The Priest

Who is M?

(CSB) — We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. Jesus has entered there on our behalf as a forerunner, because he has become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

The question of the text is, Why was Jesus able to enter behind the veil on our behalf and as a forerunner?

The answer is, because he has become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

This is the hope we have: Jesus entered behind the curtain into the inner sanctuary, because he became a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

Who is M?

Melchizedek

Melchi (Melek, king)

zedek (sedeq, righteousness)

Sedeq transliterates into other Mesopotamian languages, meaning righteousness and is used as a name for other gods in several cases.

The character M seems to cross over well into Caananite literature at the very least.

Sedeq Yahweh (cf. ) is a polemic against the other Sedeq gods of the nations. (You think Sedeq is this, but look at Sedeq Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews)

M is often considered a Christophany for this reason. Who else can claim the title King of Righteousness except the eternal King of the Jews? David never even called Himself that.

11QMelch is a midrash on —by the 2nd temple period, the Jews saw M as Yahweh, God in human form.

11QM conflates Yahweh with M

11QM conflates the gods of the nations with the disobedient sons of Belial

IOW, 11QM interprets the text to say that the Devil is the head of the gods of the nations who were punished for ruling unjustly. And M stands as judge over them.

Title not name

Grammar of and suggest title not a personal name. Reads as a name in Hebrews and 2nd temple literature.

In , after the defeat of Chadorlaomer, Abraham offers a tithe to M and he accepts it. This is interesting, because tithes are never offered to mere men, but offered to God through HIs representatives. Clearly Abraham believed M to be a priest of Yahweh.

In , “You are a priest forever after the order of M,” David prophesied about a future King who would be a priest of the Most High, not in the order of Aaron (i.e. Israel), but in a more perfect order, the order of M. Remember, M is a different kind of priest and considered to be Yahweh, Himself.

SIDE NOTE: This is the same weirdness that we run into when we talk about how Jesus mediates for us with the Father. Aren’t they both one God? To which the answer is yes and no.

Priest of El El-Yon

The people had a category for priestly mediation even long before the temple system had been established in Israel.

King of Salem

Shalem is only used twice in the Hebrew Bible

It means completion or perfection

It is clearly a title here, King of Completion

, “God’s tent is in Shalem,” seems to point to God’s eternal abode.

The idea of completion is often used as a figure for eternal, perfect things.

What is M’s Order?

(CSB) — The Lord has sworn an oath and will not take it back: “You are a priest forever according to the pattern [order] of Melchizedek.”

M is an eternal priest, a priest forever. The author of Hebrews takes this Psalm to be about Jesus in our key text for this weekend,

(CSB) — We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. Jesus has entered there on our behalf as a forerunner, because he has become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

Everything we talked about this morning—that Jesus entered God’s presence 1) as a forerunner and 2) on our behalf is possible, only because Jesus became an eternal high priest after the order of M.

Why does being a priest in the order of M help Jesus cross the veil on our behalf? And secondly, how does Jesus being in the order of M make Him an anchor for our souls?

(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.

Do you see the historical thinking about M come through here. The Old Testament does not say anywhere that M is an eternal being with no beginning or end, but here the author of Hebrews adopts that thinking from 2QM and other 2nd temple literature, that M is an eternal being. In the Old Testament, they had a category for what eventually became known as the doctrine of the trinity. They knew that there was an eternal Father and that there was also a physical manifestation of God. Sometimes we refer to this in the Old Testament as the two Yahweh’s. They frequently show up, even, in the same narratives as separate charachters and yet it is obvious that the original readers believed them both to be the eternal God.

Here the author of Hebrews ties M to Jesus when he says he resembles the Son of God. This reminds me of . “In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” OK, so this word was God, but this word was also with God. And then in , “The word became flesh and lived among us.” You have this word of God that is God, but also with God, now existing simultaneously with God on the earth in human form. And the author of Hebrews says what you already know, that M is just like Jesus, the Son of God. M is an eternal priest. “He remains a priest forever.”

Jesus

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.

That is so important. The inferior always blesses the superior. You don’t offer tithes to something lower. Even Jesus, when he says to give to the poor and the needy, says “What you do for the least of these, you do unto me.” That’s a whole mind-blowing paradigm shift that took place in the New Testament, but Jesus recognized that if He is King, then the people of God must be taught how to give good gifts to their superior. And for Him, that is to bless the week and the lowly. Anyway, gifts always go up to the king.

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. 11 Now if perfection came through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the people received the law), what further need was there for another priest to appear, said to be according to the order of Melchizedek and not according to the order of Aaron? 12 For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must be a change of law as well. 13 For the one these things are spoken about belonged to a different tribe. No one from it has served at the altar. 14 Now it is evident that our Lord came from Judah, and Moses said nothing about that tribe concerning priests.

OK, let me explain what is happening here in the text. Remember you always give up. But, here the author of Hebrews gets into descencency issues. You always give gifts up to the greater person. And not only that, but the older person is always considered to be more superior than the younger. So, even though the man Israel is the namesake of the nation of Israel, we are considered children of Abraham, because Abraham is the grandfather of Israel.

So, then the author makes this whole argument that if the older is the greater, then in a sense the Levites who are supposed to bring in the tithe for Israel, are not as great as M, because the father of the Levites, Abraham already offered a tithe to M. Abraham is greater than the Levites. And M is greater than Abraham.

15 And this becomes clearer if another priest like Melchizedek appears, 16 who did not become a priest based on a legal regulation about physical descent but based on the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it has been testified: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

So, you can see this again. The author points to the eternality of M and then quotes yet again regarding Jesus. Just like M, Jesus is eternal with no beginning and no end. His life is indestructible. Therefore, there is no one greater than Jesus.

But wait, this same argument can be used to say that there is no one greater the M, too. In fact, based on Hebrew thinking, M showed up on the scene before Jesus, so M must be greater than Jesus right?

Let’s go back to the boring stuff I taught you in the beginning. Remember, M is not a personal name. M is a title that means King of Righteousness. And who better to bear that title than Jesus. says, “Hallelujah! Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God, because his judgments are true and righteous.” Jesus is the King who makes true and righteous judgments.

There is no one greater than Jesus and there is no one greater than M, because Jesus is M, the King of Righteousness.

“Hallelujah! Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God, because his judgments are true and righteous.”

The author of Hebrews continues in verse 18,

18 So the previous command [the laws of Moses] is annulled because it was weak and unprofitable 19 (for the law perfected nothing), but a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God. 20 None of this happened without an oath. For others became priests without an oath, 21 but he became a priest with an oath made by the one who said to him: The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever.” 22 Because of this oath, Jesus has also become the guarantee of a better covenant. 23 Now many have become Levitical priests, since they are prevented by death from remaining in office. 24 But because he remains forever, he holds his priesthood permanently.

There’s our anchor. Jesus holds his priesthood permanently. Jesus remains forever and forever he will be priest on our behalf.

25 Therefore, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, since he always lives to intercede for them.

This is the best part, I think, of this whole thing. Jesus saves completely. Like what saved partially? That’s how I think. That word completely is important. Salvation through Jesus is not partial, but complete. Remember M, who we know is Jesus, is the King of Salem, the King of completeness.

If you go back to the Levites in Israel, the priests had to offer sacrifices yearly for the sins of the people. Why? Well, because the people kept sinning. The sacrifices were about forgiveness of sins, so it made sense that if you continued to sin, then sacrifices had to be made. It was an imperfect, because the sacrifices did nothing to help the sinner with their sin problem. It dealt with the consequences of sin, but not the sinfulness itself.

Jesus saves completely. We are justified by His blood. That means we are forgiven for our sins. But, through Christ we are also sanctified and eventually glorified. Sanctification is the process of being made actually sinless. Glorification is your resurrection into a sinless body when you enter into God’s presence. Jesus saves completely, not just from the consequences of sin, but in Jesus you are saved from sin itself.

26 For this is the kind of high priest we need: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

Again, Levitical priests are merely human. And that means they are infected by sin. Jesus is holy, they are unholy. Jesus is innocent, but human priests are guilty. Jesus is undefiled. Human priests are unclean. Jesus is sanctified. Human priests need to be sanctified. Jesus is exalted above the heavens. Human priests are on earth.

We need the perfect eternal priest, not a human priest. That’s why he continues.

27 He [Jesus] doesn’t need to offer sacrifices every day, as high priests do—first for their own sins, then for those of the people. He did this once for all time when he offered himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak, but the promise of the oath, which came after the law, appoints a Son, who has been perfected forever.

Jesus’s innocence, perfection, and eternality made his sacrifice of infinite worth so that he doesn't need to offer continual sacrifices. His sacrifice was sufficient for all time and for all people. Jesus was able to accomplish by his death what no amount of human priests could have ever accomplished in their weakness.

28 For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak, but the promise of the oath, which came after the law, appoints a Son, who has been perfected forever.

APP

There is no more work to be done. It is finished.