Who is Jesus Christ? (Part 1/4)

Introduction

There are times in life where we just feel stuck - I’m not talking about being stuck in your pew either - but moving forward is what is necessary but it can feel absolutely impossible to do so because of something in our past. Whether it be a relationship problem or a work related problem or a communication problem, moving forward in faith is usually much easier said than done. In these moments, what do we need? We might want to see the big picture, but what we need is simply to know what our next step is.

For the people in the book of Hebrews, they have come out of Judaism and are new to the Christian walk but they are tempted to go back to their old way and to turn their back on Jesus Christ. Rather than going back to the law and the sacrifices that they grew up with, the preacher of Hebrews continues to remind them that Jesus is greater. That they must follow Jesus and press on in maturity from spiritual milk to spiritual meat. Even in the hard times where they might be tempted to give up, the preacher of Hebrews continues to argue that Jesus is the answer - He is the King - and we must trust in Him each step of the way, even when our flesh tells us to give up or go backward.

So today, we’re moving forward in our study of Hebrews and I’ll be honest with you all, if we were just teaching thematically or topically through Hebrews, it would be super easy to skip over Hebrews 7 because it’s a deep dive into something that many of us have never considered or possibly even read before. But, whenever you study books verse by verse together, you can’t skip anything. You can’t skip something because it’s hard to address… You can’t just preach what you want to preach either. You preach the next section in Scripture and the text tells you what you preach. And as 2 Timothy 3:16 reminds us, all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable. Therefore, we’ll never look to a passage of Scripture that is worth of “skipping.” Today, as our study of Hebrews reaches it’s halfway point (!), we come across a mysterious figure in Melchizedek. Who is this person? Why does he show up so often in Hebrews? How does he point us to Jesus? Who exactly is Jesus Christ? Hebrews 7 is vitally important for us in our study of Hebrews, but even more importantly, in our understanding of our Lord and Savior!

This morning, we kick off a 4 week study that will take us through Easter as we’re going to look at Who Jesus Christ is. Yes, He’s our Savior, but He’s so much more than just that! Today as we begin Hebrews 7 we’re going to see that Jesus Christ is not just a King, but He’s the King of Kings from the order of this priest-king named Melchizedek. Let’s dive into God’s Word

Hebrews 7:1–10 CSB

1 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of God Most High, met Abraham and blessed him as he returned from defeating the kings, 2 and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, his name means king of righteousness, then also, king of Salem, meaning king of peace. 3 Without father, mother, or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever. 4 Now consider how great this man was: even Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the plunder to him. 5 The sons of Levi who receive the priestly office have a command according to the law to collect a tenth from the people—that is, from their brothers and sisters—though they have also descended from Abraham. 6 But one without this lineage collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises. 7 Without a doubt, the inferior is blessed by the superior. 8 In the one case, men who will die receive a tenth, but in the other case, Scripture testifies that he lives. 9 And in a sense Levi himself, who receives a tenth, has paid a tenth through Abraham, 10 for he was still within his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.

The warning and encouragement of chapters 5 and 6 are through and we’re back on the pathway of the meat of this book! Aren’t you thankful that our God is a God of order and a God who doesn’t make mistakes? This morning we’re going to focus on the fact that Jesus Christ is King. Not just a king or kind of king… He is the King of Kings! Because of this, we must align our lives with His Word and will. As we prepare our hearts to study from this text, let’s pray and ask God what He wants of us today.

The King-Priest Blesses Others (1-3)

Names tell a story, don’t they? Whenever Lindsey and I discovered that we were going to have Gabriel, we immediately went to work trying to think of a good name. We were in Springfield one cold afternoon and stopped at Olive Garden for lunch and if you’re familiar with Springfield you know that there’s a Barnes and Noble right next to it, so we walked over and tried to find baby name books! Who would’ve imagined that there would be an entire shelf devoted to baby name books? We’re each looking through a book and trying to come up with 2-3 names for a boy and 2-3 names for a girl and then we’d compare the list and see if there were any matches. We settled on Gabriel for a boy and a yet to be announced name for a girl. Why Gabriel, many have asked? If you look at what Gabriel means in Scripture, you see that the Hebrew meaning is that “God is my strength” and that’s our prayer for that little guy as he gets older… that he would know that God is His strength. Names have meaning! But some names are a little easier to understand and say than others. In the Bible we see a thousand Mary’s and John’s just like today, right? How many Melchizedek’s have you ever heard of? Anyone?

This guy is found in 2 Old Testament passages and he’s the key to understanding the book of Hebrews. How does this even make sense? Who is this person? Hebrews 7:1-3 gives us a glimpse into who he is as the preacher looks back at Genesis 14 and uses that truth to make some points that still matter today. We see 8 things about Melchizedek in these verses

He is the King of Salem

Priest of the Most High God

His name means King of Righteousness

Salem means Peace - so King of Peace

Without Father or Mother

Without Genealogy

Without Beginning of Days or End of Life

A Priest Forever

We’ll get into these 8 unique details in a minute, but let’s first go backward before we go forward. Parents, how often do you get the why question? Too many times for us even to imagine! Sometimes we do the same with God and we want to know why. Why this person, why the priests, why these sacrifices, why Jesus? Remember last week as we looked at God’s rescue plan with the Garden, the Curtain, and the Cross? What was God’s original design for humanity? To live in His presence in His Garden and to rule over His creation as His image bearers. That was in the Garden of Eden and all was perfect… until Adam and Eve rebelled against God and sinned. The consequences of sin are vast, but arguably the biggest is that humanity is cast out of God’s presence. Aren’t you thankful that God doesn’t leave us where we’re at? After the Garden, God makes a promise to Abraham that his offspring would bless all the nations of the earth and eventually God gives the people of Israel the law. God is on a mission to restore sinful, fallen humanity to Himself and part of that mission is for priests to offer sacrifices on behalf of the sins of the people so that their sins would be covered for a year. This was the function of the priests - to lead the people in worship and make sacrifices. Eventually, the people of Israel enter the promised land and they make these sacrifices but they look around at the other nations, and what do they all have? A king. God’s intention was for them to never have a king and for Him to be their king, but they wanted a king to lead them and God gave them the desires of their heart - which usually isn’t a good thing in Scripture! So now, the people of Israel had a king and they had their priests. These were two separate people and two separate offices. You could not be both as the priests came from the tribe of Levi and the tribe of Levi could not hold governmental offices. In fact, in Isaiah 6 we see this

Isaiah 6:1 CSB

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and the hem of his robe filled the temple.

Do you know why King Uzziah died? Because he was king but he also wanted to be the high priest. 2 Chronicles 26:19-21 tells us that God punished him for trying to take on the priestly role and not being called or able to do so according to Scripture. Why does this matter? To show us something significant here. God is a God of order. Whenever God says something, He does so for a purpose. In the law, the priests couldn’t be king and the king couldn’t be priest. This was God’s covenant with His people, the descendants of Abraham… Yet, here in Hebrews 7:1 we see this Melchizedek person is both a king and a priest. What’s up with this? Melchizedek’s Kingdom, you could say, comes before that of Abraham. His name means the King of Righteousness and he is the king of Salem - or the king of the city of peace. Meaning, that Melchizedek was the king of Jerusalem before it was called Jerusalem. He worships God and serves as his priest. He is quite the guy but we know next to nothing about him. We don’t know his parents. We don’t know when he died. Who is this person? We don’t know much! How old was he? We don’t know. Alistaig Begg shares that, “Even the silences of Scripture are pregnant with meaning.”

We see that this man resembles the Son of God and remains a priest forever. Think back with me to Daniel 3 and the 4th person in the fire, do you remember what was said of that person? Daniel 3:25

Daniel 3:25 CSB

25 He exclaimed, “Look! I see four men, not tied, walking around in the fire unharmed; and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”

Many share that the 4th in the fire was none other than Jesus Christ - it could be! Without question this is the angel of the Lord delivering Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace. Here in Hebrews 7, we’re trying to figure out who this Melchizedek person is and we’re coming up blank. Some think that he too is a pre-incarnate or before Bethlehem, appearance of Jesus Christ. Others argue that he’s an angel. More than likely, he’s a wise leader who we simply don’t know much about other than the fact that God uses him for a purpose thousands of years after his life to demonstrate the superiority of Jesus’ rule and priestly work.

Melchizedek blesses his subjects by serving as their king and priest, and he even blesses Abraham in Genesis 14 following the battle of the Kings that Abraham won. But this is not all that we see about this mysterious man - let’s keep digging in verses 4-10 as we see that Abraham does something with him.

The King-Priest Receives Honor (4-10)

Sports fans, what is going on right now? March madness! We see the highs and lows as teams survive and advance or lose and go home. Whenever you win a big game or have something really good happen to you, it’s easy to see some character defects or genuine good character shine in that moment. A spotlight is kind of like a big magnifying glass and when the spotlight shines on you, it’s like a magnifying glass that gives everyone an up and close view of the character inside of you. The spotlight can reveal really really bad and the spotlight can reveal really really good inside of all of us! In Genesis 14, we read that Abraham went out and won a great battle against several other kings and rescued his nephew, Lot. As he returns from this massive victory, it would have been common for the victor to enjoy the fruits of his win. Whenever an army would defeat another army at this time in history, they would also take all of the goods, servants, and livestock with them as well. Meaning that this victory has made Abraham into a very wealthy and powerful person, even though he was already wealthy and powerful. Genesis 14 and Hebrews 7 tell us something interesting about what he does in this moment, though. When the spotlight of victory was on him, he tithed 10% of the plunder to this mysterious figure named Melchizedek, the king of Salem and priest of the most high God. Look at this with me in Genesis 14:17-20

Genesis 14:17–20 CSB

17 After Abram returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the Shaveh Valley (that is, the King’s Valley). 18 Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine; he was a priest to God Most High. 19 He blessed him and said: Abram is blessed by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, 20 and blessed be God Most High who has handed over your enemies to you. And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

Abraham is the one called by God to be His servant and to be made into a great and mighty nation, yet, we see this chosen servant pause and pay honor to this priest of the most high God. The most famous Jew in history paid a tithe to Melchizedek. The one who had the promise from God was blessed by this king and Hebrews 7:7 tells us that the inferior (Abraham) is blessed by the superior (Melchizedek). How can you be superior than Abraham, this is the question that every Jewish person would be wondering at this time! How is that even possible? Do you remember the context of Hebrews? Who is the audience that this sermon is given to? Jewish-Christians. What have we seen in these first 6 chapters? Jesus is superior and greater. He’s greater than the angels, prophets, and messengers. He’s greater than Joshua, Aaron, and Moses. Now, we see that this Melchizedek person is greater than Abraham. Hold onto that, we’ll come back to that idea of superiority in a minute.

The Jewish people paid a tenth to the priesthood and the priests received this with honor as they performed their assigned duties by God. Giving has always been a part of worship as found in God’s Word. Abraham gave Melchizedek a tenth off the top and the Jewish people ended up giving more along the lines of 33% of what they had year in and year out. Giving is a big deal because it reveals our heart and our devotion to King Jesus. Christ has blessed us with all that we have and He gifts us in order that we will faithfully give back and trust in Him. Abraham and his descendants honored the Lord by giving and Abraham honored Melchizedek by giving to him. We do the same as we give back and honor Christ. The amazing thing that happens as Christians is that whenever we give, we know that our tithes and offerings are used by a Living God to further and advance His forever Kingdom.

Have you ever tried to make a change in your life for the better and for a period of time (new years resolution, anyone?) it works out but then you’re tempted to go back to your old habit or your old way of thinking? Making a permanent change, especially a good one, takes time and perseverance! Giving can certainly be this way. These Jewish people who have come out of Judaism and are now attending Church and following Christ as Lord have left something that was embedded into their brains: we tithe to support the Levitical priesthood. As they become Christians and as Jesus tears that veil in the temple, people rejoice but there’s a seed of doubt in the back of their brains… should I go back to the old paths? Should I go back to what I’m used to? The answer is no - the answer is not backward, it’s forward. It’s through Jesus, not the sacrificial system. It’s by faith, not by works. The preacher is encouraging his listeners to see that Abraham gave to Melchizedek out of a sense of gratitude for his blessing and this should be the way that we give as well. We should give to the Lord out of a sense of gratitude for His blessing in our lives because He has provided and continues to do so. The greatest way He has provided is through a greater hope and that provision is Jesus Christ. Because of Jesus, we always have reason to give God our thanks and give back to Him with the time, talent, and treasures He has entrusted to us.

If Jesus is better than the high priests of old who came from Abraham (as his offspring) and is a priest according to the order of Melchizedek, then the argument being made is this: Melchizedek is greater than Abraham and Jesus is greater than Melchizedek, therefore, Jesus must be greater than Abraham as well. Jesus is greater

The King-Priest Points us to Jesus

What we see in the person of Melchizedek is that he is a “type” of Jesus Christ. Maybe that word sounds a little strange. Let’s look at some examples of people in the Old Testament who clearly point us in some way or another to Jesus Christ. Let’s start with Isaac as we talked about his story last Sunday as Abraham was going to take him up on the mountain top and offer him as a sacrifice to God but God intervened. Do you see how that points us to Jesus Christ? Our Savior was led to the mountain top to be offered as a sacrifice for our sins but God didn’t intervene. He truly did die as the once for all sacrifice for sins as Hebrews 10 will tell us. We see a shadow of Christ in the story of Isaac. Let’s think about the story of Joseph in Genesis 37-50 as Joseph was eventually taken into Egyptian slavery but was faithful to God and promoted to become the key advisor to the Pharaoh and help save many people, including his brothers. Joseph says this in Genesis 50:20 to his brothers

Genesis 50:20 NASB95

20 “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.

Does this not point us to Jesus Christ? The One who was subjected to suffering but remained faithful and saved His people from certain destruction. Think of the cross church, the people of Israel and Rome meant the cross for evil… but God meant it for good! We see a shadow of Christ in the story of Joseph. We good for one more? Think of Numbers 21 as the people of Israel are in the wilderness and they are in a bad situation as there are poisonous snakes attacking the people. God commands Moses to lift up a serpent on a poll and if the people look at the serpent, they will be cleansed and live. Look at John 3:14-15 with me

John 3:14–15 CSB

14 “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

Ah! What does Jesus Himself do? He shares that Moses was the shadow and He is the substance. This scene of Moses doing this in the Old Testament points us to Jesus Christ. (Throw in David - Jesus connection as well? - If so, stress David/Goliath) Why have we spent the time to look at 3 examples of this? Because a typology is something that we’ve probably not heard of by and large, but it’s something that is extremely important for us to understand Jesus correctly. What we see in Hebrews 7 and, more specifically, Psalm 110 and Genesis 14 is a man who serves as the King of Jerusalem and who also operates as the priest of the most high God. I ask you this, what is the divine purpose of the person of Melchizedek? To point us to Jesus Christ - not the shadow, but the substance - who serves as our King and our High Priest!

Do you see how it’s all connected from Genesis to Matthew to Revelation? This Melchizedek shows up in Genesis 14 and then a thousand years later, David references him as a type of the coming Savior who will be a priest according to the order of Melchizedek… but then there is silence until the preacher of Hebrews uses this quotation from a thousand years before his time to demonstrate that Jesus is this promised king and priest. There’s no way you could make this type of story up! Plus, why would no one else think to bring up this person if he was so important? Spurgeon, shared this truth years ago as he noted that “From every tiny town and village in England, there is a road that leads to London. And, so, from every text in Scripture, there is a road to the metropolis of the Scriptures, that is Christ.” It’s a miracle that we have our Bibles that contain with them the living, active, and effective Word of God that tells us who we are and who Christ is and how desperately we need Him to save us from our sins!

Do you know the good news about Scripture? You don’t have to worry about being good enough to save yourself. You’re not your own savior and you never can be… but there is a way that you and I can be saved and it’s through King Jesus. If you’re like me, you look at what’s going on in our world today and maybe it seems like there is no true king at times. Like chaos is winning the day. Like doubt and despair are dominating and destroying our lives. Like we’re in this on our own. I’m thankful that in the midst of the waiting and the confusion and the chaos and the frustration that we can have an anchor of assurance in the person of Jesus Christ. The King of Kings who is ruling and reigning today on His throne and who does not lose and who will never drop His people.

Just as Abraham bowed and honored Melchizedek, one day everyone will bow down to King Jesus

Philippians 2:9–11 CSB

9 For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow— in heaven and on earth and under the earth— 11 and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

From beginning to end, the Bible is not about you… Scripture is about Jesus. He is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. As we get ready for Easter Sunday in just a few weeks, we’re going to continue looking at other titles and descriptions of Jesus Christ. He is our Mediator. He is the Suffering Servant. And He is our Risen Savior. Melchizedek’s name means the King of Righteousness. Do you know what Isaiah 11 tells us about the promised Messiah?

Isaiah 11:4 CSB

4 but he will judge the poor righteously and execute justice for the oppressed of the land. He will strike the land with a scepter from his mouth, and he will kill the wicked with a command from his lips.

The city that this king rules over is Salem - or the city of peace. Do you know what Isaiah 9 prophesies about the coming Messiah?

Isaiah 9:6 CSB

6 For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

This is Jesus - our perfect King who rules with justice and righteousness and who died on the cross for our sins. He’s not just a wise teacher or a miracle worker or a healer or a leader… He’s our Savior. He’s fully-God and fully-man. He’s a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek as we’ll get into next week, meaning that He continues to work on our behalf today and provide us with access to our Father in heaven.

Hebrews 4:16 CSB

16 Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.

Do you know this Jesus? Do you see the scarlet thread of redemption from cover to cover? Do you see how the Bible is not ultimately about you or I? It’s not about our temporary ailments and problems. The Bible is about the holiness and love of the Creator God for His creation. He is so merciful that He sent His Son to the earth 2000 years ago not chiefly to make people smarter, faster, healthier, or better looking… He came to make dead people come to life, spiritually speaking. He came to seek and save the lost from their sins. He came to reconcile us to our Father. Who is this Jesus? He is the victorious King. Do you know this Jesus and are you worshiping Him faithfully in your life today?

Application

Because Jesus is our King - He deserves our all.

He deserves our worship

So many in our world are on board with Jesus being Savior… but what about Jesus being Lord? That’s a totally different story. If Jesus is just Savior, we can say a prayer, walk an aisle, do an action one time and call it good! But if Jesus is also Lord then He demands more than just a one time emotional response. He demands and deserves our worship in the good times and the bad because He doesn’t change and He doesn’t move! He always deserves our worship and praise because of Who He is and what He has done as King!

He deserves our time

Not only does Jesus deserve our worship, but He also deserves our time. Following Jesus and growing to be more like Him and giving Him glory and honor in the way that we live our life naturally takes time. We don’t “get it” overnight - we grow to be more like Him over time. Jesus is worth waking up 10 minutes earlier than you have to do study His Word. Jesus is worth reorganizing your schedule to make it to worship. Jesus is worth standing out in a world that is all about fitting in. He deserves our time because He has provided us with every second, breath, and drop of blood we have.

He deserves our all

You and I didn’t arrive where we’re at through hard work, blood, sweat, and tears… We have been given grace from God in order to praise God. He has provided every step of the way and promises to continue doing so until He calls us home. Everything that we have is His - and there is nothing in our lives that we should say is “off limits” to use to serve Him and His Kingdom!

Like Abraham, we come to our King to receive what we need (righteousness and peace) and we give Him what we have (time, talent, and treasure) because we know that He is greater and He deserves it and so much more! Today, let our response to the victory of our King be to come to Him. To understand that we need His help. We need His blessing. We need His salvation. We need His righteousness because each one of us have sinned and broken God’s perfect law. We need Jesus - He doesn’t need us. Come to Him and receive peace unlike anything you’ve ever experienced before. Come to Him and do so now with cheerfulness in your heart as you serve Him and give back to Him with what He has already given to you. Come home to Jesus today - He is our King. He is greater!

Pray