Hebrews 7

Verses 1-17

• Many of the Jewish Christians could not easily accept Jesus as our High Priest, and thus, He could not make an offering to purge our sins, since He did not come from the lineage of Levi. Under the law of Moses, all priests had to come from Abraham through Levi.

  • Like many today, these Jews had unanswered questions that the writer of Hebrews answers. If you have questions or confusions that are holding you back from confidently following Christ, seek answers in the Word. Confusion paralyzes people, so seek understanding!

• However, Melchizedek is called “the priest of God Most High” in Genesis 14:18, and he wasn't even a relative of Abraham.

  • Melchizedek was greater than Abraham for two reasons.

    • 1. He blessed Abraham (and “the lesser is blessed by the greater”).

    • 2. Abraham paid tithes to him.

    • 3. Melchizedek never died. He lives, and continues to live.

      • Melchizedek is one of the few individuals in the Bible that never tasted death. Similarly, Enoch and Elijah never died. In this way, he is “like the Son of God” (verse 3).

  • Therefore, Melchizedek was a kind of priest that Abraham knew was greater than any priest that would come from his own descendants.

    • We can draw a practical point from Melchizedek's blessing. It is greater to bless others than to be blessed by others. As Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). If you want to be greater or more effective for the kingdom, in God's eyes, purpose to bless and serve others generously.

• Therefore, Jesus is qualified to be our priest, and to wash away our sins by the offering of His own body, because He follows the precent that God set through Melchizedek.

Verses 18-19

• God put an end to the priesthood of the tribe of Levi, because it was based on a law—the law of Moses—that had no power to make us righteous.

  • Priests from the tribe of Levi could make sacrifices to temporarily bring forgiveness for certain sins (Numbers 15:27-28), but they could never cleanse the human heart, nor give us power to truly please God (see Romans 8:3-4).

Verses 20-28

• Human priests, from the tribe of Levi, like the rest of us, were imperfect (verse 28a), they sinned (verse 27), and they died (verse 23).

  • Due to their imperfections, some of the priests became ungodly, and only caused the people to fall further into sin (Malachi 2:7-9, 1 Samuel 2:12-17,22-25)!

  • They had to make sacrifices for their own sins, and the sins of the Israelites, every single day! The priestly duties were a burdensome, daily grind.

  • And since they died, a new priest was always needed. 

• But Jesus is perfect, He never sins, and He doesn't die!

  • Since He is perfect (verse 28), His work to wash away our sins and bring us to God is perfect (Hebrews 10:14).

  • Since He doesn't have sin of His own to die for, His death pays for the sins of others—oursins (verse 27).

  • Since He lives forever, our salvation in Him is complete, permanent, and everlasting (verse 25).

• As God promised in the Psalms (Psalm 110:4), Jesus is absolutely our priest—the One who brings us to God! 

  • Have great confidence in what Jesus has done for you! You have been saved “to the uttermost”! In your present life, you can't be any more saved than you are right now! Everything that needed to be done to give you a new life has been done.