The Gospel is simple: “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved.” Romans 10:9
But God is extremely intelligent, and His message sometimes comes across as rather complicated. You will probably think that about this message. Just keep in mind the big picture: The Messiah is coming into the world, and everything, including the Mosiac Law and all the religious traditions, must yield to the new order.
Micah 5:1-4 “Now muster yourselves in troops, daughter of troops: they have laid siege against us; with a rod they will strike the judge of Israel on the cheek. But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will come forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His times of coming forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity. Therefore, He will give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth. Then the remainder of His kinsmen will return to the sons of Israel. And He will arise and shepherd His flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD His God. And they will remain, because at that time He will be great to the ends of the earth.”
And we see the fulfillment of this prophecy in Luke Chapter 2:
Luke 2:8-11 “In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock at night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood near them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. And so the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
The city of David. Sometimes we think of Jerusalem as the city of David, but David was not from Jerusalem. He conquered Jerusalem and drove out the Jebusites in 2 Samuel 5:6-8. If you recall from a previous sermon, that’s where David developed the loathing for the blind and lame that figures so prominently in the meeting with Mephibosheth.
The original city of David is Bethlehem (house of bread). As we saw recently, in Keith’s sermon on Ruth, that story of how Boaz and Ruth unite is set in Bethlehem, and at the end of that book, we see the lineage traced down to David. Further evidence of David’s ties to Bethlehem occurs in I Samuel 20:27-29, where Jonathan tests his father Saul to see what his true intentions toward David are by stating that David was not present because he had to go to Bethlehem for a family gathering.
To fulfill Scripture, God influences Caesar Augustus to issue a decree for a world-wide census, and all people must return to their birthplace. Joseph was betrothed to Mary at the time, and she was pregnant with the Messiah. Since he was from Bethlehem, he had to return there from Nazareth in Galilee. When Joseph and Mary arrive in Bethlehem, Mary’s time to deliver her baby arrives, and Jesus is born in Bethlehem, just as prophesied in Micah.
Micah gives us an intriguing detail about this ruler from Bethlehem. His times of coming are from long ago, from the days of eternity. Now, how can a person who comes from Bethlehem come from eternity? Well, the answer is that the person must be eternal, and that has to be God. So, we have an eternal ruler of Israel who will be born in Bethlehem.
This prophecy about the Messiah was well known in Jesus’ day. In Matthew 2:1-6, we see the chief priests and scribes correctly identify the location of the birth of the King of the Jews as Bethlehem, and they quote our passage from Micah 5.
The first reference to a ruler from Judah (Bethlehem is in the province of Judah) is in Genesis 49:10 “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes.”
Another similar prophecy occurs in Numbers 24:17, spoken by Balaam:
“I see him, but not now; I look at him, but not near; a star shall appear from Jacob, a scepter shall rise from Israel, and shall smash the forehead of Moab, and overcome all the sons of Sheth.”
This prophecy does not mention Judah specifically, but mentions a scepter which will arise from Jacob, and of course Judah is one of Jacob (Israel’s) sons.
All the verses we have looked at so far have focused on political and governmental power. But the Messiah is not just a King; He is also a Priest, but not a Levitical priest.
What if, as a God-fearing person under the Mosaic Law, you became hopelessly frustrated with your own sinfulness and inability to obey the Law. Suppose you cried out to God for mercy because you knew that, according to the Mosaic Law, you stood condemned. And suddenly, God opened your eyes to another way to approach Him:
Psalm 40:6-8 “You have not desired sacrifice and meal offering; You have opened my ears; You have not required burnt offering and sin offering. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come; it is written of me in the scroll of the book. I delight to do Your will, my God; Your Law is within my heart.’”
According to Numbers 3:9, Levites were the only permissible priests:
“So you shall assign the Levites to Aaron and to his sons; they are exclusively assigned to him from the sons of Israel. So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons that they may keep their priesthood, but the layman who comes near shall be put to death.”
But if you are no longer trying to approach God through the Law of Moses, you need another Priest outside the Levitical priesthood, because they only serve the Tabernacle. Fortunately, God provided us a Priest that fits our needs. To see this, we must turn to the Psalms.
There are psalms known as “Messianic Psalms” which prophetically point to the ministry of the Messiah. Some of them are Psalm 2, 8, 16, 22 and 110. It is in Psalm 110 that we see the combined offices of King and Priest:
Psalm 110:1-4
“The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.’ The LORD will stretch out Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, ‘Rule in the midst of Your enemies.’ Your people will volunteer freely on the day of Your power; in holy splendor, from the womb or the dawn, Your youth are to You as the dew. The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, ‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.’”
In this passage, we see the scepter of the ruler and the role of the priest, combined in this Person to whom the LORD (Yahweh) speaks, identified as Lord (Adonai). This Lord (Adonai) is both Ruler and Priest, but not a Levitical priest. Instead, He is identified as a priest “according to the order of Melchizedek.”
If you were a Jewish scribe, this passage should have troubled you. How could the Ruler of Israel, the Messiah, be a priest if he came from Judah, rather than Levi? Very mysterious.
Melchizedek is only mentioned one other place in the Old Testament. He shows up in Genesis 14. This is after Abram rescues his nephew Lot from Chedorlaomer king of Elam and three other kings with him. Abram had also reclaimed other persons who were captured as well as many of their possessions. He was indirectly helping the king of Sodom, since that is where Lot lived. Abram meets up with the king of Sodom in the Valley of Shaveh.
In verses 18-20, we are told, “And Melchizedek the king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said, ‘Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has handed over your enemies to you.’ And he gave him a tenth of everything.”
Melchizedek is the king of Salem (peace), which most Jewish scholars interpret as the location of Jerusalem before Israel occupied Caanan. So, Melchizedek is a king and priest in the location where Abraham will take Isaac to be sacrificed; where Jerusalem will be located; and where the Messiah will be crucified. It is also in the land that will become Judah’s territory after Israel occupies Caanan.
Melchizedek is described as holding the offices of both king and priest. This is a very unusual combination, and typically was prohibited under Mosaic Law. In fact, Saul was dethroned in part because he presumed to offer sacrifices in Samuel’s absence, illegally usurping the priestly role as the king of Israel. In Second Chronicles Chapter 26, King Uzziah becomes a leper after he usurps the priest’s role and burns incense in the temple.
But the Messiah, according to Psalm 110, is a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek, and is also the ruler over Israel. So, like Melchizedek, he is both a king and a priest.
But, since the Messiah must come from Judah and be born in Bethlehem, he cannot be from the tribe of Levi, and his priesthood is therefore illegal under Mosaic Law. But that’s not a problem for you because you have quit trying to obtain righteousness under the Mosaic Law.
In fact, let’s say you have become aware that you can achieve righteousness in God’s eyes by faith, just as Abraham did in Genesis 15:6:
Then he believed in the LORD, and He credited it to him as righteousness.”
The covenant of works has a priesthood, so maybe the covenant of faith also has a priesthood. As a matter of fact, it does, and it has a priesthood superior to the Levitical priesthood, as described in Hebrews Chapter 7.
In contrasting the Levitical priests with Jesus, Hebrews 7:23 says,
“The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing; Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore, He is also able to save forever those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”
As noted in Hebrews 7:12, “When the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also.”
When we quit trying to earn righteousness, we leave the law of works and turn to the law of grace. In so doing, we turn from a religious system that uses frail human priests to a system that has a perfect eternal priest who is always interceding on our behalf.
Now, some theologians believe that Melchizedek was a Christophany, an appearance of Christ in the Old Testament. Here’s how the Hebrews writer describes Melchizedek in Hebrews 7:3
“Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually.”
If that description were literally true, then it would have to be referring to Jesus. But the Hebrew writer is attributing the complete lack of genealogy about Melchizedek as suggestive of an eternal nature. We don’t see any of the typical language used of Melchizedek that we see in other Christophanies. For instance, no other Christophany identifies anyone by a proper name or being an office bearer in any earthly position. Also, we see no command to, for example, remove Abram’s sandals because the ground is holy.
But clearly, God intends us to note the complete lack of genealogy, especially in Psalm 110:4, as being instructive that the Messiah will have a priesthood that is eternal.
So, when we think of “Born in Bethlehem,” we think of a precious infant, a manger, Joseph and Mary, and all the pageantry of Christmas. But to receive a forever priest from the Tribe of Judah, we must leave behind our love affair with salvation by our own works and receive the righteousness that comes only through faith.
Romans 3:19-26 explains the procedural change:
“Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law none of mankind will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes knowledge of sin. BUT NOW apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, but it is the righteousness of God THROUGH FAITH in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in God’s merciful restraint He let the sins previously committed go unpunished; for the demonstration, that is, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and THE JUSTIFIER OF THE ONE WHO HAS FAITH IN JESUS.”
That’s what Christmas is all about. It’s the coming of the King and Priest who changes the Law and eternal future for all of us who will transition out of trying to save ourselves, and trust in the blood of Christ as our only righteousness. Amen and hallelujah forever!
