1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:11,000 Howdy. Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. 2 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:16,000 Look up there in the sky. It's a bird. It's a plane. It's... 3 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:26,000 It's that. And the thing is, is that when I say that, so many of you know exactly what I'm doing, except for the little kids who are like, 4 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:37,000 what is going on right now. But Superman, Siegel and Schuster, who created Action Comics number one with Superman in 1938, 5 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:44,000 actually struggled for several years to develop the idea of Superman. 6 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:51,000 At first, Superman was a villain, a bald one at that, with mental powers. 7 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:58,000 Then, he became a hero, but he was a science experiment by some accident. 8 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:05,000 Finally, after several years, Superman was published with a very brief origin, 9 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:17,000 and slowly became a household named through comic books and comic strips and radio programs, TV shows, movies, cartoons, and everything in between, 10 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:28,000 even lunchboxes and t-shirts. I have a Superman t-shirt at home, or maybe I have it right here. No, that's a legend. 11 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:32,000 I don't want somebody turning on the feed and seeing the pastor doing that. 12 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:39,000 But Superman's origin story was not fully developed until later. 13 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:47,000 As his background became more real, it was also easier to look for his weaknesses. 14 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:54,000 We discovered Kryptonite from his home planet of Krypton, which could hurt or even kill him. 15 00:01:54,000 --> 00:02:03,000 We saw that he was raised by farmers in Smallville who gave him good morals, but also knew his weaknesses and struggles. 16 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:15,000 The more we understood who Superman was, the easier it would be to hurt him and undermine his power, the easier to see that he wasn't perfect. 17 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:26,000 Now, imagine that you find someone with power and authority who comes out of nowhere in your own history, 18 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:35,000 possessing a relationship with God and able to bless your ancestors. A myth, a legend. 19 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:45,000 You're used to trusting and knowing your forefathers, your priests, your leaders, and now there is someone who doesn't fit the normal story. 20 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:56,000 This is what we have in Hebrews with the story of Melchizedek and the reason why this chapter keeps discussing the high priest. 21 00:02:56,000 --> 00:03:10,000 The Jewish community during the time when the book of Hebrews was written saw their place with God as coming from their descent from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as well as Moses. 22 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:18,000 People who were called by God and promised a nation that would be blessed by God and have his presence with them. 23 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:25,000 But here, Melchizedek was someone in their stories who didn't fit that lineage. 24 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:39,000 When Abraham found out that his nephew Lot had been taken captive by four invading kings, he took some of his people and went to attack those kings to rescue his nephew Lot. 25 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:48,000 Now imagine there were five other kings and kingdoms who could not stand against the four invading kings. 26 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:53,000 That's why Lot was taken from Sodom in the first place. 27 00:03:53,000 --> 00:04:08,000 But Abraham and his people, they were so capable and blessed by God that they were able to split up and to take on the four invading kings that we thought were more powerful and to rescue Lot. 28 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:15,000 And the others. We never thought of Abraham, the military leader before now. 29 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:19,000 Abraham and his people were so strong that they could do all this. 30 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:31,000 And they came back after slaughtering the invading kings and with all of the spoil they had with them, they encounter a priest king named Melchizedek. 31 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:40,000 In Genesis it says, And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine, and he was priest of God the most high. 32 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:51,000 And he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abraham, of God most high, maker of heaven and earth, and blessed be God the most high, who hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. 33 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:55,000 And he gave him a tenth of all. 34 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:58,000 Who was this? 35 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:09,000 You have Abraham before he got his name Abraham, coming in from demonstrating his power and might with everything that came from his conquest and his victory. 36 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:14,000 And he's being blessed by some random person out of nowhere. 37 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:18,000 And then giving him a tenth of everything he had. 38 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:20,000 Who was he? 39 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:22,000 How did he know Yahweh? 40 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:29,000 And what right did this random person have to be a high priest of God? 41 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:34,000 After centuries, people came up with theories. 42 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:47,000 And according to Hebrews, the viewpoint had even gotten to the point where people assumed that he was mysterious because Melchizedek had no father and mother. 43 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:49,000 Clearly. 44 00:05:49,000 --> 00:06:01,000 And in fact, if someone were to be seen as the Son of God at that time for much of the Jewish community, it would have been Melchizedek coming out of nowhere. 45 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:07,000 He was seen as the one who came from God without any human origins. 46 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:20,000 Now, hopefully you realize that we don't have any real reason to think that Melchizedek was some supernatural being or even the Son of God himself. 47 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:23,000 No capes, no flying, no magic. 48 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:33,000 The book of Hebrews is making a point about how people saw him, not necessarily adding new teachings to the church. 49 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:49,000 But there were even people in the history of the church who thought this and believed that Melchizedek might even be Jesus himself in a pre-incarnate form. 50 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:55,000 But other people very well could have known God before Abraham. 51 00:06:55,000 --> 00:07:04,000 The descendants of Seth, Adam and Eve had three sons and the thirdborn was Seth. 52 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:08,000 This did not only include Abraham. 53 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:14,000 There were other people who knew about God as their Creator and the one they should worship. 54 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:19,000 There is no reason to think that only Abraham had knowledge of God. 55 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:29,000 Rather, it was the lineage of Abraham that was promised the future nation of Israel and eventually the Messiah. 56 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:39,000 But let's be honest, leaving someone as a myth much more interesting and enjoyable than knowing who the person really is. 57 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:46,000 And even if we do know their history, it's fun just to ignore it or even make up something different to fit our myths. 58 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:52,000 Presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both were real people. 59 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:57,000 They did some things that were good and some things that were not. 60 00:07:57,000 --> 00:08:01,000 Did they both lead our nation to its independence and beginnings? 61 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:03,000 Yes, they did. 62 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:07,000 Did they lead an insurrection and both of them have slaves? 63 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:09,000 Yes, they did. 64 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:20,000 And Thomas Jefferson also had some really strange views about God and the Christian faith to the point where he even just chopped out parts of the Bible to make more sense to himself. 65 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:30,000 When we look at the founding fathers, though, we would rather just make up stories of cherry trees to try to build them up in their character. 66 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:38,000 When we look back at people, even our own forefathers and ancestors, we discover good and bad. 67 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:52,000 St. Augustine, one of the more notable church fathers, struggled for many years with sexual sins, which caused his own beliefs about marriage and sexuality to become tainted and to affect many within the church even today. 68 00:08:52,000 --> 00:09:05,000 Even whenever during Martin Luther's time and he would look at the priests that were there and see what was happening in their lives and became so disillusioned with what was happening and even Martin Luther himself. 69 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:17,000 If you go and read many of his additional teachings that we as the church do not hold to, you will find some strange things that you would not be happy about. 70 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:32,000 What we even see is that there are many who blamed warfare and bloodshed on Martin Luther's own letter writing and how many thousands died because of it. 71 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:48,000 When we want to believe that someone is all good or all bad, we will oftentimes lash out at what we discover when we look at the past, denying some things that are true and making up some things with no evidence at all. 72 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:51,000 But where does that leave us with Melchizedek? 73 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:56,000 Why would he be so important to the Hebrew Jewish community at that time? 74 00:09:56,000 --> 00:09:59,000 Why even need to make things up at all? 75 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:09,000 In many ways, because Melchizedek was seen as being above the law, almost beyond the law. 76 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:22,000 The Jewish community saw their life as constantly being focused on whether they had done enough to fulfill the law to prove their faith to God. 77 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:39,000 But the law had come from Moses, and Abraham was even before Moses, and then Melchizedek didn't even have to abide by Abraham's standards, let alone Moses, because he knew God without knowing Abraham. 78 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:44,000 But does that mean that Melchizedek was not supposed to follow God's law? 79 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:50,000 Did Melchizedek have a loophole for not obeying God? 80 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:58,000 No, that's definitely not true, because we are all expected to follow God's law. 81 00:10:58,000 --> 00:10:59,000 No one is above it. 82 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:09,000 Even if not everyone has it clearly specified the way that the Hebrew people did, that doesn't mean that we are allowed to do whatever we like. 83 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:19,000 But what's interesting about all of this is that the Hebrew people, struggling with whether to follow Jesus, they weren't even looking at Melchizedek anyway. 84 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:24,000 They were looking at the Levitical priests. They were looking at their laws. 85 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:26,000 They were of the opinion. 86 00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:39,000 If they continued to make sacrifices with the priests and followed the laws perfectly, they could somehow find their salvation with God themselves, prove that they were good enough. 87 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:42,000 And this wasn't even sustainable. 88 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:52,000 Not only were none of the sacrifices that they made ever perfect enough for God, but the priests themselves weren't even good enough. 89 00:11:52,000 --> 00:12:01,000 No matter how hard they tried or how much they sacrificed, it would never fully wipe away their sins. 90 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:17,000 Even if Melchizedek really was this perfect priest with no father and no mother, and being the pattern by which the Messiah would eventually come, we have no idea where he comes from, 91 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:28,000 then why were people continuing to look at the old laws from the Levitical law, instead of following the true high priest who came in the order of Melchizedek? 92 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:41,000 The one who came with a better covenant, the one who came with a better sacrifice, Jesus, who sacrificed his own life as the better covenant with God. Why not? 93 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:54,000 Isn't it amazing how we keep losing track of God's will and God's ways because we want to pursue what other people have to offer all around us? 94 00:12:54,000 --> 00:13:08,000 Someone on TikTok says something, try this product, try doing this action, try acting like this. We don't know anything about them, but somehow they convince us to be just like them. 95 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:17,000 Or we hear someone shouting loudly, and even though we know what sort of person they've been, we ignore it to gain a new hero. 96 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:34,000 But the true Messiah, the one we're meant to follow, asks us to follow him in spirit and in truth, with our very hearts and minds and lives, yet we can't even be bothered. 97 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:51,000 Even knowing that Jesus truly is the Son of God, we ignore his sacrifice that calls us to be gracious and merciful because we'd rather sacrifice other people on the altar of public opinion and our own angers and desires. 98 00:13:51,000 --> 00:14:00,000 We don't want the new covenant of forgiveness and mercy. We still want blood because we're not satisfied. 99 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:05,000 We spend a lot of time looking at different laws. 100 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:16,000 And when I say laws, I don't mean actual governmental regulations. What I mean is the expectations that we have for ourselves and for others. 101 00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:23,000 Somehow we think that if we can prove that someone is guilty of one specific thing, then we ignore them and hate them. 102 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:31,000 And if we can demonstrate that someone else has done one specific thing we like, then we ignore their sins and love them above all else. 103 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:37,000 But there's no one who's righteous. No, not one. 104 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:47,000 Even discovering that Melchizedek himself is truly human, it shouldn't be a surprise. He wasn't the true Messiah. Why? 105 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:59,000 Because even if he was not beholden to the laws of Moses or even of his ancestor Abraham, he was still subject to the law of God. 106 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:07,000 That showed that he is someone who is sinful and in need of a Messiah himself. 107 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:14,000 Why do we even want to take the time though to bother with Jesus? 108 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:23,000 Why even take on another high priest with so many high priests that have been flawed before? 109 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:27,000 I'll give you a comparison to explain. 110 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:38,000 When I was an engineer and I was a chemical engineer and I debated many times whether to stay in chemical engineering or to become a mechanical engineer. 111 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:45,000 Because I did not enjoy chemicals at all. I didn't enjoy chemistry at all. I really did, to be honest. 112 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:53,000 And I thought about changing to mechanical multiple times, but one of my professors sat me down and explained this to me. 113 00:15:53,000 --> 00:16:00,000 A mechanical engineer knows what is expected and finds the best machinery to make it happen. 114 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:08,000 A chemical engineer is the one who tells you what to make in the first place. And so I didn't change. 115 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:16,000 We keep going to people who spoon feed us what we should do and how we should act. 116 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:22,000 Even though they don't even know themselves how to do it. 117 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:34,000 But Jesus says, this is who you are and who you get to be because of who I am and what I've done for you. 118 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:39,000 Jesus is not the same type of high priest as anyone else. 119 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:45,000 He's not the same icon. He's not the same beacon. He's the one who always existed. 120 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:53,000 Who knows everything needed to forgive sins and to bring eternal life. Who made the way for us. 121 00:16:53,000 --> 00:17:03,000 Many of you may have been pursuing any number of things to feel safe and good in this world. 122 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:08,000 Without Jesus, you have nothing. 123 00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:13,000 Any number of laws followed or sacrifices made will not achieve anything. 124 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:21,000 It is only what Jesus did on the cross for us all that brings life and salvation and hope with God. 125 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:30,000 And if you have not talked with God and acknowledged that you are a sinner, someone who does what is wrong and needs forgiveness 126 00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:36,000 and thanked God for sending Jesus to bring you salvation and to lead your life. 127 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:40,000 I hope you do so today. 128 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:45,000 So I don't know who has been your high priest. 129 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:53,000 I don't know whom you turn to when you're worried or upset or looking to feel safe in the world. 130 00:17:53,000 --> 00:18:00,000 As if some person is going to bring hope and salvation and make everything right. 131 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:04,000 But there is no everyday person who is going to fix this world. 132 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:08,000 No Levitical priest. No mythical Melchizedek. 133 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:19,000 The son of God who was born in Bethlehem with his human mother and his divine father is the only place where we find hope and peace. 134 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:26,000 The only one who can be our true high priest and make a way for us in this world and beyond. 135 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:33,000 The one who not only died but also rose again and brought us everlasting life. 136 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:43,000 Whatever else, whomever else you have been following, let them go. 137 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:49,000 Let Jesus be your way, your truth, your life. 138 00:18:49,000 --> 00:19:02,000 And may Jesus continue to be the true one who makes a way for us with God and with his future for us by his sacrifice and by his intercession for us. 139 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:05,000 Thanks be to God.