Image: Ripening tomatoes, North Garden, Virginia, August 2024.
Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Genesis 14:18-20; Hebrews 7.
Hebrews 7:14 For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood. 15 And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest, 16 Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.
In the book of Hebrews, the inspired author (I believe it was the apostle Paul) makes comparison between the lesser ministry of the mysterious Melchizedek to Abraham in Genesis 14:18-20 and the greater ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Here are at least seven parallels that might be drawn:
1. Melchizedek was a priest and king. The Lord Jesus Christ is our great Prophet, Priest, and King.
2. Melchizedek’s name meant “My king is righteous.” The Lord Jesus Christ is the true “King of righteousness” (Hebrews 7:2).
How did Christ exercise his kingship? As a servant. His coronation was in humiliation on the cross. His crown was one of twisted thorns, his scepter a reed, his raiment a purple rag. But by his death he justified many. Indeed, he is the King of justification.
3. Melchizedek was the King of Salem, the king of peace. The Lord Jesus Christ is the true King of Salem, the Prince of Peace.
Our Lord is this in two ways:
First, in the ultimate sense he gives us peace with God: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).
Second, he gives us peace within ourselves and with others: “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).
The old adage is: No Jesus, no peace; Know Jesus, know peace.
As one cheesy church sign which I once saw on the roadside in Houston, Texas several years ago put it: “If your life is in pieces, look to Jesus for peace.”
4. Melchizedek met with Abraham. The Lord Jesus meets with us.
He does so often unexpectedly, surprisingly, seeming to appear out of nowhere.
5. Melchizedek was made “like unto a Son of God” (Hebrews 7:3). The Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
6. Melchizedek represented a continuing priesthood, unlike that of Levi and Aaron. The Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal priest who gave himself once for sin on the cross and now ever liveth to make intercession for us (cf. Hebrews 7:25).
7. Abraham gave tithes to Melchizedek. We give our lives to Christ with gratitude, as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1-2).
Now consider how great this man Melchizedek was! Yet, the Lord Jesus is greater than Melchizedek. He is our greater Melchizedek. He is the King of righteousness and the King of peace.
Grace
and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
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