Hebrews 7:20-25

Summary retelling of Hebrews 7:20-25

We draw near to God through Jesus Christ; we can draw near to God because of the oath.  Jesus Christ is a priest forever.  All the other priests were made priests because of their lineage.  When they died, the priestly torch was just passed along.  But Christ is a guarantor of a better covenant because He is always the high priest.  There were many other priests under the Law – and the priestly duties were always changing hands.  We can rely upon Christ because the priestly duty offered to Him will never leave His hand.  Thus, He is able to save those who hear God’s call and draw near to Him because He is, was, and always will be a priest and capable of interceding for us.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

I really like the point made in these verses that the high priesthood was passed along in the ancient days from one priest to the next.  This had to happen, of course, because people die.  The titles and roles and power had to be passed along.  However, this also shows us the difference in perspective.  The old system was focused on this life.  The system under Christ is focused on the life to come.  Sure, we may change pastors and other spiritual influences throughout our life.  But we never change our priest: Jesus Christ.  He is our priest now, and He will be our priest in the life to come as well.

Do you live life with an eternal perspective?  Do you make choices based on what is good for you now or what will be good for you forever?

Second Thought:

This is indeed a better covenant.  This covenant will never go away.  That doesn’t mean that there was anything necessarily wrong with the first covenant.  It was a covenant given in anticipation.  In other words, they were waiting for god’s Messiah.  It is always harder to live in anticipation for something than to live with knowledge about it because it is in the past.  While we are indeed blessed to live in this age knowing what God has done for us through Jesus, that doesn’t mean that we should look down on the people of the first covenant who were anticipating the coming of Jesus Christ.

Do you ever consider how much different your faith is because you live after Jesus came?  How lucky are you to live knowing about Jesus rather than living in anticipation of Him?  Do you live up to your potential that God has for you with respect to living while knowing about Jesus?

Third Thought:

Jesus is always to intercede for us.  There is no need to turn to another, ever.  We’ll never run out of Jesus.  We’ll never reach the end of His ability to save.  Sure, we might run out of our ability to repent.  We might tire of Jesus when we think we’ve seen it all or done it all or we might have our perspective get distracted.  But the reality is that He will never tire of us and He will never run out of saving grace.

What does it mean for you to understand that Jesus cannot run out of saving grace?  What does it mean to you that Jesus will always be your high priest?

Passage for Tomorrow: Hebrews 7:26-28

Hebrews 7:15-19

Summary retelling of Hebrews 7:15-19

Again we have another distinction between the priesthood of Melchizedek and the priesthood of the Law.  The priesthood of Melchizedek is based on indestructible life, not on the authority of the Law.  We know that the Law has made absolutely nothing perfect, and therefore with respect to salvation it is weak and useless.  This is why we turn to our hope in Jesus Christ, because of what God has displayed that He can do through Him.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

In this passage we hear that the law is weak and useless.  It is important to hear this passage in the way that it is meant to be heard.  Since the Law has made nothing perfect, salvation cannot come through it.  Since salvation cannot come through it, it is pointless to base our hope in salvation in our ability to keep the Law.  Nobody will ever be able to be saved because of their ability to keep the Law.  In this respect (and this respect alone) the Law is weak and useless.

If we know that we cannot be saved through our obedience to the Law, why do we still live as though we could be saved if we could just be obedient to the Law?  Why is so much of our way of living associated with our attempts at trying to be perfect?

Second Thought:

We also hear that the priesthood of Melchizedek is based on indestructible life.  Of course, we know that Melchizedek died, but we also know that we are never told of an end to his lineage of priests.  We do know that Jesus, who is said to be in the order of Melchizedek, was absolutely able to conquer death.  Death tried to conquer Jesus, but God was more powerful than it.  We can say with confidence that the order of Melchizedek is based on an indestructible power that even death cannot touch.

Why is it important that Jesus was able to conquer death?  What does it say about God and His power if even something like death cannot stop His ability to give life?

Third Thought:

We are told that our hope in Jesus is a better hope.  Rather than having our hope rest on something that has never been able to do what people believed it could do – that is, make a person righteous – our hope is based on what God died through Jesus Christ – that is, conquer death.  We know we will never be righteous.  We know that we cannot be absolutely obedient to God.  We know that no matter how hard we try, we will get things wrong even if we know the Law backwards and forwards.  However, if we believe that God is at work in us through Jesus Christ, then we can have the hope that what God did in Christ God can also do in us.  We may not be able to make ourselves righteous, but God do what we cannot.  God can make us righteous if we just turn to Christ.

Can you explain why Jesus is a better hope than the Law in your own words?  How does our belief in Jesus Christ “take the pressure off of us?”  Does that mean that we have the freedom to slack off?  How should we respond to God’s grace?

Passage for Tomorrow: Hebrews 7:20-25

Hebrews 7:11-14

Summary retelling of Hebrews 7:11-14

If people could be made perfect under the Law given to Moses, then what is the point of having another priest come in the line of Melchizedek rather than continue through a line that already works?  However, since we see a change in priesthood, we also have a change in the means of perfection (or Law).  It is clear that Jesus never served at an altar, although He was descended from Judah (and thus of David).  Moses and the Law says nothing about a priest coming from the line of Judah.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

The opening verse in this passage is incredibly powerful.  If we could be perfected through the Law, then what point is Jesus?  This is really huge to understand the importance of being Christian and not Jewish.  While both believe in the same God, one is fundamentally based on being able to become perfect through the Law while the other is based on only being able to be made perfect through Jesus Christ.  It really does come down to the fundamental belief of whether or not we can work ourselves into perfection or if we admit we have no ability to do so and thus depend fully and completely upon God’s action.

It really gets us down to the fundamental question.  Can I make myself perfect through my choices?  Do you believe that you can be absolutely obedient to God this side of the resurrection?  If you have any chance of making yourself worthy, what point does Jesus Christ serve?

Second Thought:

If we acknowledge a need for Christ, we fundamentally acknowledge a change in the purpose of being religious (IE, a change in how we are made perfect).  If the old system really worked, then one came to temple and made the sacrifices because we could make ourselves perfect through our ability to sacrifice out of what we own.  However, the new system acknowledges that we can’t make ourselves perfect through any kind of sacrifice.  In fact, we don’t even own the things we would sacrifice anyways.  We have been given everything by God, so at best we aren’t making a sacrifice but rather returning to God what is already His.  The new system acknowledges that we must rely fully on Christ, because everything God always comes from Him, first.

Do you believe everything you have is ultimately God’s?  How does such a belief change how we live?

Third Thought:

Just because the system changes, doesn’t mean that we have the right to ignore everything in the past, either.  We might argue that perfection doesn’t come through obedience to the Law – and it doesn’t.  We who are in Christ are set free – but we are not set free to do anything we please.  We are not free to sin.  We are free to be obedient to God’s will.  Knowing and obeying God’s law is one way that we can get to know God’s ways.  We simply have our relationship with the Law altered.  Rather than relating to the Law because we believe salvation comes through it, we relate to the Law as a response to our salvation through Jesus Christ.

Why is it easy to hear arguments like we have here in Hebrews and want to throw out the Law and only consider the teachings of Jesus Christ?  Can you put our changed relationship with the Law in your own words?  Why do you need to be in a relationship with God’s Law?

Passage for Tomorrow: Hebrews 7:15-19

Hebrews 7:7-10

Summary retelling of Hebrews 7:7-10

Common sense tells us that it is the superior one who blesses the inferior one.  Certainly we can say that Melchizedek was blessed by Abraham when the tithe was given, but how much more can we say that God – who lives – blessed Abraham!  In fact, if we are talking about comparing Levi to Melchizedek, we can say that Levi – a descendant of Abraham – is inferior to Melchizedek because his ancestor was not the superior when Abraham met Melchizedek.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Admittedly, this is a most difficult section of verses to understand.  However, there are some basic points about which we can talk.  First, it makes sense that it is the superior who is the blessing on the inferior.  This is why we have mentors – so that we can learn from someone superior.  This is why we ask experts of a subject to teach that subject in schools.  Certainly the superior is blessed in the teaching – that is of no doubt.  But the relationship is designed to benefit the lesser of the people involved.

How does this section speak to the need for all of us to have spiritual mentors in our lives?

Second Thought:

Part of this section of verses also has to do with “racial” solidarity.  The Jews believe that they are unique in God’s eyes.  And while they certainly were the ones to whom God sent the prophets and the Law in order to prepare the world for the Messiah, they certainly are not the only ones God loves.  This passage shows that even between Abraham and Melchizedek, Abraham was the inferior one.  Superiority and inferiority is not a question of genealogy but of spirituality.

How would you evaluate your relationship with God?  Do you think people in the world would see you as a spiritual superior or a spiritual inferior person?  What do you need to do in order to become (or stay) a spiritually superior person.  {Keep in mind that I don’t mean superior with respect to being better than others.  I mean superior with respect to being better than your own humanity would naturally allow?}

Third Thought:

Part of this section is also an attempt to demonstrate how Melchizedek’s line of priesthood is greater than Aaron’s line (or even Levi’s line).  If Abraham – who fathered Levi and was an ancestor of Aaron – was blessed by Melchizedek, then Melchizedek must have been a great spiritual person whether his priesthood was “traditional” in the sight of the Jews or not.  The author’s point is not so much in putting down the Jews as it is in exalting Christ.  It is one thing to say that you belong to Aaron’s priesthood.  But if Melchizedek was able to bless the ancestor of Aaron, then those who come after Melchizedek and follow his spiritual pattern – specifically, Jesus – must likewise be great!

When you think about Jesus, do you think of Him as a priest?  Do you think of Him as having a priestly heritage?  Why is it important to think of Him not just as a priest but as a great priest?

Passage for Tomorrow: Hebrews 7:11-14

Hebrews 7:4-6

Summary retelling of Hebrews 7:4-6

We are then reminded how great Melchizedek was in order for Abraham to give him a tenth of all his spoils of conquest.  The priests from the line of Levi (or Aaron, as the case may be) receive their tithe because the Law demands it of the Jews.  Melchizedek received from Abraham not because Abraham was ordered to do so but because Abraham was led to do so through the blessing.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

In this passage we begin to talk about something called entitlement.  Entitlement is when you receive something that you believe is owed to you, regardless of whether or not you actually deserve it.  For example, when a person believes they should be able to cut in front of you when you are driving regardless of whether or not there is room for them to occupy that space – that is a person who believes they are entitled to drive where they want to drive.  In the same kind of manner, the Hebrew priests were entitled to their tithe because the Law forced it to be given regardless of their actual worthiness.  {Although please don’t hear me saying that there weren’t worthy priests.  Of course there were some who were absolutely worthy!}

How do entitlement systems make you feel?  Do you ever feel that you are entitled to something – even though you don’t actually deserve it?  What such things evoke a sense of entitlement from you?

Second Thought:

Melchizedek, on the other hand, was not entitled to the tithe.  Abraham was not forced to give it to him.  In fact, Melchizedek’s spiritual obedience to God brought about an attitude of generosity within Abraham.  As Abraham saw God in Melchizedek, Abraham began to sense God within himself.  Following God often leads to obedience in God in others who are in a relationship with God.

How does this system that is described differ from the entitlement system?  In what ways can God be present in this system than how we see the entitlement system work out?

Third Thought:

If we think about it, this response from Abraham to Melchizedek mirrors exactly what we should see in Christ.  Christ came to this earth, and we certainly did not deserve that.  Christ taught us about God; we didn’t deserve that either.  Christ died for us; there’s no way that we deserved that.  Christ rose again, demonstrating God’s ability to conquer death; there’s no way we deserve that, either.  Just like Abraham was not entitled to receive a blessing but he received one anyway from Melchizedek, we have also received a blessing from God through Christ to which we are not entitled.

So the question then becomes – how do we respond to this?  Because we are not entitled to it, we must ask ourselves: how can we respond to God’s generosity?

Passage for Tomorrow: Hebrews 7:7-10

Hebrews 7:3

Summary retelling of Hebrews 7:3

Melchizedek is without father, mother, or genealogy as recorded in the Bible.  He has no beginning or end to His life as recorded in the Bible.  He is like the Son of God, a high priest forever.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Melchizedek is without father or mother.  Now, clearly Melchizedek had a father and mother, that isn’t up for debate.  He was fully and completely human, so of course he had a father and a mother.  But the point that the author is making is that it isn’t his genealogy that makes Melchizedek great.  What makes Melchizedek great is his service to God, not his lineage.  Clearly this is the same with Jesus.  Jesus’ human heritage was not what enabled Him to be a great sacrifice in accomplishing the will of God.

What does it say to the typical Gentile that Melchizedek was great in spite of his lack of heritage?  How does this help contrast Melchizedek with the typical Jewish priest who had to prove their lineage to Aaron?

Second Thought:

Melchizedek has no beginning or end.  Well, he does.  Again, Melchizedek was fully human.  He was certainly born and he certainly died.  But we don’t have a record of it.  In other words, we don’t have record of Melchizedek’s priesthood beginning or ending.  Literally, we know it did.  Symbolically, though, it is as though scripture is saying that his priesthood has no end.  In this case, again Melchizedek is like Jesus.  Jesus may have died, but His resurrection demonstrates that His priesthood has no end, too.

What does it say to you that there is a pattern for priests of God not based on their birth?  How does it make you feel to know that such a pattern has no ending point?  Does it matter to you that you can join that priesthood regardless of who you are and what you’ve done?

Third Thought:

The author of Hebrews makes a comparison.  We are told that Melchizedek is like a Son of God.  Imagine being referred to as someone who is like the very Son of God!  Yet, we know that through Jesus, we can indeed be Sons of God!

Do you deserve to be a Son (or daughter) of God?  What does it mean to you to know that you can be a Son of God?

Passage for Tomorrow: Hebrews 7:4-6

Hebrews 7:1-2

Summary retelling of Hebrews 7:1-2

Melchizedek was king of Salem (Jerusalem) and he was a priest of the Most High God.  He met with Abraham after a military victory and blessed Abraham.  Abraham gave him a tenth (tithe) of everything he had won in battle.  {Please see Genesis 14:17-24.}

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Melchizedek was both a priest and a king.  Over the past few chapters, I’ve already made this a significant point, but it is worth repeating.  Every ruler of the Hebrew people up to David was chastised – even punished – when they tried to perform priestly duties.  Every priest who came from the line of Aaron never had any rights to rule.  Melchizedek – and the kings of Jerusalem who followed after him – was unique.  He and his line had rights to rule and priestly duties towards God.  If Jesus was going to be both priest (in order to make a sacrifice for our sake) and a king (in order to rule over creation) he had to come from the order of Melchizedek.

Why is it important that we see Jesus as both a priest and a king?  What are the duties of Jesus as king of your life?  What does Jesus do for you as a priest over your life?

Second Thought:

There is also something symbolic going on behind the text.  The name Melchizedek means “king of righteousness.”  The name Salem means “peace.”  Thus, we can honestly say that Melchizedek is the king of righteousness and the king of peace.  Symbolically, think about what this means for Jesus.  If Jesus is of the order of Melchizedek, then He is also the king of righteousness and the king of peace.  Quite literally, humanity can only be at peace with God through righteousness.  We cannot be righteous on our own.  Thus, the order of Melchizedek becomes a symbol of what God has done: to pave a way for us to be righteous so that we can be at peace with Him.  He has done all the necessary work.

How often do you consider whether or not you are at peace with God?  Why is it important to be at peace with God?  What does it feel like to be at peace with God?

Third Thought:

Abraham gave a tenth (tithe) to Melchizedek.  This would be considered a tithe to God, since it was really God who blessed Abraham through Melchizedek.  What we can see here is that the practice of tithing then isn’t instituted by the Law (because Abraham lived well before Moses).  Instead, tithing is a practice of the faithful.  If we desire to respond to God properly, we will tithe out of the blessings that God puts into our life.

Do you tithe?  When you tithe, what do you give?  Do you give cheerfully?  Why is tithing important?  What benefits are there to a tithe?

Passage for Tomorrow: Hebrews 7:3