Diverse Excellencies

In a sermon called “The Excellency of Christ,” the old American preacher Jonathan Edwards used a complicated, but important, phrase to describe Jesus. Thinking of how he is both “the Lamb who was slain” and “the Lion of Judah,” Edwards declared that “there is an admirable conjunction of diverse excellencies in Jesus Christ.” That’s a mouthful. But Edwards meant that Jesus is spectacular because he combines all sorts of wonderful qualities we don’t expect to find in one person. He is Lion and Lamb. Our God and our Friend. In Psalm 110 language, he is our priest and our warrior-king.

First, Jesus is our priest. David would have been shocked to hear God tell his Messiah “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.” David knows that God doesn’t let kings be priests. Kings come from Judah, priests from Levi. Old Testament kings who tried to be priests suffered for it: Saul lost his throne for making priestly sacrifices. Uzziah got leprosy for shoving his way into the temple. But there was one man who got to be both, a shadowy figure in Genesis 14 named “Melchizedek.” Out of nowhere, he enters the story of Abraham and defies our categories, because he is both a king and a priest. Abraham acknowledges his greatness by bowing to him and giving him tithes. Then Melchizedek disappears from the Bible as suddenly as he appeared. Until Psalm 110, when God tell his Messiah that he won’t just be a great king like David. He will be a king-priest, after the order of Melchizedek. Not only that, but he will serve forever!

No one understands Psalm 110:4 for the next one thousand years, until Jesus shows up. The entire chapter of Hebrews 7 is devoted to explaining it. Jesus is not only the powerful King at God’s right hand, who rules all of history and all the details of your life. Jesus is also your devoted priest. He has presented his once-and-for-all sacrifice for you before God, completely covering your sins. He intercedes for you at all times, keeping you saved and keeping you going, when you aren’t even thinking about him. He is faithful, merciful, and sympathetic. He understands your weaknesses and struggles, inviting you to receive grace in your time of need. You can run to him!

But Jesus is also our warrior king. The last verses of Psalm 110 remind us more of Braveheart than a Nativity scene! David sees a wild warrior-chieftain, slashing and burning his way through his enemies, stacking up their bodies like firewood. When the dust settles, he drinks from the brook like Samson, and Yahweh lifts up his head. It’s not how we usually think of Jesus, but John picks up on this picture in Revelation 19, when he shows the returning King riding out on a white horse, swinging a sword, robe dipped in blood. Psalm 110 is confronting us with a choice: we can come as a freewill offering now, or get stacked up then. But none can stand against this King’s power.

King Jesus’ power will finally restore God’s world. Paul quotes Psalm 110 in his great Easter text of 1 Corinthians 15, when he describes the day God puts the “final enemy” under Jesus’ feet. Who is that? Death. It is not a natural part of God’s order. Death is an intruder, a result of sin and the curse. Jesus’ people who die before his return go to heaven to be with him. But death still claims their bodies—and Jesus won’t have that. The climactic display of Christ’s power in his history comes at his return, when death itself drops to its knees before the King. The earth will explode in resurrection life, and every grave will be emptied for good! That’s when the last enemy falls, and everything is under Jesus’ feet. He comes to make his blessings flow, far as the curse is found.

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Article by Eric Smith
Senior Pastor, Sharon Baptist Church