And Who Is Melchizedek?
Monday, December 17, 2018
Now the
law requires the descendants of Abraham . . . become priests. . . . What we
have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, one
who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but
on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. For it is declared, “You
are priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” Hebrews 7:5a, 15-17
I almost left this one last comment
about Melchizedek out of our devotional. I don’t want to belabor the point of
the Old Testament theophany, but I do think it is important that we see all the
evidence for that occurrence. And there is a point in this excerpt from Hebrews
that is important.
All priests were to come from
the tribe of Aaron. And from that priestly order, one was chosen to serve as
high priest for his entire life. (Saul got into big trouble when he was king
and assumed the role of priest on one occasion!) Jesus, we know, did not come
from the tribe of Aaron but from the tribe of Judah!
In this Scripture the reference
to Christ’s being a priest forever comes from Psalm 110:4, and it is God the
Father who proclaims the word, forever.
God declares the no-beginning-no-ending status of Christ’s priesthood. And as
he does, he proclaims Christ as preceding the instructions given to Aaron and
his descendants.
You may wonder why I think this
is important, so let me take today’s devotional page to correct something that
I long believed (I think erroneously), and something I still sometimes hear
people say. “The Old Testament is about a God of wrath, and the New Testament
is about a God of love.” When I hear that, I want to grab some kind of platform
and scream in an unPatience-like tone and volume, “NO! The whole Bible is about
ONE GOD! The Triune God! God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit!”
He tried to tell us all through
the Old Testament who he is, but we never understood! Now in the New, he comes
as a tiny baby – something our minds can grasp – to tell us that he is with us
and has always been with us. Emanuel! He comes as a baby who has to grow up, so
we can realize that he understands our growing-up problems. He comes as an
infant who has to learn, so we can trust him as we learn to comprehend our
difficulty. He comes as a vulnerable child and man, so we can watch him stand
without sin against his only adversary, the devil, and can have the courage to
resist our own temptation! We have a high priest who started showing up visibly
back in Genesis, before what we call history, during all of history, and will
still be after all this world’s history is over and a new history begins!
We sing, “He left the splendor
of heaven, knowing his destiny was a lonely hill on Golgotha, there to lay down
his life for me. . . . And if that isn’t love, then . . . heaven’s a myth. . .
.”
God has been trying for all of
the years of man’s existence to tell us that he will do anything to restore the
relationship we were created to have with him. The Genesis appearance of
Melchizedek, the psalmist’s reference to him, and the clear revelation of his
person in Hebrews is God’s way of saying to us over and over, “Learn who I am!
I came as one of you so you could understand what you were intended to be –
perfect and in complete fellowship with God.”
Prayer: Father, sometimes we realize that our understanding of you,
of the extent to which you will go and have gone to restore our relationship to
you, is almost above our comprehension. Then we see our Great High Priest lying
in a manger and we are awestruck. Then as you help us grasp more and more of
who you are, we sing, “Hallelujah, thine the glory! Hallelujah, amen.
Hallelujah, thine the glory! Revive us again!” Amen
And Who is Melchizedek?
An Advent Devotional Guide
prepared for Rehobeth United Methodist Church, Winter 2012,
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator
prepared for Rehobeth United Methodist Church, Winter 2012,
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator
messiahcob.com
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