Eternal priesthood of Melchizedek
Key Verses: 3, 16, 18, 22, 25
The nature of Jesus’ work is a forever nature. It is a permanent work and a permanent office. The king Melchizedek (pronounced “Mel, kiss a deck”) was a mysterious character in the Old Testament. Not much known about him, but he was held in very high esteem. Abraham, the greatest of them all, gave him the king’s share of the spoils of war.
Jesus is greater because his priesthood is even more permanent. He didn’t come from the correct family to be a priest, so He had no right under the Old Testament rules to be a priest. A different set of rules apply to Jesus work.
I remember when I was a kid playing in the playground. Inevitably someone would change the rules of the game we were playing, usually to gain advantage. But when there are new rules, we were really starting a whole new game. Baseball is only baseball when the rules are kept. If different rules are kept, it is a different game. It might be ‘like’ baseball, but it isn’t baseball.
When Jesus became a priest, a new set of rules apply. The old sacrifices did nothing permanent, but Jesus’ work comes with power to change our lives. He makes us perfect, mature. His work on the Cross meets the need. We can now be reconciled to God.
Jesus is fully able to meet our needs. He doesn’t die. We don’t have to start a new relationship with a new priest. He isn’t weak like us and like every other priest. He is sinless and perfect. He gave His life and that sacrifice was acceptable to the Father. He did in once for all, never to be repeated, and sufficient to meet every human need.
We don’t need to repeatedly go to Jesus and ask multiple times for forgiveness for the same instance of sin. Once we confess our sin, it is gone and Jesus’ power is available to help us not do that sin again. There might be natural consequences to our disobedience, but even in that Jesus will be with us through whatever the consequence.
The Arnold Journey 