Better Promises : WK 3 - THU
(Hebrews 7:1-14)
This Melchizedek was king of the city of Salem and also a priest of God Most High. When Abraham was returning home after winning a great battle against the kings, Melchizedek met him and blessed him. Then Abraham took a tenth of all he had captured in battle and gave it to Melchizedek. The name Melchizedek means “king of justice,” and king of Salem means “king of peace.” There is no record of his father or mother or any of his ancestors—no beginning or end to his life. He remains a priest forever, resembling the Son of God.
Consider then how great this Melchizedek was. Even Abraham, the great patriarch of Israel, recognized this by giving him a tenth of what he had taken in battle. Now the law of Moses required that the priests, who are descendants of Levi, must collect a tithe from the rest of the people of Israel, who are also descendants of Abraham. But Melchizedek, who was not a descendant of Levi, collected a tenth from Abraham. And Melchizedek placed a blessing upon Abraham, the one who had already received the promises of God. And without question, the person who has the power to give a blessing is greater than the one who is blessed.
The priests who collect tithes are men who die, so Melchizedek is greater than they are, because we are told that he lives on. In addition, we might even say that these Levites—the ones who collect the tithe—paid a tithe to Melchizedek when their ancestor Abraham paid a tithe to him. For although Levi wasn’t born yet, the seed from which he came was in Abraham’s body when Melchizedek collected the tithe from him.
So if the priesthood of Levi, on which the law was based, could have achieved the perfection God intended, why did God need to establish a different priesthood, with a priest in the order of Melchizedek instead of the order of Levi and Aaron?
And if the priesthood is changed, the law must also be changed to permit it. For the priest we are talking about belongs to a different tribe, whose members have never served at the altar as priests. What I mean is, our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never mentioned priests coming from that tribe.
I was never one of the cool kids in school. The “in crowd” was never a group I was a part of. It was obvious who the popular kids were, and I had to observe them from a distance.
There always seemed to be one girl who got the most attention from the boys. The guys would make fools of themselves just to get her to laugh or look at them. I may have fallen into this trap a few times. I would guess that there is a universal theme to every girl who filled this role in all the junior highs around the world: she loved the attention.
The best dynamic was at the beginning of the school year when a new girl arrived in the class and now that girl was the shiny toy that took the attention away from the previous queen bee. Now it was a battle to see which of these two girls would reign supreme in the contest to have the attention of the boys in the class. It was fun and cringey at the same time.
The Jewish Chrisitians who received this letter must have found this part of the letter confusing and disturbing. All Jews were a part of a tribe and one of the most respected tribes were the Levites. They were like the pastors of our times. Spiritual leaders in the temple. Without them there could not be a functioning temple. No sacrifices could be offered.
The Levites were so important that they were taken care of by all the other tribes. This was so that the Levites could concentrate completely on serving in the temple, a great honor. I would imagine that there could have been some Levites in the crowd hearing this letter read to them.
And the author says that Melchizedek is greater than the Levites. What?! This could not have been received well and yet it is true. The Levites, who thought they were great, now find out that there is a new priest in town, and his name is Jesus, and he’s from the order of Melchizedek, which is greater than them.
And this reality expands to us today. I know there have been many times in my religious experience that I have found out that the old ways, the traditional ways, aren’t as good as what I am learning today. That is hard because I am a loyal person and like my tradition. But now that I have Jesus, my new high priest, I have to reconsider the old ways and move in the new direction Jesus is leading me into. The old ways were good, but there is now a better way.
This Melchizedek was king of the city of Salem and also a priest of God Most High. When Abraham was returning home after winning a great battle against the kings, Melchizedek met him and blessed him. Then Abraham took a tenth of all he had captured in battle and gave it to Melchizedek. The name Melchizedek means “king of justice,” and king of Salem means “king of peace.” There is no record of his father or mother or any of his ancestors—no beginning or end to his life. He remains a priest forever, resembling the Son of God.
Consider then how great this Melchizedek was. Even Abraham, the great patriarch of Israel, recognized this by giving him a tenth of what he had taken in battle. Now the law of Moses required that the priests, who are descendants of Levi, must collect a tithe from the rest of the people of Israel, who are also descendants of Abraham. But Melchizedek, who was not a descendant of Levi, collected a tenth from Abraham. And Melchizedek placed a blessing upon Abraham, the one who had already received the promises of God. And without question, the person who has the power to give a blessing is greater than the one who is blessed.
The priests who collect tithes are men who die, so Melchizedek is greater than they are, because we are told that he lives on. In addition, we might even say that these Levites—the ones who collect the tithe—paid a tithe to Melchizedek when their ancestor Abraham paid a tithe to him. For although Levi wasn’t born yet, the seed from which he came was in Abraham’s body when Melchizedek collected the tithe from him.
So if the priesthood of Levi, on which the law was based, could have achieved the perfection God intended, why did God need to establish a different priesthood, with a priest in the order of Melchizedek instead of the order of Levi and Aaron?
And if the priesthood is changed, the law must also be changed to permit it. For the priest we are talking about belongs to a different tribe, whose members have never served at the altar as priests. What I mean is, our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never mentioned priests coming from that tribe.
I was never one of the cool kids in school. The “in crowd” was never a group I was a part of. It was obvious who the popular kids were, and I had to observe them from a distance.
There always seemed to be one girl who got the most attention from the boys. The guys would make fools of themselves just to get her to laugh or look at them. I may have fallen into this trap a few times. I would guess that there is a universal theme to every girl who filled this role in all the junior highs around the world: she loved the attention.
The best dynamic was at the beginning of the school year when a new girl arrived in the class and now that girl was the shiny toy that took the attention away from the previous queen bee. Now it was a battle to see which of these two girls would reign supreme in the contest to have the attention of the boys in the class. It was fun and cringey at the same time.
The Jewish Chrisitians who received this letter must have found this part of the letter confusing and disturbing. All Jews were a part of a tribe and one of the most respected tribes were the Levites. They were like the pastors of our times. Spiritual leaders in the temple. Without them there could not be a functioning temple. No sacrifices could be offered.
The Levites were so important that they were taken care of by all the other tribes. This was so that the Levites could concentrate completely on serving in the temple, a great honor. I would imagine that there could have been some Levites in the crowd hearing this letter read to them.
And the author says that Melchizedek is greater than the Levites. What?! This could not have been received well and yet it is true. The Levites, who thought they were great, now find out that there is a new priest in town, and his name is Jesus, and he’s from the order of Melchizedek, which is greater than them.
And this reality expands to us today. I know there have been many times in my religious experience that I have found out that the old ways, the traditional ways, aren’t as good as what I am learning today. That is hard because I am a loyal person and like my tradition. But now that I have Jesus, my new high priest, I have to reconsider the old ways and move in the new direction Jesus is leading me into. The old ways were good, but there is now a better way.
- What is an old religious practice you have let go of? What did you replace it with?
- How hard is it for you to try new things in your spiritual journey? Why do you think that is?
- What new spiritual paths is God leading you into?
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