February 10, 2012 – Hebrews 7 - 8:6

We hear about the priest Melchizedek a lot in the Catholic Church, especially in certain prayers of the Mass.  I don’t remember it ever being explained quite in these terms.  Jesus was in the line of Melchizedek, who has no lineage in the Bible, only shows up and is revered by Abraham.  The importance of the priesthood of Melchizedek is the need to have a special priest, outside of the law, outside of the Levite line.  As it says, if Jesus were only human, He would not have been a priest, because He comes from the line of Judah.  But because of His divinity and special nature, He claims the line of priest from Melchizedek. 

Melchizedek does not have a beginning or an end in the Bible, so his priesthood is considered eternal.  Thus when Christ takes on that line, it is a priesthood of an eternal nature and one that is outside the law of Israel.