Christ Gave Us Bread and Wine

Genesis 14 as a Prophecy of Christ

We are going to look at only chapter 14, verses 18, 19, and 20 today, only three verses. But in these three verses, I think we find some of the most amazing prophecy about the coming of Jesus. We already looked at Psalm 22 today, and we read about the dividing of Jesus' clothes at the foot of the cross.

And that prophecy happened in real time when Jesus was crucified, because the soldiers divided his, gambled for his clothes so as not to tear it. There are many prophecies in the Old Testament. Genesis 14, 18 to 20, is a wonderful one.

Now the context of this prophecy, of this type of Jesus Christ, is a war that takes place. Abram sees that his nephew Lot has been taken captive by four powerful kings. Five other kings had tried to withstand this coming army, but they fell victim and lost the battle.

And Abram's nephew, named Lot, was carried away into captivity. Hearing the news, Abraham must have felt terrible. He must have been afraid that his nephew was dead or being tortured. And so he gathered the troops that he had, about 300 men, and they chased down the army that took Lot captive.

And they fought in the middle of the night, dividing into two forces. They won the battle, and they rescued Lot. As they were coming back from that battle, a most incredible thing happens. And it's amazing.

Many of us don't know this story. It's not talked about very much, but I find it to be one of the most profound things you will see in the Bible. Let's find it now. We will see the story of Jesus pictured for us in Genesis 14, 18 to 20.

Melchizedek as King of Righteousness and King of Peace

The first thing I want us to see is that this event shows us that Jesus would come. It says in verse 18,. And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abraham by God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.

And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. Those three verses are the only mention of Melchizedek until almost a thousand years later, when King David talks about a coming Messiah who would be a priest like Melchizedek.

And then in the New Testament, we have a chapter, Hebrews chapter 7, that explains that what we just read in Genesis 14 actually speaks of Jesus Christ. How so? Very briefly, I'm going to point out in those three verses, seven powerful and profound ways that Jesus is pictured here for us.

Number one, and Melchizedek, the name Melchizedek means king of righteousness, king of righteousness. In the context of the chapter, you have many warring kings, five kings against four kings. But here we have a mysterious king who shows up and his name means king of righteousness.

That's the first indication that we are talking about perhaps Jesus Christ before his incarnation. This one, Melchizedek, might very well be Jesus Christ appearing to Abraham, appearing in the flesh. His name means king of righteousness.

Now it also could be that this is an ordinary man, not Jesus Christ, but he pictures Jesus for us like an analogy to point us to Christ. So either way, Jesus is being revealed. The first thing, king of righteousness.

The next thing we learn of him, he is called the king of Salem. Not only is he king of righteousness, he is king of peace. Salem means peace. Jerusalem, the peace of Jeru, is named for the city of peace.

The second indication that Jesus is being prophesied here is that he is king of peace. We'll save brought out bread and wine for last because that's going to point us to communion. But the third indication, it says he was priest.

Now if you know anything about Israel, you know that prophets, priests, and kings are different offices. All of them anointed, but the king is never the priest and the priest is never the king. And yet here we have a king from Salem whose name means king of righteousness and he is also a priest.

Jesus is a priest for us. He is our king of righteousness, he is our king of peace, and he is a priest that can bring a sinful man like myself to a holy God. He was a priest. Now in verse 19, the fourth thing, it says he blessed him and said, blessed be Abraham by God, most high, possessor of heaven and earth.

Notice that it is always the greater who gives a blessing to the lesser. Melchizedek, by offering this blessing over Abraham, is indicating that he has something greater to offer than Abraham himself, who is the father of the Jews.

This one blesses Abraham, that's the next thing. Moving on, and blessed be God, most high, who has delivered your enemies into your hand, and Abram gave him a tenth of everything. So we've said the greater blesses the lesser.

Now we hear that a tithe is given from Abraham to Melchizedek. The lesser tithes to the greater. So in those two ways, Melchizedek is shown to be greater than Abraham. And Hebrews chapter 7 will explain why this is so significant.

The reason is because from Abraham will come priests. From his body will come the Levites. And because Abraham is less than Melchizedek, the Levites who come from Abraham are a lower priesthood than this Melchizedek.

He is the great priest, the final priest, the great high priest who is greater than all the priests of Israel. So we saved one last, the seventh and final sign that this points to Jesus. And that is in verse 18, king of righteousness, king of peace, brings forth bread and wine.

Bread and Wine as the Body and Blood of Christ

We have a king. We have a priest who gives us bread and wine. The night before he was crucified, he took bread and he took wine. And he said, this is my body, this is my blood for you. The bread and the wine symbolize the body and the blood of Christ.

Our priest doesn't just offer a Levitical sacrifice, an animal on an altar. No, our priest goes to a cross and offers himself as a bloody sacrifice for our sins. His body, his blood, that is the bread and that is the wine.

And so tonight, this is Good Friday, we are here to think about the body and the blood. We are going to prepare ourselves with more singing, but in a minute I'll come back up here and we will take of the bread and of the wine to remember the body and the blood of Christ.

But before we sing again, I want to leave you with one last thought. Abraham, he saw war. To rescue Lot meant bloodshed, it meant fighting. He must have come back off that battlefield shaking with post-traumatic stress disorder, just in absolute fear.

He knew fear. He thought his nephew was dead. He knew what it was to hurt and to feel loss. In this life, you will have trouble, but take heart. We have a king, we have a priest who has overcome the world.

Good Friday is a day that we come together and we find coming out of this battlefield, I don't know what each one of your year has looked like, but some of you have been through some pain this year. All of us have.

Here is a place we can come to the table and find nourishment in the body and blood of Jesus. It represents life given to us. The original meal that caused the fall of man, that brought sin and death was that fruit that was forbidden to Adam and Eve.

They took that fruit and they ate of it and sin and death came into the world and that's why we have war. That's how we have killing and Abraham experienced all of that pain, but God brought bread and wine, a meal that represents the life that God offers.

And so all of this, the story of Melchizedek, all of these signs point us to this table. It points us to Jesus, his body broken, his blood poured out, the savior of the world. So tonight, recognize whatever you've been through, all of the pain, today is a day to remember that Jesus is the bread of life.

He meets our every need. Our only hope is here in him. This is where we find life. So let's stand and begin to prepare our hearts to receive the bread, the wine, the.