H
E B R E W S
CHAP. VII.
The
doctrine of the priestly office of Christ is so excellent in itself, and so
essential a part of the Christian faith, that the apostle loves to dwell upon
it. Nothing made the Jews so fond of the Levitical dispensation as the high
esteem they had of their priesthood, and it was doubtless a sacred and most
excellent institution; it was a very severe threatening denounced against the
Jews (Hos. iii. 4), that the children of Israel should abide many days without
a prince or priest, and without a sacrifice, and with an ephod, and without
teraphim. Now the apostle assures them that by receiving the Lord Jesus they
would have a much better high priest, a priesthood of a higher order, and
consequently a better dispensation or covenant, a better law and testament;
this he shows in this chapter, where, I. We have a more particular account of
Melchisedec, ver. 1-3. II. The superiority of his priesthood to that of Aaron,
ver. 4-10. III. An accommodation of all to Christ, to show the superior
excellency of his person, office, and covenant, ver. 11, to the end.
|
Melchisedec's Priesthood.
|
A. D. 62.
|
|
|
1 For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest
of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the
kings, and blessed him; 2 To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part
of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that
also King of Salem, which is, King of peace; 3 Without father,
without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of
life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.
4 Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch
Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils. 5 And verily they that are
of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a
commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of
their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham: 6
But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and
blessed him that had the promises. 7 And without all contradiction
the less is blessed of the better. 8 And here men that die receive
tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he
liveth. 9 And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes,
paid tithes in Abraham. 10 For he was yet in the loins of his
father, when Melchisedec met him.
The foregoing chapter ended with a repetition of what had been cited once and
again before out of Ps. cx. 4, Jesus, a high priest for ever, after the
order of Melchisedec. Now this chapter is as a sermon upon that text; here
the apostle sets before them some of the strong meat he had spoken of before,
hoping they would by greater diligence be better prepared to digest it.
I. The great question that first offers itself is, Who was this Melchisedec?
All the account we have of him in the Old Testament is in Gen. xiv. 18,
&c., and in Ps. cx. 4. Indeed we are much in the dark about him; God has
thought fit to leave us so, that this Melchisedec might be a more lively type
of him whose generation none can declare. If men will not be satisfied with
what is revealed, they must rove about in the dark in endless conjectures,
some fancying him to have been an angel, others the Holy Ghost; but,
1. The opinions concerning him that are best worthy our consideration are
these three:-- (1.) Therabbin, and most of the Jewish writers, think he was
Shem the son of Noah who was king and priest to their ancestors, after the
manner of the other patriarchs; but it is not probable that he should thus
change his name. Besides, we have no account of his settling in the land of
Canaan. (2.) Many Christian writers have thought him to be Jesus Christ
himself, appearing by a special dispensation and privilege to Abraham in the
flesh, and who was known to Abraham by the name Melchisedec, which
agrees very well to Christ, and to what is said, John viii. 56, Abraham saw
his day and rejoiced. Much may be said for this opinion, and what is
said in v. 3 does not seem to agree with any mere man; but then it
seems strange to make Christ a type of himself. (3.) The most general opinion
is that he was a Canaanite king, who reigned in Salem, and kept up religion
and the worship of the true God; that he was raised to be a type of Christ,
and was honoured by Abraham as such.
2. But we shall leave these conjectures, and labour to understand, as far as
we can, what is here said of him by the apostle, and how Christ is represented
thereby, v. 1-3. (1.) Melchisedec was a king, and so is the Lord
Jesus--a king of God's anointing; the government is laid upon his shoulders,
and he rules over all for the good of his people. (2.) That he was king of
righteousness: his name signifies the righteous king. Jesus Christ
is a rightful and a righteous king--rightful in his title, righteous in his
government. He is the Lord our righteousness; he has fulfilled all
righteousness, and brought in an everlasting righteousness, and he loves
righteousness and righteous persons, and hates iniquity. (3.) He was king of
Salem, that is, king of peace; first king of righteousness, and after that
king of peace. So is our Lord Jesus; he by his righteousness made peace, the
fruit of righteousness is peace. Christ speaks peace, creates peace, is our
peace-maker. (4.) He was priest of the most high God, qualified and
anointed in an extraordinary manner to be his priest among the Gentiles. So is
the Lord Jesus; he is the priest of the most high God, and the Gentiles must
come to God by him; it is only through his priesthood that we can obtain
reconciliation and remission of sin. (5.) He was without father, without
mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life,
v. 3. This must not be understood according to the letter; but the
scripture has chosen to set him forth as an extraordinary person, without
giving us his genealogy, that he might be a fitter type of Christ, who as man
was without father, as God without mother; whose priesthood is without
descent, did not descend to him from another, nor from him to another, but is
personal and perpetual. (6.) That he met Abraham returning from the
slaughter of the kings, and blessed him. The incident is recorded Gen.
xiv. 18, &c. He brought forth bread and wine to refresh Abraham and his
servants when they were weary; he gave as a king, and blessed as a priest.
Thus our Lord Jesus meets his people in their spiritual conflicts, refreshes
them, renews their strength, and blesses them. (7.) That Abraham gave him a
tenth part of all (v. 2), that is, as the apostle explains it, of
all the spoils; and this Abraham did as an expression of his gratitude
for what Melchisedec had done for him, or as a testimony of his homage and
subjection to him as a king, or as an offering vowed and dedicated to God, to
be presented by his priest. And thus are we obliged to make all possible
returns of love and gratitude to the Lord Jesus for all the rich and royal
favours we receive from him, to pay our homage and subjection to him as our
King, and to put all our offerings into his hands, to be presented by him to
the Father in the incense of his own sacrifice. (8.) That this Melchisedec was
made like unto the Son of God, and abideth a priest continually. He
bore the image of God in his piety and authority, and stands upon record as an
immortal high priest; the ancient type of him who is the eternal and
only-begotten of the Father, who abideth a priest for ever.
II. Let us now consider (as the apostle advises) how great this Melchisedec
was, and how far his priesthood was above that of the order of Aaron (v.
4, 5, &c.): Now consider how great this man was, &c. The
greatness of this man and his priesthood appears, 1. From Abraham's paying the
tenth of the spoils unto him; and it is well observed that Levi paid tithes to
Melchisedec in Abraham, v. 9. Now Levi received the office of the
priesthood from God, and was to take tithes of the people, yet even Levi paid
tithes to Melchisedec, as to a greater and higher priest than himself;
therefore that high priest who should afterwards appear, of whom Melchisedec
was a type, must be much superior to any of the Levitical priests, who paid
tithes, in Abraham, to Melchisedec. And now by this argument of persons doing
things that are matters of right or injury in the loins of their predecessors
we have an illustration how we may be said to have sinned in Adam, and fallen
with him in his first transgression. We were in Adam's loins when he sinned,
and the guilt and depravity contracted by the human nature when it was in our
first parents are equitably imputed and derived to the same nature as it is in
all other persons naturally descended from them. They justly adhere to the
nature, and it must be by an act of grace if ever they be taken away. 2. From
Melchisedec's blessing of Abraham, who had the promises; and, without
contradiction, the less is blessed of the greater, v. 6, 7. Here
observe, (1.) Abraham's great dignity and felicity--that he had the promises.
He was one in covenant with God, to whom God had given exceedingly great and
precious promises. That man is rich and happy indeed who has an estate in
bills and bonds under God's own hand and seal. These promises are both of the
life that now is and of that which is to come; this honour have all those who
receive the Lord Jesus, in whom all the promises are yea and amen. (2.)
Melchisedec's greater honour--in that it was his place and privilege to bless
Abraham; and it is an uncontested maxim that the less is blessed of the
greater, v. 7. He who gives the blessing is greater than he who
receives it; and therefore Christ, the antitype of Melchisedec, the meriter
and Mediator of all blessings to the children of men, must be greater than all
the priests of the order of Aaron.
|
Melchisedec
and Christ Compared.
|
A. D. 62.
|
|
|
11 If therefore perfection were by the
Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further
need was there that another priest should rise after the order of
Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron? 12 For
the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the
law. 13 For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to
another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar. 14
For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe
Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood. 15 And it is yet far
more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth
another priest, 16 Who is made, not after the law of a carnal
commandment, but after the power of an endless life. 17 For he
testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
18 For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the
weakness and unprofitableness thereof. 19 For the law made nothing
perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw
nigh unto God. 20 And inasmuch as not without an oath he was
made priest: 21 (For those priests were made without an oath;
but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not
repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)
22 By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. 23
And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue
by reason of death: 24 But this man, because he continueth
ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. 25 Wherefore he is able
also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever
liveth to make intercession for them. 26 For such a high priest
became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and
made higher than the heavens; 27 Who needeth not daily, as those
high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the
people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself. 28 For
the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the
oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for
evermore.
Observe the necessity there was of raising up another priest, after the order
of Melchisedec and not after the order of Aaron, by whom that perfection
should come which could not come by the Levitical priesthood, which therefore
must be changed, and the whole economy with it, v. 11, 12, &c.
Here,
I. It is asserted that perfection could not come by the Levitical priesthood
and the law. They could not put those who came to them into the perfect
enjoyment of the good things they pointed out to them; they could only show
them the way.
II. That therefore another priest must be raised up, after the order of
Melchisedec, by whom, and his law of faith, perfection might come to all who
obey him; and, blessed be God, that we may have perfect holiness and perfect
happiness by Christ in the covenant of grace, according to the gospel, for we
are complete in him.
III. It is asserted that the priesthood being changed there must of necessity
be a change of the law; there being so near a relation between the priesthood
and the law, the dispensation could not be the same under another priesthood;
a new priesthood must be under a new regulation, managed in another way, and
by rules proper to its nature and order.
IV. It is not only asserted, but proved, that the priesthood and law are
changed, v. 13, 14. The priesthood and law by which perfection could
not come are abolished, and a priest has arisen, and a dispensation is now set
up, by which true believers may be made perfect. Now that there is such a
change is obvious.
1. There is a change in the tribe of which the priesthood comes. Before, it
was the tribe of Levi; but our great high priest sprang out of Judah, of which
tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning the priesthood, v. 14. This change
of the family shows a real change of the law of the priesthood.
2. There is a change in the form and order of making the priests. Before, in
the Levitical priesthood, they were made after the law of a carnal
commandment; but our great high priest was made after the power of an endless
life. The former law appointed that the office should descend, upon the death
of the father, to his eldest son, according to the order of carnal or natural
generation; for none of the high priests under the law were without father or
mother, or without descent: they had not life and immortality in themselves.
They had both beginning of days and end of life; and so the carnal
commandment, or law of primogeniture, directed their succession, as it did in
matters of civil right and inheritance. But the law by which Christ was
constituted a priest, after the order of Melchisedec, was the power of an
endless life. The life and immortality which he had in himself were his right
and title to the priesthood, not his descent from former priests. This makes a
great difference in the priesthood, and in the economy too, and gives the
preference infinitely to Christ and the gospel. The very law which constituted
the Levitical priesthood supposed the priests to be weak, frail, dying,
creatures, not able to preserve their own natural lives, but who must be
content and glad to survive in their posterity after the flesh; much less
could they, by any power or authority they had, convey spiritual life and
blessedness to those who came to them. But the high priest of our profession
holds his office by that innate power of endless life which he has in himself,
not only to preserve himself alive, but to communicate spiritual and eternal
life to all those who duly rely upon his sacrifice and intercession. Some
thing the law of the carnal commandment refers to the external rites of
consecration, and the carnal offerings that were made; but the power of an
endless life to the spiritual living sacrifices proper to the gospel, and
the spiritual and eternal privileges purchased by Christ, who was consecrated
by the eternal Spirit of life that he received without measure.
3. There is a change in the efficacy of the priesthood. The former was weak
and unprofitable, made nothing perfect; the latter brought in a better hope,
by which we draw near to God, v. 18, 19. The Levitical priesthood
brought nothing to perfection: it could not justify men's persons from guilt;
it could not sanctify them from inward pollution; it could not cleanse the
consciences of the worshippers from dead works; all it could do was to lead
them to the antitype. But the priesthood of Christ carries in it, and brings
along with it, a better hope; it shows us the true foundation of all the hope
we have towards God for pardon and salvation; it more clearly discovers the
great objects of our hope; and so it tends to work in us a more strong and
lively hope of acceptance with God. By this hope we are encouraged to draw
nigh unto God, to enter into a covenant-union with him, to live a life of
converse and communion with him. We may now draw near with a true heart, and
with the full assurance of faith, having our minds sprinkled from an evil
conscience. The former priesthood rather kept men at a distance, and under a
spirit of bondage.
4. There is a change in God's way of acting in this priesthood. He has taken
an oath to Christ, which he never did to any of the order of Aaron. God never
gave them any such assurance of their continuance, never engaged himself by
oath or promise that theirs should be an everlasting priesthood, and therefore
gave them no reason to expect the perpetuity of it, but rather to look upon it
as a temporary law. But Christ was made a priest with the oath of God: The
Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the
order of Melchisedec, v. 21. Here God has upon oath declared the
immutability, excellency, efficacy, and eternity, of the priesthood of Christ.
5. There is a change in that covenant of which the priesthood was a security
and the priest a surety; that is, a change in the dispensation of that
covenant. The gospel dispensation is more full, free, perspicuous, spiritual,
and efficacious, than that of the law. Christ is in this gospel covenant a
surety for us to God and for God to us, to see that the articles be performed
on both parts He, as surety, has united the divine and human nature together
in his own person, and therein given assurance of reconciliation; and he has,
as surety, united God and man together in the bond of the everlasting
covenant. He pleads with men to keep their covenant with god, and he pleads
with God that he will fulfil his promises to men, which he is always ready to
do in a way suitable to his majesty and glory, that is, through a Mediator.
6. There is a remarkable change in the number of the priests under these
different orders. In that of Aaron there was a multitude of priests, of high
priests, not at once, but successively; but in this of Christ there is but one
and the same. The reason is plain, The Levitical priests were many, because they
were not suffered to continue by reason of death. Their office, how high
and honourable soever, could not secure them from dying; and, as one died,
another must succeed, and after a while must give place to a third, till the
number had become very great. But this our high priest continues for ever, and
his priesthood is aparabaton--an
unchangeable one, that does not pass from one to another, as the former
did; it is always in the same hand. There can be no vacancy in this
priesthood, no hour nor moment in which the people are without a priest to
negotiate their spiritual concerns in heaven. Such a vacancy might be very
dangerous and prejudicial to them; but this is their safety and happiness,
that this ever-living high priest is able to save to the utmost--in all times,
in all cases, in every juncture--all who come to God by him, v. 25. So
that here is a manifest alteration much for the better.
7. There is a remarkable difference in the moral qualifications of the
priests. Those who were of the order of Aaron were not only mortal men, but
sinful men, who had their sinful as well as natural infirmities; they needed
to offer up sacrifices first for their own sins and then for the people. But
our high priest, who was consecrated by the word of the oath, needed only to
offer up once for the people, never at all for himself; for he has not only an
immutable consecration to his office, but an immutable sanctity in his person.
He is such a high priest as became us, holy, harmless, and undefiled,
&c., v. 26-28. Here observe, (1.) Our case, as sinners, needed a
high priest to make satisfaction and intercession for us. (2.) No priest could
be suitable or sufficient for our reconciliation to God but one who was
perfectly righteous in his own person; he must be righteous in himself, or he
could not be a propitiation for our sin, or our advocate with the Father. (3.)
The Lord Jesus was exactly such a high priest as we wanted, for he has a
personal holiness, absolutely perfect. Observe the description we have of the
personal holiness of Christ expressed in various terms, all of which some
learned divines consider as relating to his perfect purity. [1.] He is holy,
perfectly free from all the habits or principles of sin, not having the least
disposition to it in his nature; no sin dwells in him, though it does in the
best of Christians, not the least sinful inclination [2.] He is harmless,
perfectly free from all actual transgression, has done no violence, nor is
there any deceit in his mouth, never did the least wrong to God or man. [3.]
He is undefiled, he was never accessory to other men's sins. It is a difficult
thing to keep ourselves pure, so as not to partake in the guilt of other men's
sins, by contributing in some way towards them, or not doing what we ought to
prevent them. Christ was undefiled; though he took upon him the guilt of our
sins, yet he never involved himself in the fact and fault of them. [4.] He is
separate from sinners, not only in his present state (having entered as our
high priest into the holiest of all, into which nothing defiled can enter),
but in his personal purity: he has no such union with sinners, either natural
or federal, as can devolve upon him original sin. This comes upon us by virtue
of our natural and federal union with the first Adam, we descending from him
in the ordinary way. But Christ was, by his ineffable conception in the
virgin, separate from sinners; though he took a true human nature, yet the
miraculous way in which it was conceived set him upon a separate footing from
all the rest of mankind. [5.] He is made higher than the heavens. Most
expositors understand this concerning his state of exaltation in heaven, at
the right hand of God, to perfect the design of his priesthood. But Dr.
Goodwin thinks this may be very justly referred to the personal holiness of
Christ, which is greater and more perfect than the holiness of the hosts of
heaven, that is, the holy angels themselves, who, though they are free from
sin, yet are not in themselves free from all possibility of sinning. And
therefore we read, God putteth no trust in his holy ones, and he chargeth
his angels with folly (Job iv. 18), that is, with weakness and
peccability. They may be angels one hour and devils another, as many of them
were; and that the holy angels shall not now fall does not proceed from an
indefectibility of nature, but from the election of God; they are elect
angels. It is very probable that this explanation of the words, made higher
than the heavens, may be thought too much strained, and that it ought to
be understood of the dignity of Christ's state, and not the perfect holiness
of his person; and the rather because it is said he was made higher genomenoV;
but it is well known that this word is used in a neutral sense, as where it is
said, genesqh o QeoV alhqhV--Let
God be true. The other characters in the verse plainly belong to the
personal perfection of Christ in holiness, as opposed to the sinful
infirmities of the Levitical priests; and it seems congruous to think this
must do so too, if it may be fairly taken in such a sense; and it appears yet
more probable, since the validity and prevalency of Christ's priesthood in v.
27 are placed in the impartiality and disinterestedness of it. He needed not
to offer up for himself: it was a disinterested mediation; he mediated for
that mercy for others which he did not need for himself; had he needed it
himself, he had been a party, and could not have been a Mediator--a criminal,
and could not have been an advocate for sinners. Now, to render his mediation
the more impartial and disinterested, it seems requisite not only that he had
no present need of that favour for himself which he mediated for in behalf of
others, but that he never could stand in need of it. Though he needed it not
to-day, yet if he knew he might be in such circumstances as to need it
to-morrow, or at any future time, he must have been thought to have had some
eye upon his own interest, and therefore could not act with impartial regard
and pure zeal for the honour of God on one hand, and tender pure compassion
for poor sinners on the other. I pretend not here to follow the notes of our
late excellent expositor, into whose labours we have entered, but have taken
the liberty to vindicate this notion of the learned Dr. Goodwin from the
exceptions that I know have been made to it; and I have the rather done it
because, if it will hold good, it gives us further evidence how necessary it
was that the Mediator should be God, since no mere creature is of himself
possessed of that impeccability which will set him above all possible need of
favour and mercy for himself.
Contents
|
Next
Section
