Genesis 14: 14-20<\/p>\n
We all know Abram.\u00a0 Abram is Abraham before God changed his name as a blessed reminder of his promises.\u00a0 But Melchizedek?\u00a0 I remember the look on some of your faces when I mentioned his name last week.\u00a0 Melchizedek?\u00a0 Who\u2019s he?\u00a0 What\u2019s he got to do with Jesus, our Savior?\u00a0 Is this just going to some Bible history story about some remote character in the Bible, someone to remember for Bible trivia games?<\/p>\n
Well let\u2019s see.\u00a0 Abram had a nephew named Lot.\u00a0 Lot lived near Sodom.\u00a0 There came a time when some kings came down from the East.\u00a0 They rounded up a bunch of people who lived in and around Sodom and their belongings.\u00a0 Abram hears his nephew is included among the captives, and here Moses is very specific.\u00a0 Abram goes after them with 318 trained men.\u00a0 He uses some good tactics and with the Lord\u2019s help you might say, he whoops those kings good.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m still waiting pastor<\/em>!\u00a0 Hold on a little longer.\u00a0 Abram is now returning from his rescue mission.\u00a0 He\u2019s got the men, women and children who can go home once more and of course his nephew.\u00a0 He\u2019s recovered all the property, brutally seized.<\/p>\n Two kings come out to greet Abram.\u00a0 They couldn\u2019t have been any more different.\u00a0 First comes the king of Sodom who had suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of those kings.\u00a0 We know the reputation of Sodom.\u00a0 It was a cesspool of immorality.\u00a0 This king would offer Abram all the possessions he recovered.\u00a0 Abram would tell the king, I\u2019ll pass.<\/em> He didn\u2019t want the king of that godless place to be able to say:\u00a0 I made that man rich. <\/em><\/p>\n But then comes the other king- Melchizedek.\u00a0 OK finally we\u2019re getting someplace.<\/em> He comes with bread and wine for these men who had fought so hard.\u00a0 He is very likely the king of Jerusalem.\u00a0 He also serves the one true God as a priest in this pagan land.\u00a0 He speaks a blessing on Abram and worships God for giving him the victory.\u00a0 Then Abram honors him and the Lord with a tithe, a tenth of what he has.<\/p>\n There you have it. Three verses about a man named Melchizedek who crosses Abram\u2019s path and just as quickly departs.\u00a0 He has no recorded birthplace or descent.\u00a0 We know nothing of his end.\u00a0 God\u2019s Word is silent there.\u00a0 There seems nothing all that remarkable about him.\u00a0 Why should I pay much attention to him in my Bible study?\u00a0 We get a hint about 1000 years later in Psalm 110.\u00a0 But you have to fast forward still another 1000 years to about 70 AD in the letter to the Hebrews.\u00a0 There is the key. That\u2019s why we can say this morning:<\/p>\n Melchizedek \u2013 A Mysterious Shadow of our Savior<\/strong><\/p>\n I.\u00a0 Pay attention to what IS said about him<\/strong><\/p>\n II.\u00a0 Pay attention to what is NOT said about him<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong>What is said about this man?\u00a0 Start with his name.\u00a0 Melchizedek.\u00a0 In Hebrew, it means king of righteousness<\/em>.\u00a0 What a precious shadow of our Savior we see in this mysterious man.\u00a0 I hear people sometimes describe themselves or another as a good person.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure they are good people to know.\u00a0 But are any of us righteous before God?\u00a0 All we like sheep have gone astray<\/em>, the Bible says.\u00a0 No one is good<\/span>, Jesus says, but God alone<\/span>.\u00a0 Not you, not me not anyone.<\/p>\n Where does that leave us?\u00a0 It leaves us without hope and without God.\u00a0 But look at Melchizedek and see a shadow of your Savior.\u00a0 Jesus is truly the king of righteousness who went to a cross to make you something you could not be. Righteous in God\u2019s sight.\u00a0 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.<\/span> (2Cor 5:21)<\/p>\n Then think of the office Melchizedek holds here.\u00a0 In the Old Testament you find some men serving as kings.\u00a0 You find others who serve as priests.\u00a0 You don\u2019t find anyone serving as both except this mysterious man. Once more we that this man is a shadow of our Savior.<\/p>\n We\u2019re told he is the King of Salem.\u00a0 The writer to the Hebrews reminds us Salem means peace.\u00a0 King of peace.\u00a0 Think about that.\u00a0 The Old Testament prophet Isaiah called the coming Christ, the prince of peace<\/span>.\u00a0 When he was born into our world, the Christmas angels sang of the peace Jesus brings.\u00a0 Then remember how Jesus said the night before his death.\u00a0 Peace I leave with you. My peace I give you.\u00a0 I do not give you as the world gives<\/span>.\u00a0 Yes, Jesus is that King of peace.<\/p>\n What does that mean?\u00a0 \u00a0Have any of us come here today weak and weary from life?\u00a0 Are you worn out from life\u2019s problems?\u00a0 Worried that you won\u2019t make it?\u00a0\u00a0 Small or large, life\u2019s troubles can blister our peace like a pebble in our shoe.<\/p>\n Anybody know what I\u2019m, talking about?\u00a0 Abram had his war to fight.\u00a0 He had his differences with his nephew.\u00a0 He had his moments of weakness when God\u2019s promises seemed far away.\u00a0 But he also had the King of peace, the Christ, whose coming he looked forward to.<\/p>\n So do we.\u00a0 Abram heard Melchizedek say: \u00a0Blessed be Abram by God most high<\/span>.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 In Jesus, God does not guarantee us a five pound limit on our problems, but an almighty hand to hold us and strengthen us.\u00a0 You see, our King of peace rules today and he rules tomorrow.\u00a0 This we can know.\u00a0 His goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives until he takes us to our heavenly home. \u00a0The King of Peace.<\/p>\n And how can that be for me?\u00a0 Pay attention to what IS said about this man.<\/strong> Melchizedek was also a priest. \u00a0As a priest, he got to speak God\u2019s blessing on his people.\u00a0 But a priest would also bring a sacrifice for the people before God.<\/p>\n Well like Melchizedek, Jesus is a priest.\u00a0 He is a priest but a far better one.\u00a0 Think about the sins we\u2019ve dragged here today.\u00a0 The ones we know and don\u2019t know, the ones that bother us and the ones that should bother us more.\u00a0 All these he has already paid for.\u00a0 He\u2019s the priest who stretched out his arms on Calvary\u2019s cross for you and me.\u00a0 He\u2019s the priest who offered himself in our place.<\/p>\n So pay attention to what it says about Melchizedek<\/strong>.\u00a0 Not because we want to start St Melchizedek day.\u00a0 Not because we want children named after him.\u00a0 Rather because he is a shadow of someone else, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n But we\u2019re\u00a0 not done.\u00a0 Don\u2019t just pay attention to what it says about this man.\u00a0 Pay attention to what it doesn\u2019t say about Melchizedek. <\/strong><\/p>\n When a priest died, his service ended.\u00a0 He could no longer be a blessing to the people.\u00a0 But look what it says in Hebrews about Melchizedek. It speaks of what the Bible is silent about.\u00a0 3 <\/sup>Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever<\/span>.\u00a0 Obviously Melchizedek had a birthday and death day.\u00a0 But the Bible says nothing about it so in a way his priesthood is forever.<\/p>\n There again he is a shadow of Jesus.\u00a0 You see when we follow Jesus to the cross and then see his body put in the grave, we don\u2019t leave him there.\u00a0 Instead on Easter Sunday, we sing I know that my redeemer lives<\/em>.\u00a0 But not just my Redeemer.\u00a0 I know my great high priest lives.\u00a0 I know we don\u2019t think of this too much but we should.\u00a0 Listen again to Hebrews:\u00a0 23 <\/sup>Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; 24 <\/sup>but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 <\/sup>Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them<\/span>.<\/p>\n You\u2019ve heard people say, he\u2019s got a friend in high places.\u00a0 What does that kind of friend do for you.\u00a0 He goes to bat for you.\u00a0 He speaks up for you.\u00a0 Well this is one reason we sing:\u00a0\u00a0 What a friend we have in Jesus<\/em>.\u00a0 Our living Lord\u00a0 is a priest forever.\u00a0 He brings our prayers before the Father.\u00a0 He makes them the prayers of a saint, not a sinner.<\/p>\n And because he lives, he is able to save completely<\/em>.\u00a0 How many projects have you started that lie uncompleted.\u00a0 Some you may never finish.\u00a0 Our great high priest sacrificed his life for us.\u00a0 He paid the price to set us free from our sins.\u00a0 But he\u2019s not done:\u00a0 I have gone to prepare a place for you<\/span> he says\u2026What does he then promise?\u00a0 To save completely.\u00a0 \u00a0If I go and prepare a place, I will come back to take you to be where I am. <\/span><\/p>\n The last thing I want you to see here is Abram\u2019s response.\u00a0 .\u00a0 He gave Melchizedek\u00a0 a tenth of everything<\/span>.\u00a0 Are we surprised?\u00a0 We shouldn\u2019t be.\u00a0 Grateful for God\u2019s goodness, grateful for his blessing he wanted to honor the Lord.\u00a0 So he took a generous portion of what the Lord had given him and used it to praise God.<\/p>\n Again we see a shadow.\u00a0 But not pointing to the Savior. This shadow from long ago points to God\u2019s people.\u00a0 People who have seen far more than the shadows Old testament folks like Abram saw.\u00a0 We know the reality, Jesus Christ, God come to be our brother.\u00a0 We know his life and his death for us.\u00a0 We know his precious words and promises.\u00a0 So like Abram, as God\u2019s people, \u00a0we respond to his goodness.\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Genesis 14: 14-20 We all know Abram.\u00a0 Abram is Abraham before God changed his name as a blessed reminder of his promises.\u00a0 But Melchizedek?\u00a0 I remember the look on some of your faces when I mentioned his name last week.\u00a0 Melchizedek?\u00a0 Who\u2019s he?\u00a0 What\u2019s he got to do with Jesus, our Savior?\u00a0 Is this just going to some Bible history […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lent","category-sermon"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":231,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222\/revisions\/231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}