Who the Heck was Melchizadek?
Homily by Fr. Stavros Akrotirianakis, published by the Orthodox Christian Network
"For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” And thus Abraham, having patiently endured, obtained the promise. Men indeed swear by a greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he interposed with an oath, so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible that God should prove false, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 6:13-20 (Epistle from the Fourth Sunday of Great Lent)"
The last verse in the Epistle of both the fourth Sunday, as well as the third Sunday of Lent mention the mysterious figure of Melchizedek. In Genesis 14: 18-20, we read,
"And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High, and he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abraham gave him a tenth of everything."
In his Epistle to the Hebrews, Saint Paul writes about Melchizedek, mostly in chapter 7, in the passage that immediately follows today’s reading. In the reflection on last Sunday’s Epistle reading, we discussed the image of Jesus as “High Priest.” In today’s reflection we will discuss the priesthood of Levi contrasted to the priesthood of Melchizedek. Now, undoubtedly you are asking yourself not only who the heck was Melchizedek but who was Levi as well.
In the Old Testament book of Exodus, we are introduced to Aaron, the brother of Moses, who was from the tribe of Levi (For those unfamiliar with the tribes of Israel, we know of Abraham—with whom God made the first covenant—his son Isaac, and Isaac’s son Jacob. Jacob has twelve sons, each of whom was given a section of and in the land of Canaan. The offspring of these twelve sons are called the “Twelve Tribes of Israel.” One of these sons, and the name of one of these tribes is Levi. Aaron was from the tribe of Levi). Aaron was called by God to be a priest, and his sons, also from the tribe of Levi, were also called to be priests. Thus, the priests of Israel were from the Tribe of Levi. The third book of the Old Testament, called Leviticus, was really the handbook of the priests. The priests enforced the Law of God, and so this book reads almost like a law book.
Read the rest of Fr. Stavros homily here
