Hebrews 5-- The Order of Melchizedek

Scripture: Hebrews 5 (especially verses 5 and 6)

As we've seen, and will keep seeing, the author of Hebrews is concerned with how high our view of Jesus is, that we might also lift our response to His ministry and message. One theme in this book is that of Jesus as our high priest.

We've already thought about why He became our human priest, but now we get to take an awesome look at what kind of priest He is. And to do that, we get to turn to an amazing Psalm (number 110) and a cryptic ancient figure (Melchizedek).

The Psalmist(s) wrote some amazing songs. They range across an emotional panoply of lament, rejoicing, rage, confidence, despair, and prophecy. Well, prophecy isn't an emotion, but don't pay attention to that. The point is, there's a lot going on in the Psalms.

The 110th of these poems is, to me, especially fascinating. It's one Jesus was quite fond of for stumping the Pharisees and cryptically revealing His identity. In it, David begins, "The LORD said to my Lord..." Jesus identifies Himself as the second "Lord": the Lord of David, Israel, and the world, but somehow distinct from the LORD, the divine being who had revealed Himself to Moses and led Egypt out of captivity.

In this message from LORD to Lord, or as we understand it, Father to Son, we learn some things to come. Some of them we may not dwell on much ("He will... [fill the nations] with corpses"). One of these things is what's quoted in Hebrews 5-- the Lord will be "a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek."

So who is this oddly named priest? We know very little about him, except for his brief cameo in the story of Abraham (nee Abram). After an Abrahamic military victory, the king-priest of Salem, named Melchizedek, is there. He blesses Abraham and receives a tithe from him. That's it. He's a priest, he's a king, and he's a spiritual leader to Abram, the eventual father of God's people. 

What's crucial, I think, is Melky's priesthood. It doesn't derive from a religious system. He wasn't born into it, nor did he earn it. He simply is a priest of God Most High. It's part of who he is, and as far as the text goes, we don't know of any beginning or end of his service to God. 

It is in this sense (I think) that Jesus' priesthood is descended from Melchizedek's. It is an eternal, irrevocable, and invincible priesthood. 

He's not the televangelist whose program is a thinly veiled attempt to get rich. He's not the mega-church pastor who steps down because of an affair. He's not the Levitical priest who has his office simply because his father did. He's not even the [fill-in-the-blank human being] whose ministry is limited and marred by ignorance, sin, and mistakes.

He's a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.