Tuesday, March 28
Save completely
Scripture: Hebrews 7
Hebrews 7:25 So he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
Observation
The author of Hebrews wants to show that Jesus’ high priesthood is superior to the Levitical priesthood and thus the new covenant is superior to the old. To do this, he uses a fairly obscure event from Genesis 14 when Abraham encountered and paid a tithe to Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of Most High God. The only other place Melchizedek is mentioned in the Old Testament is Psalm 110 (considered a Messianic psalm and quoted by Jesus as such in Matthew 22), where David speaks of the Lord swearing, “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.” The only place Melchizedek is mention in the NT is here in Hebrews 5-7. That’s the Scripture string behind this.
The author’s point is that the old covenant is “weak and useless for the law made nothing perfect” (v. 18-19), but Jesus introduces “a better hope through which we draw near to God” (v. 19). And Jesus is a better priest to represent us before God since the others were temporary, but He lives forever to intercede for us and save us completely.
Application
I love the promise that Jesus will save me completely and that He is interceding for me. “Help him Father!”
I woke up this morning aware of my weakness and failure, particularly about missing opportunities to share Jesus, and feeling badly about it. Also, I recently shared four messages on letting go of anger and offense and forgiving others. As soon as I got home, I was offended and angry and struggled to forgive. I felt like Jesus was saying, “You can talk about it; can you do it?”
I need help! So I’m very grateful that Jesus is not done with me. He is going to keep at it until I am “saved completely.”
Philippians 1:6 For I am sure of this very thing, that the one who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
Prayer: Lord I love you and I realize that I’m very much a work in progress. Please keep working on me, interceding for me, saving me until the job is complete!
More: Deuteronomy 19-20, Psalm 37, Matthew 28