Pastor Scott Jonas
9/16/18
Hebrews 7
Greater than Melchizedek
This week was a pivotal one in our
relationship as pastor and congregation.
I finally felt comfortable enough to put up in my office this, my Matrix
action figures. When I first got here I
decided to wait a little while before I let you see me go full nerd. This is who I am, a full grown adult who has
action figures in his office. My family
got me this; it is neo from the movie the Matrix. I love this movie because the hero is a
Christ figure. His real name is Mr.
Anderson which means son of man. He
changes it to Neo which means New One.
He is the Messiah in a future digital world where he frees mankind from
demons. You see there is a deep
theological reason why I have action figures in my office.
In Hebrews
chapter 7, the author uses another Christ figure, Melchizedek. We learned about him in our last sermon
series on Genesis. In Genesis 14, the
patriarch of the Jews, Abraham, bows to the high priest and king Melchizedek
and tithes one tenth of all he owns.
Abraham recognizes Melchizedek as greater than himself and then
Melchizedek vanishes from the story. The
author of Hebrews resurrects him to make a point to his Jewish audience, “The
first and greatest Jew served an unknown king of righteous and peace. God placed Melchizedek in the Bible as a sign
directing you to the ultimate king of righteousness and peace, Jesus Christ.”
Hebrews
takes a figure that his readers are familiar with and shows how that figure
points to Jesus. He creates a Christ
figure to help his audience see Jesus. A
Christ figure is a character or person who resembles the essential qualities of
Jesus. He or she is a Prophet, priest or
King who enters human history is order to save it. The Christ Figure is willing to sacrifice all
to achieve his purpose, Just like Jesus.
The New
Testament is filled with Christ figure references from the Old Testament. Jesus himself referenced his story to
Jonah. Just as Jonah was in the belly of
the fish three days, so too Jesus was in the tomb for three days. Jews who knew the Jonah story could easily
see how God was foreshadowing Jesus Christ with little Christs in the Old
Testament. I preached on how Joseph of
the 12 brothers was a Christ figure.
There are dozens of ways in which Joseph of the Amazing Coat resembled
Christ. He was put into the ground, a
well, but he miraculously rose from that death sentence and saved the known
world through this resurrection. Joseph
is a Christ figure.
Isaac, the
Son of Abraham is a Christ figure. His
father offered him just like the heavenly father offered the Holy Son. Adam is a Christ figure; because he died we
all die. Just as we all die to our sins
in baptism because of Jesus. Esther is a
Christ figure. She was from a lowly
tribe but God used her to save his people.
When you look for them in the books of the Bible you find them all over
the place. The New Testament writers are
using characters familiar to their audience in order to point to the ultimate
savior, Jesus Christ. Jesus is greater.
Our culture
doesn’t know who Esther, Isaac, Joseph or Adam is anymore. They don’t know Jesus, really. We are tempted to just throw up our hands and
say, “How are we supposed to connect with such an illiterate and secular
culture?” But the New testament writers
give us a strategy. We can use the
Christ figures of our culture to point people to Jesus. There are Christ figures all over the place
if you know where to look.
Most people don’t read the Bible, but they do love their
movies and TV shows. If you have a
passion for Netflix, hulu, movie pass and all the rest you can find Christ
figures that you can use in conversation.
If you are trying to connect with a kid, then Harry Potter is a Christ
figure you can use. Spoiler alert: He uses resurrection stone in order to save
the world from the devil figure, Voldemort.
If you want to share Jesus with your grandkids, know Harry Potter.
If you are trying to connect with a
classic comic book fan, Superman is a Christ figure. His father sends him to earth from
beyond. Superman has powers that no
human possess’. He loves humanity and
daily works to defeat evil. If you are
trying to connect with a Disney fan, The Lion King is a great witnessing
tool. In fact, I own a book called “The
Gospel according to Disney. They have
really figured out how to create Christ figures out of classic fairy tales. In the Lion King, Mufasa, sacrifices himself
like Christ for his Son, who is chosen like Christ.
If you are trying to share your faith
with a manly man, Braveheart is the one for you. William Wallace comes from humble beginnings
in order to raise an army of commoners to defeat the evil King Edward. Ultimately violence won’t bring freedom. So William Wallace willing rides to his
execution on a donkey in order to inspire his followers.
If you are trying to witness to
someone who hasn’t enjoyed a movie since 1952, then watch High Noon. Gary Cooper is a sheriff who is fed up with
outlaws terrorizing his town. At first,
a huge crown promises to follow him into the confrontation, but slowly over
time everyone abandons the sheriff. When
High Noon arrives, Gary Cooper takes on all of the powers of darkness by himself. There are so many examples of Christ figures
in our culture. I have books on the
Gospel according to Charles Schultz’ Peanuts, the Gospel according to Lord of
the Rings, and even the Gospel according to Starbucks.
This week, Nike started a new ad
campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick, the former football quarterback who knelt
during the national anthem and hasn’t been offered a contract since. The ad’s tag line is “Believe in Something
even if it means sacrificing everything.”
Nike is creating a Christ figure.
We can debate the merits of Kaepernick as a Christ figure but it is
definitely a conversation starter. What
does it mean to sacrifice everything?
How does Kaepernick’s sacrifice compare to Christ’s. Incidently, Kaepernick was raised in the
Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.
Kaepernick raises the limitations of
Christ figures. This is easier to hide
in books and movies where our Christ figures can ride off into the sunset or
fade into obscurity like Melchizedek.
Real people like Kaepernick are all too human. They function best when they point us to
Christ, because they aren’t capable of really saving the world. Joseph saved Egypt but then he died and
eventually, the Hebrews became enslaved.
Isaac wasn’t really sacrificed.
Jonah eventually listened to God, but he was pretty bitter about it.
If we stay focused on a Christ figure
then we are worshipping a created being and that is terrible for us and the
figure. But if a Christ figure gets us
to Jesus then we will never be disappointed.
In our Gospel lesson people came to
the disciples asking for healing, and they failed. But they pointed the boy with seizures to
Jesus and he healed. Point people to
Jesus.
Jesus is greater than Melchizedek and
all of the Bible’s Christ figures. They
were placed there in the story like Easter Eggs. Have you ever heard that term Easter eggs in
literature and movies. An Easter egg is
when the author embeds a clue into a
seemingly insignificant part of the story.
The clue prophecies how the story will end. Adam, Isaac, Joseph, and Esther were Easter
eggs pointing to Jesus Christ.
Jesus believed in something that
caused him to sacrifice everything. He
believed that through the love of the Father, son and Holy Spirit, he could
restore the World. Melchizedek,
Hercules, Katniss Everdeen, Luke Skywalker, and E.T the Extra Terrestrial are
Easter eggs that prophecy how the story will end. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will save
the day. That is worth sharing.