Then Melchizedek King of Salem Brought Out Bread and Wine; He Was the Priest of God Most High: Genesis 14:8-24

Genesis 14:8-24: "8 And the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out and joined together in battle in the Valley of Siddim 9 against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of nations, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar--four kings against five. 10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of asphalt pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled; some fell there, and the remainder fled to the mountains. 11 Then they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way. 12 They also took Lot, Abram's brother's son who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. 13 Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, for he dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner; and they were allies with Abram. 14 Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 He divided his forces against them by night, and he and his servants attacked them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. 16 So he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the people. 17 And the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley), after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him. 18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. 19 And he blessed him and said: 'Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; 20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.' And he gave him a tithe of all. 21 Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, 'Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself.' 22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, 'I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, 23 that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, "I have made Abram rich"--24 except only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.'"

This evening we get to meet the high priest of God Most High, Melchizedek. And what does the priest of the Most High God do? He brings bread and wine. How could this not be anything but a figure of what the priests of today do every Sunday and Feast day? The priests of today, Bishops, Pastors, and Deacons, bring out the bread and wine to be consecrated in the Blessed Sacrament of our Lord's Supper.

Melchizedek is figure of our Lord Jesus Christ. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews makes this connection for us in the fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters of that book. The Psalmist David, likewise in Psalm 110, connects the promised Messiah to Melchizedek. In these passages we have Scriptural proof, that Melchizedek is a prefigurement of the Messiah, that is, the Christ, our Lord Jesus, to come.

There are some things that need to be noted about Melchizedek. First, he is a king. Second, that he is the king of Salem. Third, that he is a priest of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth. Fourth, he blesses Abram. Fifth, the meaning of his name.

The fact that Melchizedek is a king, also ties him to our Lord Jesus. For our Lord is also a King. He sits on the right hand of the throne of God, judging the quick and the dead. What do kings do? Or, what are they supposed to do? Kings are supposed to supply the needs of their people. Melchizedek supplies the needs of those returning from the slaughter of the kings by bringing to them bread and wine. He brings them something to satisfy their hunger, and to lift their spirits. Our Lord Jesus supplies the needs of His people by giving them His very own Body and Blood in bread and wine, to feed their souls, and strengthen them from the battle with sin, death, and the devil. He also declares as King, that all those who believe and trust in Him, are free from sin, and free from the punishment of sin.

That Melchizedek is the king of Salem, also ties him to our Lord Jesus. Salem means peace. That means that Melchizedek is the king of peace. Our Lord Jesus is the true King of Peace, He is the true King of Salem. Salem is believed to be the city which became Jerusalem. Jerusalem means "set ye double peace." Jerusalem is the place where the Temple of God stood. It is where our Lord God decided to make His dwelling place on earth in the time of Solomon the king. It is also the place where the kings of Judah reigned. It is no surprise therefore, that our Lord Jesus Christ go there to take His place of residence. It is not His home, that was Capernaum. And our Lord did not dwell in the Temple, even though He preached there. Our Lord's true place of abode, the place where He reigns as our King of Peace, is on Golgotha, the Place of the Skull, that place where He offered up His own Body and Blood as a sacrifice for us, in order that we might have salvation.

Melchizedek is also connected to our Lord Jesus because he is a priest of God Most High. What do priests do? They offer sacrifices. Our Lord is the True Priest, for He not only offers the Sacrifice, but He also takes the place of the victim. He is the true Lamb of God, offered for our salvation, by the True Priest of God. Priests also intercede for the people. Our Lord Jesus, now sitting on the right hand of God the Father, intercedes for us to the Father, ever reminding Him of His Sacrifice, and that our punishment has been paid. Priests also were given the remnants of the sacrifice as their food. The Blessed St. Peter in his First Epistle calls us "a royal priesthood." What that means is that we now get to enjoy the food that once was only reserved for the levitical priests. We get to eat the once for all Sacrifice of our Lord's Body and Blood under bread and wine. Melchizedek prefigures this great meal of forgiveness by bringing out bread and wine for the weary battlers. We as weary battlers with sin, death, the devil, the world, and our flesh, are refreshed through this salutary meal.

Melchizedek also blesses Abram. This shows his role as a prophet. The purpose of a prophet was to preach glad tidings. Melchizedek preaches to Abram that it was God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, who brought him the victory. It doesn't say it, but we can assume since Abram doesn't object, that Abram received this preaching with the ears of faith, believing wholeheartedly that God has indeed accomplished this through him. Our Lord Jesus is also a prophet, as we heard in this mornings text, He preaches Himself, and the good things that He plans to do for us. He preaches His death on the cross, for our salvation. And He preaches that He will give us His very own Body and Blood to eat and drink for our forgiveness.

Melchizedek is a prophet, priest and king. Our Lord Jesus is a Prophet, Priest, and King. That brings us to the final point about Melchizedek, and that is his name. Melchizedek means "my king is righteousness." Does that not bring our Lord Jesus to mind? Our Lord and King is Righteousness. Contrast that with our unrighteousness. We break the Law of God constantly. We fail miserably in keeping the commandments. We confess in public confession, that we are "poor, miserable sinners." This is a good confession, because it is true, and it is honest. On account of our sin we are deemed unrighteous. But our Lord Jesus is Righteousness. What that means, is that in His righteousness, He fulfills the Law perfectly for us. He covers over our unrighteousness, with His righteousness, so that our Father in heaven sees only His righteousness when He looks at our works. We, therefore, are counted righteous not because of anything that we did, or are doing, but because of what our Lord Jesus Christ did, and is doing.

Therefore, we can rejoice that we are counted righteous, that we have a High Priest, in the order of Melchizedek, who intercedes on our behalf constantly to the Father. And because of this we are deemed holy and pure. Rejoice in your holiness and perfection!

God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

The Time is Fulfilled: St. Mark 1:12-15

St. Mark 1:12-15: "12 Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. 13 And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him. 14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.'"

For the second morning in a row the temptation of our Lord Jesus is mentioned. However, this reading is not just about our Lord spending forty days in the wilderness. This pericope is about the end of St. John the Baptist's preaching, and the beginning of the preaching of our Lord. Our Lord begins His preaching by carrying on the preaching of St. John the Baptist, that is by preaching, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."

The time that is fulfilled is the appearance of our Lord God in our flesh. Our Lord God has come to us born as one of us to fulfill the Law for us, and suffer and die for us. What a great thing! Our Lord begins to preach about Himself, the basis for all good preaching. And He immediately begins to preach about His work, another sign of good preaching. Good preaching, such as our Lord Jesus and St. John the Baptist preach, is always about our Lord and His work of redemption.

Bad preaching includes pop-psychology, which puts forth a sort of 12-step program of religion, that is, do these certain things, and your life will be great. Besides the fact that our Lord Jesus states that men will revile and hate and persecute His followers, this is wrong because it places the focus on man, and not on our Lord God. Included in this type of preaching are the so-called "success" preachers, who claim that if you truly love God enough, and you are a good person, God will reward you. Again, this places the focus on you and what you must do, and not on our Lord Jesus.

Bad preaching also includes the so-called preachers who use the pulpit to promote some political agenda. And along the same lines, are those who carry on about some facet of social justice. Having a good government and just citizens may be a good thing to have, but again, it takes the focus off of our Lord Jesus Christ, or worse yet, it drags Him into the picture, as if only a certain form of government and social action is pleasing to our Lord. None of this has to do with our Lord's true work of salvation for mankind, which is basically two things, His active (His fulfilling of the Law) and passive (His death on the cross) obedience.

Another form of bad preaching is the type of preaching that simply tells a bunch of stories, most of which have nothing to do with each other, or the text appointed for the day. Along these same lines is the preaching that uses the pulpit as a place for stand-up comedy. I suppose these can be entertaining, except when you get the preachers who think they are funny or entertaining but are really not, but again, preaching is not about being entertaining, it is about proclaiming our Savior and what He has done for us, and still does for us, through His Blessed Sacraments. Now that is not to say that preaching should be dull or boring either, but entertaining should not be the main focus.

Let's look at our Lord Jesus's preaching, which is the carrying on of St. John the Baptist's preaching. Our just states the facts. "The time is fulfilled." That is to say, "I, the Messiah, have come to fulfill the Law which you are unable to keep." "The kingdom of God is at hand." That is to say, "I am here to suffer and die in your place, taking on your punishment, so that I suffer all of your pain, and you get all of My reward." "Repent." That is to say, "Turn from yourselves and your works; turn from the things in which you trust in this life, and rely and trust in Me. For those things in which you trust are false gods, and I am the One True God and Savior. Trust in Me, for in Me only will you find the salvation and True God which you seek." "Believe in the Gospel." That is to say, "Believe in My work of fulfilling the Law perfectly, which you are unable to keep perfectly, and believe that My suffering and death in your place has won for you forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation, in order that you may receive these things through the means of grace given out by the Holy Ghost.

Our Lord preaches Himself and what He has done. All good preaching will put the focus on our Lord Jesus, and not some other thing. It is our duty as hearers to make sure that we are hearing about our Lord, and not being puffed up in our works, or our success, or our emotions, or feelings, or our social action, or our politics, but solely in what our Lord Jesus has done for us. This is the type of preaching that will actually save you, for it will place the mantel of the Holy Spirit upon you, and give you true peace.

May God's peace be with you!

Deacon Dulas