Perfect, Good, and Meh: A Comparison of Priest

Good Morning!

Thanks Alex for ministering to us through worship this morning.

Comment on testimony?

Last weeks service was absolutely incredible and I am excited for what the Lord has in store for us today.

As I mentioned last week, we are moving into the section of Hebrews that spends about five chapters walking through all the facets of Jesus being a high priest.

There will be a brief interlude at the end of chapter 5 and through chapter six where the author is going to spend sometime challenging the church.

Today we are going to cover a bit more ground than we typically do, but what God wants to reveal through this section is significant for us.

Today we are going to learn some important parts of our redemptive story, specifically why we need a priest and what that means for all people, not just believers.

To get us started off on the right foot, I want us to watch this video from The Bible Project to make sure we all understand the meaning and significance of sacrifice and atonement.

We must understand this basic, foundational, truth of our faith.

Last week we learned what it meant to hold fast to our confession.

Holding fast as if our lives depended on it, to what we believe.

If we don’t understand the need for sacrifice and atonement, we don’t fully understand what Jesus has done for us.

So, let’s watch this video together and then we will dive into Hebrews 5.

Video - Sacrifice and Atonement

There are a few important things that I want to draw our attention to as we move forward.

The evil that is in the world is the same evil that is inside of you and I.

Evil is initiated and it is then manifested in the world through us.

All of us have the same sin problem.

Justice does not happen if the offender of the law is not dealt with.

If a person breaks the law, is simply forgiven, and there are no consequences then there is no Justice. In fact, we would describe that as corruption.

If God just forgave everyone and didn’t deal with sin, he would not be just.

Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for every person.

Jesus became the final sacrifice that was needed for our atonement.

I heard a commentator say it this way AT-ONE-MENT.

Jesus sacrificing himself made us one with God.

So, now we see that all of us need a priest, all of us sin, all of us need forgiveness, and all of us need atonement.

That is why the author of Hebrews is going to spend so much time talking about Jesus being the High Priest.

We are starting today with a statement about the nature of a high priest, that is, how they come to hold that position, and how Christ is similar, yet greater, than the levitical priest.

Hebrews 5:1–10 CSB

1 For every high priest taken from among men is appointed in matters pertaining to God for the people, to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he is also clothed with weakness. 3 Because of this, he must make an offering for his own sins as well as for the people. 4 No one takes this honor on himself; instead, a person is called by God, just as Aaron was. 5 In the same way, Christ did not exalt himself to become a high priest, but God who said to him, You are my Son; today I have become your Father, 6 also says in another place, You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. 7 During his earthly life, he offered prayers and appeals with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 8 Although he was the Son, he learned obedience from what he suffered. 9 After he was perfected, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, 10 and he was declared by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

I’d like to start by saying that there is a lot that could be said about this passage.

I listened to several incredible podcast yesterday concerning this passage and chapter 7.

If you are interested in taking a deep dive, I can send you some links.

No one choose to be a high priest, they were appointed by God.

Aaron was appointed.

The family of Levi was appointed.

Jesus was appointed by God as High Priest.

He was not from the family of Levi, but in the order of Melchizedek.

We will talk in more detail about Mel when we get to chapter seven.

As a High Priest, Jesus appealed to God on behalf of the people.

When we read the NT, the priest appear to be very self serving, but we see the exact opposite from Jesus.

He learned obedience through his suffering with temptation.

He became the source for eternal salvation for all who obey him.

This last point is one of great importance for us and where I have felt God leading us to discuss.

I know what you might be thinking, “Will, we have talked so much about obedience. Again with this?”

If you are thinking about that, you are right, we have talked about it a lot.

The reason we keep talking about it is because it is an unresolved issue that has plagued humankind since Adam and Eve.

I want to take us on a scriptural journey today to show you the depth of the issue and why the Author brings up Melchizedek.

Turn with me to Genesis 12 and let’s look at the story of Abram.

Genesis 12:1–3 CSB

1 The Lord said to Abram: Go from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.

God is going to bless Abram and Sarai and gives the a specific command.

What was it?

Genesis 12:1 (CSB)

The Lord said to Abram:

Go from your land,

your relatives,

and your father’s house

to the land that I will show you.

Do this thing and God will bless you.

Look at vs 4.

Genesis 12:4 (CSB)

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.

The one thing that God told him to do, he didn't do.

Genesis 13:5–9 CSB

5 Now Lot, who was traveling with Abram, also had flocks, herds, and tents. 6 But the land was unable to support them as long as they stayed together, for they had so many possessions that they could not stay together, 7 and there was quarreling between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. (At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land.) 8 So Abram said to Lot, “Please, let’s not have quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, since we are relatives. 9 Isn’t the whole land before you? Separate from me: if you go to the left, I will go to the right; if you go to the right, I will go to the left.”

Imagine that, between the two of them, there wasn’t enough land.

God promised to make him a great nation, but because he didn’t obey, there wasn’t enough room for those he brought with him.

Jump down to vs 14.

Genesis 13:14–17 CSB

14 After Lot had separated from him, the Lord said to Abram, “Look from the place where you are. Look north and south, east and west, 15 for I will give you and your offspring forever all the land that you see. 16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust of the earth, then your offspring could be counted. 17 Get up and walk around the land, through its length and width, for I will give it to you.”

Now we are getting somewhere! Abram finally did what God told him and God gives him all the land of Canaan.

He then tells him to walk around the land.

Genesis 13:18 CSB

18 So Abram moved his tent and went to live near the oaks of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the Lord.

What happens next is a fascinating story.

When you have a minute, go read Genesis 14.

The story of the war of the Nine kings.

Four kingdoms against five.

The four kingdoms win, loot the others and captured Lot and family.

Abram gathers up 318 trained men (against four kingdoms), chase down the captors, defeat them, and rescue Lot and his family.

God ends up sending all these kings to war and having Lot and his family captured just so Abram will do what God told him which was walk the land.

And here our story ends with the Mysterious Melchizedek.

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.

Here, Melchizedek, the King and Priest, blessed Abram.

The blessing follows the obedience.

Finally, Abram does what God told him to do and he is blessed.

The author of Hebrews points us back to this story and references Melchizedek because he is like Jesus.

He is a king and priest, just like Jesus.

Jesus, our king and priest, tells his people that He is their source of salvation if they what?

Obey him.

We cannot overplay the importance of obeying God.

Last week I told you that I am so excited about where God has us a body.

I shared that it felt like we are teetering on the edge of something great.

The only way we get to experience the blessing that is to come is if all of us are obedient to what God is calling all of us to do.

To be clear, I’m not asking for you to do what God is telling me.

All of us have specific roles in this body.

We are here by God’s design with a specific purpose.

I’m asking you to obey what God is telling you to do.

If all of us will follow God’s lead, we will find ourselves on the receiving end of God’s great goodness.

We won’t be the only benefactors either.

Our communities will get to see the goodness of God.

At the beginning of this message, I told you that we were going to see our need for Jesus as our priest.

Jesus is our High Priest and it is only because of his work in our lives that we are able to experience God’s blessing.

We are all just like Abram.

God gives us directions and we don’t fully obey.

The question that we need to all ask ourselves is, what has God spoken for me to do and am I fully doing it?

I want to leave us with a final thought today.

Jesus showed us what this loving and obeying relationship looked like.

John 14:15–21 CSB

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. 17 He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive him because it doesn’t see him or know him. But you do know him, because he remains with you and will be in you. 18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live too. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, you are in me, and I am in you. 21 The one who has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father. I also will love him and will reveal myself to him.”

The Blessing Of God that we have been talking about is his presence and activity in our lives.

We experience that only through obedience.

God sent us a Perfect High Priest to role model that relationship for us.

Love God, Obey Him, and you will experience him in your life.