Bible Text: Hebrews 7 | Pastor: Eric Danielson | Series: Hebrews – Glory of Christ | If you were in a courtroom and God was judge and every sin you’ve ever done was laid before him, who would you depend on to plead your case before God? The author of Hebrews recommends you go with someone from the legal team of Melchizedek.

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Perfect Defender
Hebrews 7

When I was in college, I sold produce in Fergus Falls, MN, which was a 90-minute drive from home. Half of it was on interstate; half was on regular highways. One day I was returning home and had just exited the freeway where I had spent the last 45 minutes driving 70 miles per hour. I turned south on a MN highway that had a posted speed limit of 55. But I was used to going 70, so without realizing it, I went right back to 70 and within 1 mile I passed a cop.

The lights went on, he whipped around and pulled me over and gave me a ticket for going 70. I think the fine was around $130. I don’t know if I tried to plead my case with him or not, but I do remember that instead of paying the fine right away, I decided to plead my case in front of the judge. So when the court date came, I appeared and shared my story of how I had just got off the interstate and jumped up to 70 without knowing or intending to do so. “It was an accident, so could you please forgive me?” And… it didn’t work. “You were still going 70 in a 55.” And I had to pay my ticket.

Now I want you to picture another court case. You’re on trial for every sin you’ve ever done, and God is the judge. The standard you’re being judged by is his perfect holiness. Your entire life is on display and even you are shocked at how many violations you have. You thought you were pretty good, but when measured against the perfect holiness of God, even your good works look corrupt. It’s really quite shameful and embarrassing. In the prosecution stand is Satan and he’s out to get you. He has a reputation for pointing out every little detail of everything bad you’ve done and there’s no shortage of condemning evidence.

If you had to face that situation, who would you want your defense attorney to be? Who would you want to plead your case before God? Before you give the Sunday School answer, I want you to think about a few things. Few people actually go with the Sunday School answer on this one. Many people decide to go with religion instead, hoping that because they went through the hoops at church their religiosity will earn God’s mercy despite all their violations. Others decide to go with a personal rehabilitation program, hoping their increasing level of good deeds will somehow nullify their violations and earn them a lighter sentence or even a reward. Others just hope they appear before God on a day when he’s a bit more laid back and kind of lets things slide. What would you do?

The people that Hebrews was written to had grown up depending on religion for their defense. They had been convinced that Judaism was the only way they could be found perfect before a holy God and therefore would be allowed in his kingdom. It included things like following the law of Moses and performing the right sacrifices. They would bring their sacrifices to the priests at the temple who were specifically appointed by God from the tribe of Levi – priests who belonged to the order of Aaron, the brother of Moses. They believed that when their priest offered the sacrifice to God on their behalf, it wiped away all their sins and they were seen as perfect. That’s who they were depending on to plead their case before God – I’m going to call them the Legal Team of Levi & Aaron. And even though they were now Christians, they kept wanting to turn back to this team to defend them.

The author of Hebrews could see that and in Chapter 7 he points out why that’s a really bad idea. He has a much different recommendation of who they should go with – a priest from the Legal Team of Melchizedek. In the last two chapters of Hebrews, he’s told them three times that Jesus was that kind of priest, and now in chapter 7 he finally explains what that means. By the end of this chapter we are going to see why Jesus is our perfect defender before God, and why we only want to depend on him to plead our case. He begins by telling them how great Melchizedek was and how he was far superior to the other guys.

Read Hebrews 7:1-10.
For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. 3 He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.
4 See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils! 5 And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers, though these also are descended from Abraham. 6 But this man who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. 8 In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. 9 One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, 10 for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.

You could look at this as an advertisement for the Legal Team of Melchizedek. You see ads for defense attorneys all the time on T.V. and this is very similar to that. He goes through his credentials and then compares him to the other guys.

First of all, this Melchizedek was a king – not just an average priest, but a king. He was the king of Salem, which was an ancient city in Canaan that most scholars believe later became known as Jerusalem. You actually read about this king in Genesis 14. Abraham had just returned from an amazing military victory. He and his men had defeated an army of 5 kings who had invaded Canaan. When Abraham returned, he was seen as superior to the Canaanite kings because by defeating the 5 invading kings he did what none of them had been able to do.

But there was one king who was an exception – Melchizedek. Melchizedek went out to meet Abraham in order to bless him after his victory, which was a clear sign that he was superior. Furthermore, when he blessed him, Abraham gave him a tithe, or 10% of everything he had just recovered in battle – another sign that Melchizedek was his superior. So the thing the author of Hebrews points out is that Abraham, the military hero, the Father of Israel, and the very man whom God had chosen to give his covenant promises to, was in fact inferior to Melchizedek. So he was a priest and kind of incredibly high standing.

Besides that, the author points out he was also the “king of righteousness” by definition of his name, and the “king of peace” by virtue of the kingdom he ruled. Unlike most of the other important people in the book of Genesis, his name doesn’t appear on any genealogical list – no parents are named, neither is his birth or death recorded. He is treated very different in the biblical records because of the kind of priest he was and how he resembled the Son of God.

And when you compare him to the priests on the Legal Team of Levi & Aaron, he’s way higher up than any of them. They received tithes too, but only because of a command in the law. And the tithes they received came from their fellow Israelites who were all descendants of Abraham. But Melchizedek received a tithe because of his superiority, and that tithe came from Abraham himself, the father of all the Israelites including the priests of Levi, which in a way means they were also giving a tithe to Melchizedek through their father Abraham.

So this guy was something very special – a priest unlike any they had ever known and superior in every way. And he was the kind of priest you’d want to have on your defense team to plead your case before God. And the thing the author has pointed out to them three times leading up to chapter 7 is – that’s the kind of priest Jesus was. You can see it in the last verse of chapter 6: “Jesus is a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” A priest that resembled him in rank and superiority, whose origins were untraceable, and who had no beginning or end to his life. So the implication of what the author is saying is: “Don’t depend on the legal team of Levi & Aaron anymore to plead your case before God! Depend on the Legal Team of Melchizedek – depend on Jesus.”

Now, as he continues in chapter 7, he points out three reasons for this – three things God did in appointing Jesus as a priest that proved the Legal Team of Levi & Aaron doesn’t have what it takes. The first is in verses 11-14.

Read Hebrews 7:11-14.
11 Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron? 12 For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. 13 For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. 14 For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.

So the first thing God did to prove that the priests of Levi & Aaron weren’t a good choice was when he raised up Jesus as a priest, he raised him up after the order of Melchizedek and not after the order of Levi & Aaron. Why would he do that? The law said that only men from the tribe of Levi could be priests. But the author points out that Jesus was from the tribe of Judah, and that tribe never had anything to do with the priesthood. Why would God make him a priest? For God to do that and raise him up after the order of Melchizedek was proof that perfection could not be attained by the priests of Levi & Aaron. Both they and the law that made them priests were being replaced by Jesus. So don’t go with them as your legal defense! The second thing God did is found in verses 15-19.

Read Hebrews 7:15-19.
15 This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, 16 who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is witnessed of him, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.” 18 For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness 19 (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.

So the second thing God did to prove the weakness of the priests of Levi & Aaron was to make Jesus a priest by giving him the power of an indestructible life. The others became priests a different way – by being born into the family of Levi, which was the legal requirement, so they were mortal men. But there was a major problem with that – they kept dying and were unable to fulfill their duties! So Jesus didn’t become a priest in that way. God made him a priest by giving him the power of an indestructible life through the Holy Spirit at his resurrection. And by doing that, the author points out, he proves that the other priests were insufficient. God set aside the commandment that made mortal men priests because it was useless and weak, and replaced it with the priest who lives forever, thereby introducing a better hope through which we can actually draw near to God. The third thing God did is in verses 20-25.

Read Hebrews 7:20-25.
20 And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, 21 but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him: “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever.’” 22 This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. 23 The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, 24 but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

So the third thing God did was to make Jesus a priest with an oath – something he didn’t do with any of the other priests. He made that oath way back in David’s time through a prophecy about Jesus in Psalm 110:4, which says, “‘The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.’” By making that oath, he guaranteed that Jesus would be a priest forever and thus become the guarantor of a better covenant, because he would always live to intercede for his people. Unlike the other priests who kept dying, Jesus could save us to the uttermost.

The other guys just weren’t good enough. And they were never meant to be. They were put in place temporarily to point people to the Messiah who alone could bring perfection before God. And now that Messiah had come – a priest after the order of Melchizedek. So don’t go with the faulty religious system; go with the legal team of Melchizedek. Go with Jesus. He’s the perfect defender that can plead our case before God. And that’s how the author finishes this chapter.

Read Hebrews 7:26-28
26 For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. 28 For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.

Jesus is our perfect defender. He is holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He offered his very life as a sacrifice to pay the penalty for our sins and God the Father has given him to us to be our priest forever. Through him, and only him, we can attain perfection before God.

Now remember that court case from the beginning of this sermon – something like that actually happens for every single one of us. God will be judge, his holiness the standard, our sins will be laid bare, Satan will accuse, guilt will be painfully evident. Who will you choose as your defender to plead your case before God? Religion won’t cut it – we’ve seen that today. Personal rehabilitation won’t either – it can’t erase the stain of our guilt. And God doesn’t just ignore our sins as if they aren’t a big deal. We need a defender to plead our case before God. And we need one we can depend on who will bring us forgiveness and eternal life.

There’s only one who can make that happen, “for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” His name is Jesus. Put your faith in him again today – whether that’s for the very first time, or you’ve been doing that for 75 years. He alone is our perfect defender.