" In the same way,

it was not Christ who glorified himself in becoming high priest,

but rather the one who said to him:

You are my son: this day I have begotten you;

just as he says in another place:

You are a priest forever

according to the order of Melchizedek."

"...he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him,

declared by God high priest according to the order of Melchizedek."

- Hebrews 5:9b-10

"The LORD has sworn and will not waver:

'You are a priest forever in the manner of Melchizedek.'"

- Psalm 110:4

"Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine.

He was a priest of God Most High.

He blessed Abram with these words:

'Blessed be Abram by God Most High,

the creator of heaven and earth;

And blessed be God Most High,

who delivered your foes into your hand.'

Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything."

- Genesis 14:18-20

We speak of the three offices, or munera, of Jesus Christ as Priest, Prophet, and King. These represent the roles of sanctifying, teaching, and shepherding, respectively. By our baptism, each of us share to some degree in these three offices. We are baptized into Christ: Priest, Prophet, and King. We all have the gift and responsibility (remember that every gift from God bears within it a responsibility to be used for the good of others) of being priests, prophets, and kings. As we look forward to National Vocations Awareness Week on November 3-9, 2024, there are also some who are called by God to service in the ministerial priesthood and are conformed to Jesus Christ, the head of his body, the Church. This, too, is a gift that bears a responsibility to serve with joy. In a special way, beyond that of our baptism, the priesthood shares in the munera of Christ as Priest, Prophet and King as Jesus, in his one priesthood, exercises these roles through those ordained as priests: sanctifying, teaching, and shepherding.

Jesus was almost universally acclaimed as a prophet. A king needed to be of the David line in Judaism, of the tribe of Judah. Through his genealogy, the infancy narratives in the Gospels that take great pains to indicate that Jesus was, in fact, of the tribe of Judah. But what about priesthood, especially as high priest? Priests came from the tribe of Levi, which clearly Jesus was not. This is where Melchizedek comes in. He was the king priest of Salem and appears and disappears suddenly in Genesis to offer bread and wine and bless Abram (to become Abraham). The messiah, and therefore Jesus, was a priest, not of the house of Levi, but according to the order of Melchizedek. This is the order that does not offer repeated sacrifices of bulls, goats, and doves, but of bread and wine. It is the offering of his own body and blood that qualifies Jesus as high priest, according to the order of Melchizedek.