Mystery Ahead of Christmas

Every year, OFB’s Tim Butler assembles a Twelve Days of Christmas booklet to help anyone interested in meditating on the miracle of Christmas over that season between December 25 and Epiphany. This year’s booklet is the Kings Before, looking at Old Testament kings and what they do to help us understand who Jesus is. The first day’s material appears on this page exclusively ahead of the full release on Christmas night.

“Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine—since he was priest of God Most High — and he blessed Abram and said: ‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.’” — Genesis 14:18-20

The mysterious king of Salem who encounters Abraham after a battle. He is not only a king, he is a priest of the Lord, we are told. He shows up out of the blue, like that unexpected package just before Christmas that you’re confused whether you should open or not. Is it a present? Should you open it?

Melchizedek, whose name means “King of Righteousness,” is king and priest of a city whose name means “peace.” That righteous king comes and blesses Abraham, almost enacting an early Christmas pageant. After all, Jesus will be the righteous king, and, as Scripture itself calls him, the Prince of Peace. He will also be our priest — our connection as imperfect people to our Holy God (Heb. 4:14).

Abraham, for his part, seems to recognize God is working in this man and responds by giving a tithe to him. Did he know that Melchizedek was representing how a distant decedent of Abraham would bring peace to us? Surely not. How could he have known that Melchizedek would become a model for what kind of priest and king Jesus would be? But, he did know God was working and His promise was sure.

Today, we have the Christmas story and the entire life of the true righteous king laid out for us in God’s Word. Yet, there are plenty of times we are like Abraham confronted with a part of God’s plan we don’t understand yet. We too can respond, for the King of Righteousness was born and lived and died for us and His plans ahead for us are good, even when we don’t fully understand them.

Prayer: Father, we don’t always understand how you are working, but Christmas reminds us that your gifts are always good and you always come through with your promises. Help us to hold onto that truth not just on Christmas, but every day. We pray this in Jesus’s name. Amen.

You’ll find the complete booklet available for free download at approximately 7:30 p.m. (Central Time) on December 25 right here.

Timothy R. Butler is Editor-in-Chief of Open for Business. He also serves as a pastor at Little Hills Church and FaithTree Christian Fellowship.