there would be no need for a priesthood that was any other than in the order of Aaron. The priesthood of the descendants of Aaron though necessitated that it be passed from person to person because of the mortality of the priests, but Hebrews argues that Jesus' priesthood is far superior because it is eternal, because it is given to one whose life has been proven indestructible by the resurrection. Jesus' priesthood will eternally endure since death has no power over him. A person under the Levitical code would likely be served by multiple priests over the course of life, but one who relies on Jesus relies only on him, forever. He provides constant intercession for us.
One last element of the analysis is that in Psalm 110, the offer of a priesthood in the order of Melchizedek is made with an oath. This theme is set up somewhat with the discussion of oaths in the last part of chapter 6. The oath here is interpreted to be a promise that God has given to Jesus, and this adds another layer to the security of what results from the oath. God has sworn to provide for our salvation!
After all this, the author summarizes in 7:26-28 all that has been said up to this point on the work of Jesus for us. Jesus is a priest who is blameless, pure, and exalted. He has good standing before God and stands before God for the sole purpose of interceding for us (not himself). He is not a weak, human priest, but a perfect divine high priest who has provided for our sins once and for all.
What do we take away? This is a good week to take stock of how the whole study of Hebrews is informing our faith, and particularly in relation to its main purpose. It is written to those who are having difficulty maintaining their own faith, perhaps in relation to some persecution, and almost certainly in the face of their own sin. To those whose consciousness of their own sinfulness has become a danger, Hebrews is building the case that our own sinfulness is no match for the faithfulness of Jesus. Jesus is an eternal, blameless, understanding, powerful high priest who is totally bent on making a way for us to become holy. Our sin is no small matter, but wondering and worrying if Jesus can take care of it is kind of like worrying whether or not my bank can take care of the change I scraped together out of the couch...okay, well maybe that's not a very timely illustration. It's kind of like calling in David Smith (Cardiologist) to help you put on a band-aid and being worried he can't handle it. It's like asking Jimmy Cone (contractor) to come over and help you change a light bulb in a lamp and being afraid he'll somehow mess it up, or not believing that Mike Stillman's (architect) design for a new doghouse will keep your pooch dry and aesthetically pleased. It's not trusting James Meadors (chef) to be able to fix you a ham sandwich. Jesus is infinitely more than capable of handling our sin, and that is beyond dispute. Each chapter of Hebrews adds another layer to that building argument.
A second bit of gospel in this chapter is specifically for us Gentiles. The Levitical priesthood was ordained to serve the descendants of Israel, to provide an expression of God's grace in his relationship with Israel. Those of us outside of that covenant relationship could glean no hope from that! But here we can see that the new covenant and it's priestly provision is not limited to those of Jewish ancestry as before. The new priest, Jesus, signals a new covenant, and this chapter important points out that this covenant is not confined to the ancestral boundaries of the old covenant! For Gentiles, this is incredibly good news! If Jesus wasn't born of Judah, but was a Levite, a descendant of Aaron, then no matter his purity, blamelessness, or exaltation, we could be left out of the loop. But thankfully, Jesus is a high priest of the order of Melchizedek, and this points towards the universal access to this covenant that Jews and Gentiles alike can share.
Finally, it is one of the remarkable features of this book that it does an amazing job of connecting us into the story of God's people throughout time. It may seem ironic that this book which speaks of the superiority of the new covenant builds so heavily on the foundation of the Hebrew scriptures. But this letter is not an attack on the Judaic faith, as some have supposed. In fact it is an extension of that faith, and does a great job showing how our faith can be connected to the stories of Abraham, David, Moses, and even such obscure figures as Melchizedek. Hebrews teaches and demonstrates that we are part of a larger story.
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