“This ‘King Melchizedek of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham as he was returning from defeating the kings and blessed him’; and to him Abraham apportioned ‘one-tenth of everything.’ His name, in the first place, means ‘king of righteousness’; next he is also king of Salem, that is, ‘king of peace.’ Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever. See how great he is!” Hebrews 7:1-4a (NRS)
Janice stopped and carefully surveyed the parking lot. “Ah, there it is,” she thought as she hurried to her candy apple colored Mustang. Reaching insider her purse, she remembered leaving her keys on her desk. Returning to the employee entrance of the corporate offices, she found that access was denied. She raced around to the front doors, but the guards were all making rounds. “This is what I get for attaching my access card to my keys,” she shrieked in disgust. “I guess it could be worse,” she laughed. Then it was . . . she had left her cell phone next to her keys on her desk. “So, this is what life is like without accessories.” Janice grinned as she sank down on the concrete to wait for the guard to finish his rounds.
Back in Eden, humans lost access to God. Finally, after Seth was born, we started trying to regain that access once again. The author of Hebrews uses both the voice of Scripture and its silence, about Melchizedek, to graphically demonstrate the superiority of Jesus Christ as our access to God.
Scripture is silent on the ancestry of Melchizedek. That doesn’t mean he didn’t have any. It means his parentage was not referenced because his pedigree had nothing to do with his ministry to Abram (Gen. 14:17-20). Scripture is also silent about his birth and death. This should not be construed to mean that Melchizedek wasn’t born or that he didn’t die. Our author sees the absence of a genealogical record as demonstrative of a superior, eternal priesthood.
The Jewish priesthood, however, depended totally on genealogical ancestry. Apart from certain physical blemishes, the only qualification for that priesthood was a direct birth pedigree extending back to Aaron, without character or spiritual ethics involved. The Order of Melchizedek, on the other hand, required divinely accepted character and ethics. Melchizedek was “priest of the most high God” because of who he was, not because of his ancestry.
It is only through Christ, the superior High Priest, offering the superior sacrifice on Calvary that we may regain access to God. Jesus is the only key we need. Unlike Janice’s keys and access card left behind in her office, our access key will never leave us behind.
Dear Father, thank you for restoring access to you through Jesus Christ. Empower us to share this good news with others. In the name of Jesus I pray. AMEN
Be encouraged today through Jesus Christ,