Leadership in Context with Keith Tucci
Episode 038
Jesus the High Priest, pt2
There is a need to understand the book of Hebrews as it relates to the law. Unfortunately, as of late, many people have been propagating lawlessness—to be without the law, to be led by the Spirit with no confines. The book of Hebrews does not support that. It was written to believers so they could understand what portion of the law pertains to them. The book of Hebrews exalts the deity of Jesus Christ and the priesthood of Jesus Christ.
Last week, we covered several Scriptures through the 4thchapter in Hebrews. This week, we are going to continue in that same manner.
Hebrews 5:5-6
So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, “You are My Son, today I have begotten You”; just as He says also in another passage, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”
Order of Melchizedek
We find Melchizedek in Psalm 110 (aka the Jewish Great Commission). Abraham offers his tithe to Melchizedek.
Tithing
1. Tithing existed before the law
2. Tithing existed in the law
3. Tithing existed after the law
Tithing is a statue and principle that God uses to prosper His people.
Hebrews 6:19-20
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Who was Melchizedek?
He was a Christophany. He was a pre-New Testament manifestation of Jesus Christ. Jesus is God. Jesus created the beginning. There was nothing made that has been made without Him. He is God. But He manifested Himself as Melchizedek in the Old Testament.
Hebrews 7:1-3
For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth part of all the spoils, was first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace. Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually.
They understood who Melchizedek was. He came on the scene as the prince of peace, as the king of Salem. He had no heritage, no lineage. He had no mother, no father. He was born of God. You could not be a priest of any kind without having your genealogy recorded. The writer of Hebrews is saying that Melchizedek and Jesus are the same people.
Hebrews 7:7
But without any dispute the lesser is blessed by the greater.
As great as Abraham was, he was lesser in Melchizedek’s presence. This is very important theology. The writer of Hebrews is making the point that Abraham, Moses, and Jesus preached the same thing.
Hebrews 7:8
In this case mortal men receive tithes, but in that case one receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives on.
The tithe that Abraham paid to Melchizedek, he gave to God. Notice that this text doesn’t say to stop giving a tithe. In fact, this reinforces tithing.
Hebrews 7:9-10
And, so to speak, through Abraham even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.
This would have been a prime time for the writer of Hebrews to say: “You know all that stuff in the law, the moral commandments, the social commandments, the commandments on how we get along and relate to God. Well they don’t count anymore.” But he doesn’t do that! In fact, he affirms them, saying: “This thing existed before Moses came along. And now, just like Abraham gave them to God, we are giving our tithes unto the Lord.”
How inconsistent would it be for us to pluck Hebrews 7 out of context and say: “The tithe is there, but all this other stuff in the law is not there.” We are not saved by the giving of our tithes. There is no equation here to sonship in paying your tithes. There isan equation to maturityas you continue to read in Hebrews.
Hebrews 7:26-27
For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.
The high priest had to first sanctify himself and offer an offering for himself. Jesus did not have to do that. The offering had already been fulfilled. Because He fulfilled that offering, He can now fulfill the offering for the ordinances and accusations that are against us.
Hebrews 7:28
For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever.
Jesus is approachable, and we can approach him. Abraham, I believe, is an illustration of how he approached Melchizedek and offered his tithe to him 420 years before the law was ever written.
Matthew 23:23
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.
Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees and telling them not to neglect the weightier matters of the law, but to be righteous in the application of it.
There are things in the law that we need to examine: “How do we apply this in our culture today?” While we are not under a theocratic government, how do we apply those principles in the law?
Example: Recompense
When a thief is caught, he should pay. That is a good law. We should still do that. That is still biblical. I don’t believe that that passes away when Jesus canceled out the debt certificate of sin that was against us. That tells us how to live holy.
We are going to continue this discussion on the application of Hebrews next week.
Join us next week as Keith Tucci continues to put leadership truth in the context of the local church. And as always, please like, share, rate/review, and invite others to listen. See you next week!
