"A Better Covenant" December 5 Readings: Hebrews 7-8

Today's Reading - Hebrews 7-8

Background

Melchizedek. There's a figure shrouded in a bit of mystery. There has been plenty of speculation as to his real identity, but we are going to leave this devotional as much in the dark as we entered. The name, which means "my king is righteousness," is applied to a man who seems to come out of nowhere and then disappear. Abraham offers a tithe to him.

Most believe that Melchizedek is simply a figure we know little about, and that when this passage says that he is without father or mother or genealogy that it is not saying that his origins and destiny were supernatural, but simply that we know little about hm. On the other hand, some have seen him as a Christophany - an OT appearance of Jesus. This is unlikely for several reasons, but mostly because Jesus is not identified as him but is asserted as superior to him.

That is the gist of these two chapters. The identity of this mysterious priest is secondary to the real truth - that Jesus is better and that his priesthood is better and his covenant is better. He mediated a better covenant.

Devotional - Jesus Is Better!

I guess you know this means war!

That's what Bugs Bunny said to those who aggravated him, and that is essentially what the writer of Hebrews was declaring in Hebrews 7:22 when he poured gasoline on the biggest conflict the early church had to deal with. Jewish believers believed that their ways were superior to those of the Gentiles and many held on to the old rituals and the Law. Paul confronted them and now the writer of Hebrews does.

This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. 

To Jewish ears, those words were radioactive. The heroes of their faith were the men of the OT and Jesus was to fit in with them. To say that he was superior, that his covenant was better - well, that was an insult. But that is exactly what was said.

Jesus did not come to fit into our world. He is not interested in being part of our lives and helping us to be happier and more successful in what we are doing. He comes in to take over and to completely nullify what we were and what we're doing before we knew him. Those things that mattered, those things we loved, those things that were our all in all - they suddenly fade in the light of Jesus Christ. This was hard for a loyal Jew to hear.

Jesus demands that he be our highest loyalty and our chief passion. There is a reason for that - he's better than anything that this world offers. He is greater and he deserves our worship. Is better and it is a blessing to serve him. His.redemptiion is unlike anything another else can offer. His blessings are beyond compare. He greatness no one can fathom.

Jesus is better.

Father, in this wicked world, help me to remember that there is no one like your Son. He is better than anyone else. His glory is beyond compare and it is our eternal joy to know him. 

Think and Pray

Are you living in the light of this truth, that Jesus is better than anything the world can offer?