Christ Our Perpetual Priest

January 7th, 2026
by Lance Waldie

Hebrews 7:3 Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, [Melchizedek] remains a priest perpetually.

Now in order to be a priest in Israel, a man had to be a physical descendant of Abraham through his son Isaac through his son Jacob through his son Levi. Yet even the men of Levi had to trace their lineage through Aaron, the brother of Moses, to be a priest. If a man was unable to prove his lineage through Levi and Aaron, he could not be a priest (cf. Ezra 2:59). Likewise, in order to be a legitimate king in Israel, a man had to trace his lineage through the tribe of Judah, specifically through David’s line, for it was David and his house with whom God made an eternal covenant in regard to the monarchy in Israel (2 Sam. 7:12-16). Yes, the kings of northern Israel, after they split from Judah, had many kings who did not descend from Judah and David, but that is why they were all illegitimate kings with regard to God’s eternal covenant with David. Notably, Jesus traces His kingly lineage through Judah and David (Matt. 1:1-17; Luke 3:23ff.).

Being from the kingly tribe of Judah, however, means that Jesus cannot be a priest, at least not from the line of Jacob (Israel) through Levi. This is the point the Hebrews author is making. Though not a priest through Levi, Jesus is a priest in the same order as Melchizedek. This is vital because if Jesus is not our heavenly High Priest, He cannot mediate on our behalf; He cannot atone for our sins as Israel’s priests did. But being a priest of the order of Melchizedek (Ps. 110:4), a superior priesthood that predates Israel’s by almost 600 years, Jesus can and does mediate on our behalf, atoning for the sins of mankind to all who trust in Him for salvation.

The writer of Hebrews in 7:1-3 notes some great similarities between Melchizedek in Genesis 14:18-20 and the person of Jesus Christ in His earthly ministry. Although some through the centuries have espoused that Melchizedek is a manifestation of Christ in the OT, there is really nothing to support this idea. The point to remember here is that the Hebrews author speaks about what Melchizedek was in the OT biblical narrative in comparison to who Christ is in His nature. Melchizedek is therefore a type of Christ; he is certainly not the Christ.

R.T. France says, “[Melchizedek’s] literary persona…suggests to our author a parallel with the Son of God, who is in very fact ‘without beginning of days or end of life,’ and the psalm, which speaks of ‘a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek,’ reinforces this thought. It is not a historical argument—nothing in the OT suggests Melchizedek historically had no parents, was not born, and did not die, and our author’s argument does not necessarily show that he thought this to be the case. It is rather an argument from literary silence, setting Melchizedek up as a literary model for the eternal Son of God.”

So in v. 3, when the author says that Melchizedek was “without father, without mother, without genealogy,” he is saying that Melchizedek appears in Genesis 14 without any background or commentary. He was a priest-king living in the city of Salem (later Jerusalem) in the country of Canaan while Abraham roamed the land as a wanderer—a land Abraham had been promised along with his offspring through Isaac (Gen. 12:1-3, 7; 13:14-15). Melchizedek’s father, mother, and genealogy are simply unknown. And contrary to Levi’s priests, his birth and death are also not recorded—“having neither beginning of days nor end of life.” Yet as a priest of God Most High, God had clearly appointed him as such long before the Levitical priesthood.

Melchizedek being “made like the Son of God” depicts him as a “type,” a foreshadowing, of Christ. That he “remains a priest perpetually” also underlines the comparison to Christ as our High Priest in contrast with the transience of the OT priests (cf. vv. 23-25). Swindoll says, “The silence of the Biblical record regarding Melchizedek’s days suggests a continuous priesthood for Melchizedek that foreshadows what perfectly was, and is, fulfilled in Christ, who ministers continually, without interruption.”

Food For Thought
The mysterious figure Melchizedek foreshadowed the coming of the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. As such, David, the writer of Psalm 110, can later declare of the future Christ: “You are a Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (Ps. 110:4). So when we read the narrative of Melchizedek, short as it is in Genesis 14, we see the Christ in His nature through Melchizedek in the narrative—Jesus of Nazareth as both Priest and King. Like Melchizedek’s foreshadowing, Jesus is King of righteousness and peace incarnate, eternal in His deity, and forever mediating for us at the right hand of God as our heavenly High Priest (cf. Rom. 8:34).