The third and last point of exposition of the words “in the order of Melchizedek," which we began in yesterday's study, is that the priestly work of Jesus was superior to that of the Aaronic priests in that it was done once for all and did not need to be repeated. Jesus made a true atonement for sins, and when he had completed his work he showed he had done it by sitting down at the Father's right hand:
Hebrews presents an inspired exposition of each of three ideas about Melchizedek in this verse: with an oath, forever, and the order of Melchizedek, which we look at in today's study.
We have looked at the first mention of Melchizedek in Genesis and the follow-up reference to Melchizedek in Psalm 110, where the oracle “you are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek” is cited. We must now turn to Hebrews, which contains the longest treatment of Melchizedek, as well as the definitive biblical exposition of this theme.
In today's study we continue our discussion of who Melchizedek is and why he is so important. John Calvin described Melchizedek simply but respectfully as a man who, although we know nothing else about him, “alone in that land was an upright and sincere cultivator and guardian of religion.”
As we noted in last week's lessons, Psalm 110 is the psalm most quoted in the New Testament. In fact, the first verse of the psalm is the most quoted verse. It is easy to see why. Verse 1 defines the Messiah, who was to come and whom all pious Jews were and are expecting, as the son of both David and God, therefore as being both human and divine, that is, a divine Messiah, and it quotes God as giving him dominion over his enemies. That Messiah is Jesus.
