The Book of Hebrews says that Jesus is a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek (Heb. 7:17). Melchizi-who? What is meant by this peculiar phrase?

A couple weeks ago, someone asked me this question in preparation for a Q&A I would be doing on Sunday morning. During the service, I explained that Jesus in fact fulfills all three roles of Old Testament leaders. He qualifies as king through his physical descent from David (Matt. 1:1). He qualifies as prophet because Moses long ago spoke of a prophet who would eventually outshine him (Deut. 18:15), and Peter confirms that Jesus fulfilled this prophecy (Ac. 3:17-26). But in what sense could Jesus be priest?

Being from the tribe of Judah, Jesus would not normally be allowed to be a priest over Israel. Priests usually came from the line of Levi (Ex. 29:44; Num. 25:12-13). But the author of Hebrews teaches that Jesus was a priest in a special way — according to an even older and superior pattern of priest named Melchizedek.

Melchizedek was a priestly king alive at the time of Abram. When Abram\’s nephew Lot was kidnapped, Abram staged a daring rescue, then stopped in a village named Salem (later called Jerusalem) to offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving. The ruler of that town at the time was a man named Melchizedek, a “priest of God Most High\” (Gen. 14:18). He brought out bread and wine, then blessed Abram for his faith and obedience, saying,

Blessed be Abram by God Most High,

Possessor of heaven and earth;

And blessed be God Most High,

Who has delivered your enemies into your hand! 

The wonderful lesson of Melchizedek is that Jesus is a legitimate priest, even greater than the Levitical priests, and even greater than Abraham himself. While the priests of Levi had to regularly offer animal sacrifices to atone for sin, Jesus offered one sacrifice — himself — a single time, finished his work, then sat down at God’s right hand.

The result of this reality is one of the most wonderful statements in the whole book of Hebrews: “Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Heb. 7:25). Melchizedek in Hebrew literally means king of righteousness (melek “king” + zedek “righteousness”), and that certainly describes our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. What a wonderful king we have!

This is just one of the questions I answered in a recent Q&A on Sunday morning. It is now available on our podcast .

Here are all the questions and what time they occur on the recording.

0:00 – Intro: How to approach questions in the Bible

6:00 – Why did God get angry at Balaam if he commanded him to go to Moab?

22:45 – Why are there four gospels?\n\n32:00 – What is the “order of Melchizedek”?

47:30 – If God and Jesus are the same, why is he also called Son of God?