Christ, Our Promise

Hebrews 7:1-10

St. John’s United Church of Christ
Greeley, Colorado
September 29, 2024
Rev. Juvenal Cervantes

Our Scripture today is from the 7th chapter of Hebrews. This chapter is the beginning of a discussion on Melchizedek, a type of Christ, specifically verses 1 through 10. I believe your heart will be enriched today and in our future studies as we continue all through chapter 7 and 8, and even into chapter 9, and deal with the priesthood of Christ. Particularly foundational are these first ten verses that we understand carefully the character of Melchizedek.

Now, there’s much in the Scripture that comes under the category of typology. There are many theological terms that we use in Bible study and in Bible teaching. One of them is typology. Whenever we talk about a type, we mean an Old Testament picture of the person and work of Christ. For example, in the Old Testament we read about a brazen serpent being lifted up, and all who looked upon the serpent were healed from the snake bites. And then we hear in John chapter 3 that that is a picture of Jesus Christ. And it says, “As the Son of Man was lifted – as the serpent was lifted up, so shall the Son of Man be lifted up, and those who look on Him in faith shall be healed from sin.”

We read in the Old Testament about lambs being slain, and then we hear the words of John the Baptist, “Behold the Lamb of God” in reference to Jesus Christ. There are many pictures in the Old Testament of Christ. We call these types, and Christ is the antitype or the fulfillment of that type. We have shared in previous studies this on Bible instruction and that’s just a brief word of review.

But as we come to Hebrews chapter 7, we meet another Old Testament type. Now, keep in mind that types are always frail illustrations at best. A lamb rates no comparison with the Lamb of God realistically. Nor does a serpent of brass rate a relationship to Jesus Christ realistically. They are merely humble pictures meant to give us insight from an illustrative point of view. And we say at the same time that Melchizedek in no way deserves an equality with Jesus Christ. But he does serve as a very interesting picture of Christ, and we’re going to see that today. This, my friends, has to be one of the most graphic types of Christ if for no other reason than the fact that it is given so much space in the New Testament. All of this area of Hebrews chapter 7.

Now, chapter 7 is really the main chapter in the epistle to the Hebrews, because it tackles the key question which concerned the Jews, and that was the question of priesthood. This was the basic question. Now, when we talk about a priest today, many people think about a lot of different things. You think of a little man who’s got a funny little robe, and he goes around blessing people or passing out certain little elements or going through certain rituals, or maybe you think of a Jewish priest historically who wore all kinds of paraphernalia and had a funny hat on and so forth and so on, or maybe you know some other kind of organization that has priests, and they look a certain way. Until a few months ago, Trinity Episcopal Church across from our church had a woman priest. And we think of priests as kind of offbeat, little outside people with backwards collars, and they really have a rather strange relationship to our society and exist in a kind of a religious world all their own. When I started working as a chaplain at Banner Health North Colorado Medical Center, there were days that I wore a white collar, thinking that that would set me apart as a clergy. Some of the Mexican people called me “El Padrecito,” the little priest. I stopped wearing the white collar when our staff looked at me and stopped cussing or gossiping because they said I was too holy, little did they know that I too was human, frail, and forward stumbler.

But to the Jew, the priesthood was very exalted, and the priesthood was very intrinsic to Judaism. The priests really were the ones who connected men with God. And the Latin word for priest is pontifex, taken apart and it means bridge builder. The priest was the one who built the bridge from man to God. And to the Jew, the priesthood was really very, very important. To them, you see, religion was access to God. And since they couldn’t go directly to God, they had to go through a mediator, and the priests were designed to be mediators.

For example, on the Day of Atonement, they couldn’t go into the Holy of Holies and put the blood on the mercy seat; the high priest had to do that. In other words, he mediated between God and men. He built the bridge. This was how God designed it, that certain men would be called out, set apart, sons of Aaron and Levi, to minister as priests. And they would build bridges between men and God according to God’s specifications.

Later on in Hebrews, in chapter 9, it says, “Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission for sins.” Now, the priests couldn’t have direct access to God except through a sacrifice, because God had designed that sin would be paid for by a blood sacrifice. And so, the priest made the sacrifice, carried it all out and therefore was the link between men and God. He was the one who actually did all of the technicalities of the sacrifice and offered the blood as an atonement for sin.

God had made a perfect law, only humankind had broken it. Thus, humankind’s fellowship with God was broken. They needed to be rejoined again, and when a man repented and made an offering and the priest went through the ritual, then the genuineness of the man’s repentance was shown in his obedience to the sacrifice.

Let me offer some clarification, my friends, I believe God. How do I know I believe God? By what I do, by who I am, by whose I am. That’s the book of James. In the Old Testament, when a man repented of his sin, he proved the validity of his repentance by offering a sacrifice. And the priest administered the sacrifice and thus was the bridge between God and man.

But human priests were frail, and human priests were sinful, and before they could ever offer sacrifices for anybody else, they had to offer sacrifices for themselves because of their frailties.

And so, in the book of Hebrews, the writer wants to prove to us that there’s a greater high priest than any Jewish one, that there’s a greater priest than any Hebrew priest, one who doesn’t need to make atonement for His own sins. And the problem with the Jewish priesthood was that it was so inadequate; that what they did today wasn’t worth anything tomorrow. They had to do it over and over and over again, constantly, constantly, constantly. There was never any final satisfaction. Every time a man sinned, he had to go all the way over there, do it all over again. Then he’d sin again and go over there and do it all over again. It was a constant going on. The priest never ceased. They were bathed in blood, incessantly offering sacrifices.

So, the Holy Spirit, in the book of Hebrews, shows that what we need is a new and better priesthood, a new and better sacrifice, and points out that both of those are realized in Jesus Christ who Himself is a better sacrifice and a better priest.

Now, we have already seen throughout our study of Hebrews that the book of Hebrews is a presentation of the preeminence of Christ. That it presents Jesus Christ as the exalted one. And it talks about the fact that he is the mediator of a better covenant, with a better hope. He’s the bringer of a better promise and a better sacrifice, better substance, a better country, a better resurrection, a covenant not earthly but heavenly. A heavenly Christ, a heavenly calling, a heavenly gift, a heavenly country, a heavenly Jerusalem, and on and on you find these phrases in Hebrews.

This morning, I would like for us to end with a prayer of thanksgiving. A word of gratitude to God for His incomparable gift, the gift of His son Jesus Christ who came to be our bridge, our mediator, our salvation, our hope, our strength, our constant companion, our redeemer, our helper. Amen.