Prepare for Christmas: The Seventh Day of Advent

And Who Is Melchizedek?

Saturday, December 8, 2018

Since the children have flesh and blood, he [Jesus] too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. Hebrews 2:14-15

We seldom mention the devil any more – and if we do, it’s not as though he were an active, powerful being but as some mystical presence of evil. But here, the Scripture presents him as very powerful, one whom Christ has come to destroy. Ephesians 5 clearly teaches us that we are struggling against dark, spiritual forces – Satan and his henchmen – and that we should be prepared to meet those forces well clad for battle!

Notice that this Scripture calls Satan by the name familiar to us – the devil – saying he [Satan] holds the power of death. At first thought we might want to argue this point. Isn’t God the one who holds the power of life and death? Isn’t he the one of whom pastors speak when they pray at funerals, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked I will depart. The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21)?

So, if this is true, how can the devil have “the power of death?” The writer of Hebrews is talking about fear of death, about being afraid to give someone up to death or of dying ourselves. That becomes clear when he says this fear causes us to be in bondage. And he’s right! We are. We use euphemisms: someone has “passed on,” or “departed,” or “left us.” Why don’t we just say, “He died?” That is what happened, you know. The life of the person we loved is no longer evident or resident in the loved one’s body, and it hurts too much to say what has happened.

Well, the power of the devil that Hebrews talks about is not the power to kill us but the power to cause us to “fear death.” Who originated the word, “die?” Go read Genesis 3, and see how Satan taught Eve a new word! Just as Satan has the power to cause us to fear, Jesus has the greater power to cause us to be free from fear, especially the fear of dying.

I had a wonderful friend in Florida who had multiple sclerosis, a very debilitating disease that had slowly taken all the strength from every muscle of her body. She had been an avid swimmer, a hearty Swedish woman who hiked through snow, laughed often, whose strong lungs gave her a powerful voice. Now nothing worked but a few muscles in her face. She loved the Lord, so she had no need to fear. Just before she died, I saw some apprehension in her face, and I knelt by her bed and reminded her that before long she would run again, hike again, and sing joyfully in the presence of Jesus. I reminded her she’d soon be in the presence of the one who came to free us from “slavery to the fear of death.”

Jennifer LaMountain sings a wonderful song I love, and part of it is this: “No more fear, no more pain, no more tears, never crying again. Praises to the great I AM. We will walk in the light of the Risen Lamb.” That’s what this verse in Hebrews is all about. Jesus came to destroy the one who holds the power to cause us to fear death. His [Jesus’] greater power will move us through that incredible time called death to the eternal moment when we never face fear of death again.

Prayer: Father, thank you for the power of Jesus Christ to overcome Satan and his diabolic plan to keep us afraid of many things, and especially afraid of that wonderful time when we move from earth to you – there to be with you forever. Forgive us for allowing him to frighten us, and help us to remember your promise to be with us, even to the end. Amen.

And Who is Melchizedek?

An Advent Devotional Guide
prepared for Rehobeth United Methodist Church, Winter 2012,
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator

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