Genesis 14: 14-20
We all know Abram. Abram is Abraham before God changed his name as a blessed reminder of his promises. But Melchizedek? I remember the look on some of your faces when I mentioned his name last week. Melchizedek? Who’s he? What’s he got to do with Jesus, our Savior? Is this just going to some Bible history story about some remote character in the Bible, someone to remember for Bible trivia games?
Well let’s see. Abram had a nephew named Lot. Lot lived near Sodom. There came a time when some kings came down from the East. They rounded up a bunch of people who lived in and around Sodom and their belongings. Abram hears his nephew is included among the captives, and here Moses is very specific. Abram goes after them with 318 trained men. He uses some good tactics and with the Lord’s help you might say, he whoops those kings good.
I’m still waiting pastor! Hold on a little longer. Abram is now returning from his rescue mission. He’s got the men, women and children who can go home once more and of course his nephew. He’s recovered all the property, brutally seized.
Two kings come out to greet Abram. They couldn’t have been any more different. First comes the king of Sodom who had suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of those kings. We know the reputation of Sodom. It was a cesspool of immorality. This king would offer Abram all the possessions he recovered. Abram would tell the king, I’ll pass. He didn’t want the king of that godless place to be able to say: I made that man rich.
But then comes the other king- Melchizedek. OK finally we’re getting someplace. He comes with bread and wine for these men who had fought so hard. He is very likely the king of Jerusalem. He also serves the one true God as a priest in this pagan land. He speaks a blessing on Abram and worships God for giving him the victory. Then Abram honors him and the Lord with a tithe, a tenth of what he has.
There you have it. Three verses about a man named Melchizedek who crosses Abram’s path and just as quickly departs. He has no recorded birthplace or descent. We know nothing of his end. God’s Word is silent there. There seems nothing all that remarkable about him. Why should I pay much attention to him in my Bible study? We get a hint about 1000 years later in Psalm 110. But you have to fast forward still another 1000 years to about 70 AD in the letter to the Hebrews. There is the key. That’s why we can say this morning:
Melchizedek – A Mysterious Shadow of our Savior
I. Pay attention to what IS said about him
II. Pay attention to what is NOT said about him
What is said about this man? Start with his name. Melchizedek. In Hebrew, it means king of righteousness. What a precious shadow of our Savior we see in this mysterious man. I hear people sometimes describe themselves or another as a good person. I’m sure they are good people to know. But are any of us righteous before God? All we like sheep have gone astray, the Bible says. No one is good, Jesus says, but God alone. Not you, not me not anyone.
Where does that leave us? It leaves us without hope and without God. But look at Melchizedek and see a shadow of your Savior. Jesus is truly the king of righteousness who went to a cross to make you something you could not be. Righteous in God’s sight. For there, God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2Cor 5:21)
Then think of the office Melchizedek holds here. In the Old Testament you find some men serving as kings. You find others who serve as priests. You don’t find anyone serving as both except this mysterious man. Once more we that this man is a shadow of our Savior.
We’re told he is the King of Salem. The writer to the Hebrews reminds us Salem means peace. King of peace. Think about that. The Old Testament prophet Isaiah called the coming Christ, the prince of peace. When he was born into our world, the Christmas angels sang of the peace Jesus brings. Then remember how Jesus said the night before his death. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give you. I do not give you as the world gives. Yes, Jesus is that King of peace.
What does that mean? Have any of us come here today weak and weary from life? Are you worn out from life’s problems? Worried that you won’t make it? Small or large, life’s troubles can blister our peace like a pebble in our shoe.
Anybody know what I’m, talking about? Abram had his war to fight. He had his differences with his nephew. He had his moments of weakness when God’s promises seemed far away. But he also had the King of peace, the Christ, whose coming he looked forward to.
So do we. Abram heard Melchizedek say: Blessed be Abram by God most high. Well, in Christ, our God Most High guarantees us blessing, not the absence of storms but him as our refuge in the midst of them. In Jesus, God does not guarantee us a five pound limit on our problems, but an almighty hand to hold us and strengthen us. You see, our King of peace rules today and he rules tomorrow. This we can know. His goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives until he takes us to our heavenly home. The King of Peace.
And how can that be for me? Pay attention to what IS said about this man. Melchizedek was also a priest. As a priest, he got to speak God’s blessing on his people. But a priest would also bring a sacrifice for the people before God.
Well like Melchizedek, Jesus is a priest. He is a priest but a far better one. Think about the sins we’ve dragged here today. The ones we know and don’t know, the ones that bother us and the ones that should bother us more. All these he has already paid for. He’s the priest who stretched out his arms on Calvary’s cross for you and me. He’s the priest who offered himself in our place.
So pay attention to what it says about Melchizedek. Not because we want to start St Melchizedek day. Not because we want children named after him. Rather because he is a shadow of someone else, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
But we’re not done. Don’t just pay attention to what it says about this man. Pay attention to what it doesn’t say about Melchizedek.
When a priest died, his service ended. He could no longer be a blessing to the people. But look what it says in Hebrews about Melchizedek. It speaks of what the Bible is silent about. 3 Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever. Obviously Melchizedek had a birthday and death day. But the Bible says nothing about it so in a way his priesthood is forever.
There again he is a shadow of Jesus. You see when we follow Jesus to the cross and then see his body put in the grave, we don’t leave him there. Instead on Easter Sunday, we sing I know that my redeemer lives. But not just my Redeemer. I know my great high priest lives. I know we don’t think of this too much but we should. Listen again to Hebrews: 23 Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; 24 but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
You’ve heard people say, he’s got a friend in high places. What does that kind of friend do for you. He goes to bat for you. He speaks up for you. Well this is one reason we sing: What a friend we have in Jesus. Our living Lord is a priest forever. He brings our prayers before the Father. He makes them the prayers of a saint, not a sinner.
And because he lives, he is able to save completely. How many projects have you started that lie uncompleted. Some you may never finish. Our great high priest sacrificed his life for us. He paid the price to set us free from our sins. But he’s not done: I have gone to prepare a place for you he says…What does he then promise? To save completely. If I go and prepare a place, I will come back to take you to be where I am.
The last thing I want you to see here is Abram’s response. . He gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything. Are we surprised? We shouldn’t be. Grateful for God’s goodness, grateful for his blessing he wanted to honor the Lord. So he took a generous portion of what the Lord had given him and used it to praise God.
Again we see a shadow. But not pointing to the Savior. This shadow from long ago points to God’s people. People who have seen far more than the shadows Old testament folks like Abram saw. We know the reality, Jesus Christ, God come to be our brother. We know his life and his death for us. We know his precious words and promises. So like Abram, as God’s people, we respond to his goodness. Amen.