Hebrews 7:1-3: King of Peace and Righteousness

When I started writing patent applications many years ago, while working for Award Software, a famous German patent attorney counseled me: "It is not enough to say that your method is different. You must state why it is better." At the time, a large multi-national company was charging our customer $1 per patent per PC shipped, costing them several million dollars per year. Yes, it would be great be different but it also must be demonstrably better.

The author of Hebrews has pulled out all the stops in the first chapters of Hebrews to show that Jesus is not just different than other spiritual agents but demonstrably better. Already Jesus was shown to be better than the angels (Heb. 1:4), Moses (Heb. 3:3), Aaron and the priests (Heb. 7:11) and now, Abraham, the father of all Israel.

This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, his name means "king of righteousness"; then also, "king of Salem" means "king of peace." Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever. - Hebrews 7:1-3

There has been much written and little known about this character Melchizedek. His name only appears here, in Genesis 14 (where he met Abraham) and Psalm 110 (a Messianic prophecy). But this was enough, because it established two important key points:

1. Abraham honored him as a priest of "God Most High" after Abraham had met and obeyed God (Gen. 12), but before the later covenants or signs of covenants.
2. This priest was not one of the children of Aaron or the tribe of Levi (who was still a few generations from being born!)

There was a class of priest (specialist, able to represent man before God) outside of the traditional priestly classes who even Abraham recognized. The Bible places Jesus into this priesthood, not by birth (he was of the king's tribe, not the priest's tribe) but by a declaration from God. And he trumps even Abraham: "And without doubt the lesser person is blessed by the greater" (Heb. 7:7) Basically, Jesus bests any spiritual guru, by any measuring stick you want to use.

But let's focus on the three aspects of this priest, found in Genesis 14:18: "Then Melchizedek [king of righteousness] king of Salem [king of peace] brought out bread and wine. He was priest of the Most High God."

1. First, he was the king. While Abraham refuses to deal with the king of Sodom (Gen. 14:23), he eats with this king of Salem, gives him a tenth of the plunder (keeping none for himself), and receives his blessing.
2. Second, he was the the king of Jerusalem. The modern name of Jerusalem is a compound word which means "to see peace". But, it is likely that the name during Abraham's time was simply "the city of peace." When David led the people of Israel to establish their capital, it was merely a return to the holy place established by God a thousand years before, by a priest of his own choosing. Abraham defeats the army outside the city of peace (after rescuing his nephew Lot). Then he receives a blessing from the king of peace. While Abraham was able to effect his own peace in war time (with God's assistance), he needed another to mediate on his behalf before God (Heb 12:24).
3. Third, he was the king of "righteousness"  His name (Melchizedek) is simply a compound word for "king" and "righteousness". The writer of Hebrews picks up, because Jesus came not just as a presenter of sacrifices, he himself was the sacrifice. He is our righteousness, the source of our good standing with God. 

We are too small to box with God--our arms are too short, our grasp too infirm. We need a cessation of hostilities, brokered by the King of Peace, guaranteed by the King of Righteousness.

"Can I Trust You?" set to music.

This song "God Is It True?" by Steven Curtis Chapman, shows the true heart of our questions: Can I Trust You?

Hebrews 7:26-28: Trading My Weakness For His Strength

One of the toughest elements of trust is an admission of weakness.  We need to trust because we need help. We need help because we are not the rulers of the universe. That places us in the awkward position of having to depend on someone else. How much of the "silent, independent man" stereotype is based on a presumption of competence; a belief that a men and women can be a master of their environment, themselves and their destiny.

We trust our health to our doctors. We trust our water supplies to hydraulic engineers. We trust our public safety to police and fire specialists. We trust our government to officials who are held accountable for their performance. But who do we trust with our own salvation?

If we were competent to deal with our own moral failings, our own offenses against God and others, this wouldn't be an issue. You would sit down at a bargaining table, a fine would be levied after intense negociations, and you would work off your fine.  But the truth is that we are not capable. We make our best efforts at appeasing God, but end up offering slop.

So we try any number of strategies to reduce our culpability: minimizing the offense ("it's not that bad"), bribing the judge ("I'll do this to make up for it."), slandering the one offended ("it's really his fault") or conveniently ignoring the problem.

But, if we are not capable, then who do we trust? In the Old Testament, there were specialists: priests--men who were set apart by God for special service. The author of Hebrews notes:

Such a high priest meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever. - Hebrews 8:26-28

These priests were called in at specific times to represent people before God, taking an offering, preparing it in the manner specified by God, so that the relationship is restored. It was not enough to choose any offering, any day, any place. Cain didn't bring the right offering and attitude (Gen. 4:4-8), Aaron's two sons tried an unauthorized altar (Lev. 10:1), the people of Israel kept trying various high places instead of the temple in Jerusalem.  Each of these was rejected.

What does it cost when you hurt someone else? What is enough for that person to feel repaid for that? Do you get to decide, or do they?  This is important. Why? Because forgiveness is not free. Rather, in the act of forgiveness, the cost of the offense is transferred from the offender to the offended.

So what would God accept? The specialists, the priests, that had been appointed, were "weak" They had their own sins. They died. But Jesus needed no sacrifice for his own sins, leaving his offering untainted on our behalf. And Jesus was raised, a high priest needing no successor. 

Can we come to grips with our own weakness? Can we trust another to be our competence--our strength?
We spend so much energy struggling to prove ourselves right, with God and others. Resign as high priest. Admit failure. Trust Jesus. The kingdom of God needs your energy spent elsewhere.

Hebrew 6:17-19a: Can I Trust You?

God makes unique demands. There are areas of our lives that we fence off to the world, but God demands full access and full authority. Every follower of God is asked to take bolder steps. With each of those steps, we must confront, in a very personal way, the issue of trust. We ask "Is it worth the risk?" but, deeper still, we look to the heavens and query, "Can I trust you?"

The author of Hebrews takes this idea very seriously and will spend one of the most famous chapters in the Bible to cover it in depth. He summarizes this faith trust as "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." (Heb. 11:1). But he is not talking about a blind leap of faith, where rational thought is set aside and we plunge off the cliff like spiritual lemmings. Rather he is talking about a journey, where the destination is unknown but the guide is well known to us: Jesus, the author and pioneer of our faith.

Put your life completely in the hands of another. That is what God asks. How do you feel? Nervous? Exhilerated? Ambivalent? Your answer depends directly on how much you trust God. God wants us to be reassured both about his character and his power: "Anyone who trusts in him [God] will never be put to shame." (Rom. 10:11).


Why should we trusted God? The Bible shows God giving many reassurances, including his own track record through the Bible (cf. Rom 15:4) and his own words (cf. Matt. 17:5). In Hebrews, we see another:

Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. - Hebrews 6:17-19a

Here God confronts a key problem: who can provide God with a good character reference? He could take an oath--make a promise--but to whom is he held accountable? He made a promise, not because it made him any more likely to do what he said he would, but so that we would be encouraged. He also did it so that all of our hopes and dreams, which we have placed in his care, would be secure.

Trust permits freedom. Freedom to take risks. Freedom to strike out in new directions. No need to guard your back, because God has yours. No need to manage impressions, because God's regard for you is determined by your relationship with his son Jesus. But most importantly, you can follow Jesus, whereever he leads and whatever he asks, because you trust that he has your best interests at heart, and symbolized forever in the scars in his hands and side.

What stretch of faith, inside or outside of church, is God asking you to take? Or are you still asking, "Can I trust you?"

Hebrews 5:7-9: Learning Like Jesus

One of the mysteries in the Bible which spurs my imagination is that Jesus learned. When confronted by Jesus' professed ignorance (i.e. Matthew 24:36) or his amazement (surprise) at both faith (Luke 7:9) and lack of it (Mark 6:6), people tend to gloss over it with a polite cough. No surprise here, since some of these passages have spurred the greatest of thinkers into theological epilepsy.

After Jesus had gone to the temple as a young man and spent the time in the temple courts "sitting among the teachers,  listening to them and asking them questions" (Luke 2:46), the author adds this comment: "And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men." He grew physically (stature), intellectually (wisdom), spiritually (favor with God!) and socially (favor with...men).

Rather than debate the fine points of theology on the nature of Jesus' humanity and divinity, which I believe results from the unique restrictions that were placed upon him coming as a servant (cf. Philippians 2:7, Matthew 4:1-11, Matthew 26:53), I want to know how to learn like Jesus learned.

The author of Hebrews gives us a glimpse into Jesus' learning in chapter 5, verses 7-10. We are not the savior, but we can learn from him:

During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him...

1. Prayer Expresses Dependence. Rick Warren said, "Show me your prayers and I'll show you what you depend on God for." Jesus depended on the Father both for his teaching (cf. John 15:15) and for the path that would lead him to the cross and beyond. This was not a dispassionate dialogue between Son and Father. Rather, there were "tears" and "cries" Take what is worrying you, take what is dragging you down, take what is making your heart rejoice and take them all to God, who is a better caretaker of our future than we will every be. Will you trade in self-depedence for God-dependence?
2. Humility Is The Posture Of Learning. Humble people are ready to learn. Proud people think they know already. God opposes the proud because they value their thoughts over his thoughts and their plans over his plans. God gives grace to the humble by listening to their requests, just as He did with Jesus. The humble realize the chasm between themselves and God and ask God to fill it. The proud presume to leap across themselves. As our example, Jesus put himself in the same position as his people: dependent on the words of the Father: "for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you." (John 15:15) Are you ready to learn?
3. Obedience Is The Lesson, Tough Times Are The Lesson Plan. Like a frisky horse, we pull at the bit, trying to steer the rider rather than allowing him to direct us. Specifically it calls out "suffering" as a way in which Jesus learned to obey. Before his public ministry began, the temptation in the desert asked him to choose. Before the cross, Peter offered him a route other than that which led to the cross ("Get behind me, Satan") When the final hour came, and the agony of Gethsemane was on him, he was able to choose in the same way he had chosen before: to obey. Suffering may seem like a strange way to learn obedience, but it is often the same method that God uses with us. We must choose. We can abandon the test. But obedience is choosing God, one tough decision at a time.
4. What You Learn, You Teach. We are not the Savior and we are not Jesus, but what God teaches us is meant as a blessing to other people. Don't be a dead end cul-de-sac with the dearly-bought lessons you have learned! Even Paul said: "What I received, I passed on to you as of first importance..." (1 Cor. 15:3) We aren't all preachers, we aren't all big-time Bible teachers, but we are all friends, we are all neighbors, we are all family: We can see a need and share what God has shown us. 

Enroll as student with the teacher Jesus and learn. "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." (Matthew 11:29)