Daily Devotions
John
John 17 : 1 - 26 "COMMON ROOT OF THE LEVITICAL AND MELCHIZEDEK PRIESTHOODS"
Day 251 – John 17
COMMON ROOT OF THE LEVITICAL AND MELCHIZEDEK PRIESTHOODS
The Scriptures teach us that there were two priesthoods recognized by God. There was the Levitical priesthood and there was also the Melchizedek priesthood (The discussion of the latter may be found in Hebrews 4-10). Whether it was the Levitical priesthood or the Melchizedek priesthood, both share a common root.
Priests are special servants of God who are described as people who draw near to the Lord. They must ever be conscious of the need to be “holy”. They must also bear in mind that through their lives and their ministries, they must glorify God!
Malachi was the last writing prophet in the Old Testament line of special messengers from God. His prophetic book was particularly aimed at the Levitical priesthood. He preached mighty messages where he proclaimed that God’s Name must always be exalted on high!
“‘For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down,
My Name shall be great among the Gentiles;
In every place incense shall be offered to My Name,
And a pure offering; For My Name shall be great
among the nations,’ says the Lord of Hosts…‘For I am a great King,’ says the Lord of Hosts,
‘And My Name is to be feared among the nations.'”
Malachi 1:11, 14b
Jesus understood His role as High Priest. He knew that He must indeed be holy before His Father. In the practice of perfect holiness, He glorified His Father.
“For such a High Priest was fitting for us,
who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners,
and has become higher than the heavens…Now this is the main point of the things we are saying:
We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand
of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,
a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true Tabernacle
which the Lord erected, and not man.”
Hebrews 7:26; 8:1-2
A MESSIANIC PROPHECY
Jesus was fully aware of the many Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament. One of the Books He cited was Isaiah. When He began His public ministry, He read from Isaiah and applied the meaning of the passage to His own life.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the Gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Luke 4:18-19
In another passage found in Isaiah, we have a further description of the Messiah. This time round, we read about the promise of the Lord to glorify His Servant.
“And He said to Me,
‘You are My Servant, O Israel,
in whom I will be glorified.’And now the Lord says,
Who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
To bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel
is gathered to Him (For I shall be glorious
in the eyes of the Lord,
And My God shall be My strength),
Indeed He says,
‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob;
And to restore the preserved ones of Israel;
I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles,
That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.'”
Isaiah 49:3, 5-6
The Messiah was both called “Servant” and “Israel”. He was to do what the nation Israel as God’s servant failed to do! Jesus would succeed where Israel as a nation had failed. God would be glorified in and through His Servant, the Messiah Jesus! This was another reason why Jesus prayed that that He might glorify His Father in the Hour of His destiny.
A NATURAL DESIRE OF THE SON TO GLORIFY HIS FATHER
Yet another reason may be suggested. Jesus loved His Father. He had always said so. He had always desired to glorify His Father in His life and ministry! He sought to glorify His Father in life and now He desired to glorify His Father in His death!
Let us recall what Jesus said to the Jews in Jerusalem at the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles.
“My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me…
He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true,
and no unrighteousness is in Him.”
John 7:16, 18b