Prior to the giving of the law to the Levite, Moses, two men served as High Priests for the purpose of intervening for others in accordance with God's purposes.

Melchizedek provided Communion to Abraham and Abraham played an important role in the redemption of his son, Isaac.

Neither man was a descendant of the tribe of Levi, since Levi would descend from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Paul uses reference to these early Priests to illustrate that God does not only draw His agents from the lone tribe of Levi and He emphasizes this with Jesus, who is from the tribe of Judah.

In the first Passover, God instructed every male head of household to perform the intervening act of providing for the first born by slaying the lamb, spreading the blood, roasting the lamb and disposing of it before sunrise as a redemptive act for every firstborn in that household.

How does that apply to you and me?

Can we say that we have no Priestly responsibilities? Or does the Great Commission empower us and place the responsibility to intervene for others upon our shoulders?

Nick Harris, a retired Methodist Preacher once stated, "Dads, it's not pastor's responsibility to bring the Lamb to your children. It's not mom's responsibility. It's your responsibility, dad."

On the original Passover, firstborns were spared. They didn't spare themselves. Those firstborns were spared because of the obedience of God's agents who took actions prescribed by God.

Acting in behalf of others, in faith, we can be priests leading to the redemption of others.

At four year intervals, people around the world watch as men and women compete in the Marathon at the Olympics. Great attention is given to the winners - who, of course, have finished that race. Somehow, their accomplishment is complete in less than 3 hours. In America, people also give large amounts of attention to the Marine Corps Marathon and the Boston Marathon. Somehow, finishing a 3 hour accomplishment, backed by thousands of hours of training, is regarded highly by many people.

A portion of the importance of the accomplishment lies in the history of the victory at Marathon and a messenger's 26+ mile run that is linked to the first Olympics, in Greece, sponsored by Pericles.

Three or four hundred years later, Saul of Tarsus had his name changed after an encounter with Jesus along the road to Damascus. Subsequently, he wrote as Paul about the spiritual need to believe in the Ressurrected Jesus by Faith, to enter the Spiritual Race and he encouraged his readers to finish the "race."

Paul never advocated dropping out.

He never advocated "coasting" through one's mortal life.

While the Thief on the Cross entered "the race" at the last few steps, Jesus indicates that the Thief crossed the finish line. Other believers have entered the Spiritual Race for hundreds and thousands of days, depending upon the hour they first believed. In this sense, the Hellenistic laurels that come to a single winner of a three hour footrace are dwarfed by the quantity of runners who have entered the Spiritual Race...and many of those "runners" can all claim the prize.

In this age, winners receive a gold medal after placing first at a modern Olympic Marathon. Twenty-three hundred years ago, the winner received a wreath of laurel leaves.

For more than 2,000 years, the Spiritual Prize awaits every believer who enters the Spiritual Race and finishes it. Praise God for Paul!