永遠的大祭司
希伯來書七章1至3節，17至21節
1這麥基洗德就是撒冷王，又是至高神的祭司，本是長遠為祭司的。他當亞伯拉罕殺敗諸王回來的時候，就迎接他，給他祝福。
2亞伯拉罕也將自己所得來的，取十分之一給他。他頭一個名繙出來就是仁義王，他又名撒冷王，就是平安王的意思。
3他無父，無母，無族譜，無生之始，無命之終，乃是與神的兒子相似。
17因為有給他作見證的說：你是照著麥基洗德的等次永遠為祭司。
18先前的條例，因軟弱無益，所以廢掉了，
19（律法原來一無所成）就引進了更美的指望；靠這指望，我們便可以進到神面前。
20再者，耶穌為祭司，並不是不起誓立的。
21至於那些祭司，原不是起誓立的，只有耶穌是起誓立的；因為那立他的對他說：主起了誓，決不後悔，你是永遠為祭司。
信息分享
我們接著讀到的幾章經文，便是整卷希伯來書的中心要旨──指出基督是我們的大祭司。
耶穌並非屬於作祭司的利未支派，祂是生於作王的猶大支派。除耶穌以外，還有誰人既是祭司，又是作王的呢？
答案是麥基洗德。「麥基洗德」這個名字，在舊約只出現過兩次，可是，對猶太人而言，他卻是一個重要人物。創世記十四章18至20節，以及詩篇一一零篇4節都提及他。「麥基洗德」的名意是「仁義王」，而由他作王的城名叫「撒冷城」，「撒冷」的意思是平安。
我們對他所知甚少。我們不知道他來自何處，或他的身份背景。然而，他的出現，卻奇妙地預表了永遠作祭司的基督。
舊約的祭司離世之後，便要由另一位祭司接替。但基督卻死而復活，此後便永遠長存；因此，祂便可以永遠作我們的大祭司。
終有一天，基督要作全地的王。在神的眼中，基督如今已作了王，可是，世上還有許多人拒絕認祂是王。然而，到那天，當祂親自來到世上作王的時候，萬膝都要向祂跪拜，眾口都要承認耶穌基督是主，將榮耀歸予父神。當祂還在在天上的這段期間，祂便一直以大祭司的身份，在神的寶座面前為信徒代求。明天選讀的經文將會繼續告訴我們，基督今天如何以大祭司的身份來幫助我們。
A TRUE PRIEST FOR EVER
Hebrews 7:1-3 and 17-21
1 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,
2 to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,”
3 without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.
17 For He testifies:
“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.”
18 For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness,
19 for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.
20 And in as much as He was not made priest without an oath
21 (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him:
“The Lord has sworn
And will not relent,
‘You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek’”),
Message
The next three or four chapters of Hebrews all centre around the main theme of the book, which is that Christ is our great High Priest.
Jesus was not born into the tribe of Levi which was the priestly tribe of Israel. He was born into Judah, the tribe from which all the kings came. Who else was both a priest and a king?
The answer is Melchizedek. His name only appears twice in the Old Testament but he was very important to the Jews. He is mentioned in Genesis 14:18-20 and Psalm 110:4. His name means 'King of Righteousness' and he was king of the city of Salem which means peace.
We know very little about him. We don't know where he came from or who he was, but he has become a wonderful type or picture of Christ, our continuing High Priest.
The priests of the Old Testament had to be replaced when they passed away. Christ died once but is alive forevermore. Therefore he can always be relied on to continue his work as our High Priest.
One day Christ will be seen as king over all the earth. In God's sight he is king now but there are many who refuse to recognise him. One day every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. In the meantime he is there in heaven before the throne of God as our great High Priest. Our next reading will tell us about his wonderful work for us today.