“People to meet in heaven: Melchizedek”
Genesis 14:17-20
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus.
In July of 1954, a Caucasian-looking male, dressed in a suit, stepped off a plane in Tokyo, Japan, and casually made his way toward customs. When customs asked the reason for his visit, he said he was there on business, as he had been several times before.
It all seemed so ordinary. He was, after all, able to speak English, Japanese, French and Spanish, and he carried currencies from several European countries in his wallet. At first glance, he seemed to be a normal, intelligent, well-traveled businessman. There was no reason to be suspicious.
But when a customs’ official asked him his country of origin, that’s when things got a little strange.
“Taured,” he said, as if it were the most natural answer in the world.
The only problem was, there was no such country named “Taured,” not there, not anywhere.
When the officer said there was no such country by that name, the man looked baffled, then presented his passport, insisting that it was a small country that lay between France and Spain.
When the officer paged through his passport, he saw that it was, in fact, issued from a country called Taured, and held customs’ stamps from several European countries, not to mention three previous stamps from Japan. The man even had a valid-looking driver’s license from Taured.
Still not satisfied, customs officers led him away for further questioning.
That’s when it got stranger still. When they called his place of work, the company said they had never heard of him before. The hotel where he claimed to be staying said he hadn’t booked a room. And his bank said they had never heard of him either.
So authorities had no choice but to send him to a hotel till they could figure out who he was and where he had come from. But the next morning, even though two officers stood outside his room all night, he was gone. Disappeared.
Who was this man from Taured? Where did he come from and where did he go? We’ll probably never know.
The book of Genesis introduces us to a man just like that, a man cloaked in mystery, a man named Melchizedek. Who was he exactly? Where did he come from? And where did he go? We may never know.
Which is why we’d like to meet him in heaven!
Please turn with me in your Bible to Genesis chapter 14, found on page 13. I’ll begin reading at verse 17: “After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) And he blessed him and said, ‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!’ And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.”
Now that tells us something about Melchizedek, but it doesn’t tell us much. It tells us he was the king of Salem, a Hebrew word for peace. It says he brought bread and wine. And it says he was a priest of God Most High. That’s a start. So far, so good. Then…nothing. Or rather, almost nothing.
You could page through Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy and not find him. He’s not in Proverbs or Ecclesiastes. None of the prophets mention him. And neither is he in any of the gospels or the book of Acts. David mentions him for just a moment in Psalm 110. He wrote, “The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, ‘You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.’” Then you could page through all the rest of the Bible, until, finally near the very end, you’ll find him in the book of Hebrews.
Turn with me now to the book of Hebrews chapter 7, found on page 1279. I’ll start at verse 1: “For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 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. 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.”
Confused? So are the rest of us.
Maybe it’ll help if we step back for just a moment to see what’s going on.
You see, the book of Genesis says there was a war, actually the first war ever recorded in Scripture. It was a war of four kings against five.
Now these weren’t kings of nations, but kings of cities. Apparently, five city-state kings had been under the thumb of four other city-state kings, and had paid tribute for some twelve years. But the day came when they didn’t want to pay tribute anymore. So they banded together and went to war.
Unfortunately for them, the four kings routed the five, took all the spoil and prisoners besides. And among them was Abraham’s nephew, Lot.
So far, so good. Haven’t lost anyone?
Now when Abraham heard what happened, that Lot was captured, he gathered together all of his servants, 318 men, saddled up, and traveled a hundred miles to fight against those four kings.
Now we have to give Abraham some credit here. Those four kings had already conquered five kings. And now Abraham, together his band of 318 men was about to go up against them? Well, lots of luck.
But believe it or not, Abraham won. And he brought back all that he had captured—the women and children, and his wayward nephew Lot.
That’s when, all of a sudden, out of the blue, we meet this mystery man—the king of Salem, the king of peace--Melchizedek.
Who was he? Some think he was Shem, one of Noah’s sons. Some think he was an angel. And others think he was Jesus before He took on human flesh.
But he couldn’t have been Shem. Shem had a father and mother. He couldn’t have been an angel, because the book of Hebrews said he was a man. And he couldn’t have been Jesus, because the Bible says he was “like the Son of God.”
So who was he? We don’t know. Which is why we’d really like to meet him in heaven!
Sometimes the Bible is just like that, telling us things we could never understand. How is our God one God, yet three Persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit? Who really is the Holy Spirit and how is Jesus both God and Man? There are things that we, on earth, could never, ever understand.
So it is with this man named Melchizedek. He was a type of Christ. He pointed to Christ. He showed us what our Savior Jesus would someday be.
But even though we know so little about Melchizedek, there’s one thing we do know. And that’s that Jesus is better than Melchizedek ever could be.
Melchizedek was the king of Salem, but Jesus is the Prince of Peace. He is what Isaiah called Him: “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” And that’s what He said to His disciples on Maundy Thursday night: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
And while Melchizedek had no mother or father or family tree, Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and suffered under Pontius Pilate. Even more, as the book of Revelation called Him, He’s the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, the One who is, who was and who is to come. Paul wrote to the Colossians: “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” And as He once said in the book of John: “Before Abraham was born, I am.”
And while Melchizedek was a priest of God Most High, Jesus is God, the Great High Priest, who offered Himself, once for all.
And while Melchizedek once brought gifts of bread and wine, Jesus gives Himself in, with and under bread and wine. That’s what He said on Maundy Thursday night: “Take eat, this is My Body. Take drink, this is My Blood.” And He said: “This is My blood of the covenant, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
There’s no one greater than our Savior Jesus.
Four hundred years ago, back in 1193, King Richard I, Richard the Lionhearted, was in trouble. He had served as king for only three years and had constantly been at war in France, Sicily and Jerusalem. And since the battle in Jerusalem wasn’t going very well, he decided to call a truce and return home to England.
But on his way home, even though he had disguised himself as a knight, Henry VI captured him and held him first in one prison, then another, then another. Until finally, the two of them agreed on a deal. If England would agree to pay him 150,000 marks, (three tons of silver!), then he would let him go.
It took a little while, but sure enough, England came up with the money, a king’s ransom, and Henry VI let him go.
When we think of the words “king’s ransom,” we can’t help but think of the price our Savior Jesus, the King of kings, paid for us on the cross. But this King wasn’t being ransomed; He paid the ransom so we could be set free.
Through His blood, sweat and tears, it was the dearest and most expensive ransom anyone could ever pay.
As Isaac Watts once wrote in the words of his hymn: “But drops of grief can ne’er repay the debt of love I owe. Here, Lord, I give myself away; ‘tis all that I can do.”
We thank You, dear Father, for Melchizedek and the part he played in preparing the way. Help even us to make Christ known, till you call us to stand with You in glory in heaven. This we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen