The Priest without Genealogy
(Heb. 7:1ampsim10)
God gave the book of Hebrews to the Hebrews, who dont believe in Jesus, the eternal priest, bound by their tradition and genealogy. We are also like the Hebrews, bound by the genealogy of appearance and careers even though we know that the cross leads to eternal life. Todays passage describes Melchizedek, a priest in the age of Abraham as a model of Jesus. Hebrews says that Melchizedek prefigures Jesus in order to help out the Jews, who dont accept Jesus as the prototype, bound by their fixed ideas. How can we follow Jesus, the prototype by referring to Melchizedek, the archetype of Jesus? What aspects of Melchizedek should we notice?
1. Melchizedek is a priest called by God, yet without genealogy. 'King of righteousness' is a literal interpretation of Melchizedek and 'king of peace' comes from Salem, the city he ruled over, implying that Melchizedek is a priest of God Most High. He is the first priest recorded in the Scripture before the Levites were appointed as priests. The Levites, the tribe of priests had their special ministry of bringing sinners before God after consecrating them. Thus they are born in a honorable genealogy with a distinctive ministry. Melchizedek doesnt belong to their genealogy. Moreover, he is a king of Canaan and a gentile from the Jews perspective, Yet he is called a priest of God Most High despite his disqualification as a priest and his lack of genealogy. Thus Gods priest is made by His calling, not by genealogy. He is simply chosen by His grace. The same God who chose Melchizedek without genealogy as his priest chooses us without qualification as his royal priests! Therefore we have our domain that we should rule over as a king righteousness and peace thanks to the mission that God gave us despite our disqualification. Wherever we are, we need to be the channel of Gods righteousness and peace whether at home, in school or in the work place. Thats our mission as a royal priest.
2. Melchizedek is a priest like the Son of God without genealogy. Melchizedek is without father or mother, He is without genealogy. According to the Scripture, Melchizedek is a great person Abraham and David accepted, but without genealogy. In that aspect, he is like the Son of God. Jesus didnt have genealogy or earthly qualification. By blessing Abraham, Melchizedek blessed Jesus to come and all Christians, who will become Abrahams descendants by their faith in Jesus. Even though he was a gentile without genealogy, he looked only to God by faith, focusing on his ministry. Thats why God recognized him as His eternal priest and had his name recorded in the Scripture. Thus the one application who make at the critical moment, focusing on God becomes a key to the interpretation our whole life. Jesus offered his perfect sacrifice for the salvation of us sinners at the cross. We also need to have our watershed repentance that enables us to carry our cross at once, throwing away our earthly genealogy and careers. This repentance is not an one-time event. It should last till we pass away. Our daily QT and repentance enable us to carry out our royal priest ministry, by being empowered by the Holy Spirit, not by our empty earthly genealogy. I was at the brink of breaking my family, possessed by the earthly genealogy of school background, like the Levites, but was able to change thanks to QTin and Wooridle community.
3. Melchizedek is a priest whose reward is not genealogy but God himself. The tithe that the Levites receive from the Israelites is the evidence that their inheritance is not earthly land, but God himself. The tithe that Melchizedek received from Abraham is much higher and greater because it stands for the whole amount that the Levites and their descendants should offer. In other words, Gods reward for Melchizedek is greater and more obvious than that for the Levites. Likewise, Melchizedeks blessing for Abraham is greater than the Levites because it includes not only Abraham but also the Levite and their descendants. Besides, the Levites genealogy is a list of mortal beings while Melchizedeks is that of living beings. While the Old Testament shows somewhat indistinctively that Melchizedeks reward is God himself, the New Testament tells us Christians, who became His children in Jesus, the same message quite clearly. God himself is our reward. He blesses us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ as in Ephesians 1:3. Therefore, we need to thank God for our priesthood whose reward is God himself and bring more people to Jesus, our high priest. Thats our mission and blessing. Our mokjang is a community where its members share their application of repentance and crucifixion and encourages the one who fell to rise again. In order to present ourselves to others as a model of Jesus, like Melchizedek, we need to experience that we cant earn salvation by our earthly qualification and genealogy that weve boasted of. Thats why our own achievement being pulled down is not the incident of destruction but of salvation. While we are passing through our trial, we need to throw away our earthly genealogy and make our watershed repentance, holding on to the cross. Thats the moment when we can truly follow Jesus our high priest. May God bless us to quit worshiping the idol of genealogy and carry out our ministry as a priest, following the way of Jesus cross!
Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever. (Heb. 7:1)
