“You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a little fly on the walls of heaven and overhear privileged and private conversations between the Father, Son and Spirit? That’s almost what it’s like reading Psalm 110. But since the Spirit is something of the “silent partner” of the Trinity — a joke, because he oversees the Word — we don’t see him speaking. And because the conversation in question is printed for all to read, it’s not exactly private or privileged. In fact, it is a conversation to be heralded.

In verse one we see the LORD (all capitals) speaking to “my Lord.” That’s the Father speaking to the Son, the Lord of King David, the writer. The first three verses speak of Christ’s coming kingdom. Verse four shifts gears and begins describing the priesthood of Christ thusly: “The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind: ‘You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.’” So who was Melchizedek, and why is Christ a priest in his order?

We find the historical Melchizedek in only 3 verses in Genesis 14. He is the king of Salem (v. 18), the first time we see the name of contemporary Jerusalem mentioned. He is also the priest of God Most High, or the Sovereign Lord. He was no priest to a local Canaanite deity; he worshipped and served the “possessor of heaven and earth” (vs. 19, 22). Why this is revealing we’ll see in a moment. Let’s set the context first.

Four Canaanite kings went to war against five other local kings (14:1-2), the latter group including the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The forces of the four won the battle and ransacked the 5 losing cities, carrying off Lot, Abraham’s nephew Lot, who was living in Sodom (v.12). When word got back to Abraham, he rallied a regiment of 318 men (v. 14) and chased the victorious army over 150 miles until they attacked and “recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot…” (v. 16). On his way home he stopped off in Salem and met Melchizedek. Remember, we’re speaking of Abraham, the man venerated in both Old and New Testaments, the man of faith, the friend of God (2 Chron. 20:7, Isa. 41:8, James 2:23). And Abraham finds the priest of that God living in Salem! So what does Melchizedek do? He brings out and shares the tokens of fellowship, bread and wine. He blesses Abraham and praises God Most High for the victory. And what does Abraham do? He receives the blessing and gives a portion, a tithe, of his own possessions — notice, not the spoils of war, for they were returned to the king of Sodom (vs. 23-24) — to Melchizedek. So if Abraham is the most prominent Old Testament figure and everywhere lauded in the New, what does this suggest about Melchizedek? Certainly that he is of much greater significance. And that is why Christ’s priesthood is in his order.

Hebrews 7:1-3 gives us additional insight about this priestly order. Verse 1 reiterates, “He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him.” Although Melchizedek was the priest of the Salem dwellers, he was also the priest of non-residents, as his blessing and ministry to Abraham indicates. Melchizedek interceded for those outside the city, suggesting a universal priesthood. Second, Melchizedek was the king of the city. He was a royal, ruling over the kingdom. Third, his priesthood was marked by righteousness, which is what the latter part of his name means. Fourth, the name of Salem comes from the Hebrew shalom, meaning peace. Melchizedek’s priesthood brought peace between man and man, and man and God. He represented both to each other. Finally, verse 3 says, “he remains a priest forever.” In other words, we see no beginning and no end to his priesthood.

All of these five factors likewise apply to the priesthood of Christ, and that’s the point. Christ was from the tribe of Judah, not Levi. Thus he was not tied to the Law and to legal requirements, including proper parentage, as Levitical priests were regarding their priesthood. Levi’s priesthood never took away sins like Christ’s priesthood did. That is the purpose of the contrast in the book of Hebrews between them.

One thing that really jumps out of the story is what Melchizedek served to Abraham: bread and wine (Genesis 14:18). Coincidental? I think not. The emblems of fellowship and peace are well known. When was the last time you celebrated with these elements the peace and fellowship the Savior wrought?