Unique Qualities of Christ: His Priesthood

Priest and King

The things which qualified Jesus to be the promised Messiah are those qualities that no other man could possibly have. We look at one more of these unique qualities by examining Jesus’ priesthood.

Modern Disconnect

In the modern age, the sacrificial practices typically associated with the Old Testament priests seem quite foreign. There is even a temptation to lump the sanctioned practices of God for His people Israel in with the varied perversions of that practice seen through pagan idolatry. To do so would be very wrong, for the practices were not only instructed by God, but were necessary to establish obedience on the part of the physical nation of Israel.

The role of a priest was to act as an intermediary between the offerer and God, providing a necessary means of sacrifice for several purposes, the most important being sin. It is here that we find the necessary connection with the Christian Age and our time. Jesus was promised to be many things: the Messiah (or “anointed one”), a king, a prophet, but also a priest. What makes His priesthood so unique was that it had its origin before the priests of Israel.

The Man Melchizedek

Not much is stated in the Bible about the man Melchizedek, other than that he was a king of Salem. This city Salem likely refers to the Jebusite city which later was conquered by David and known as Jerusalem. This man was a “priest of God Most High” (Gen. 14:18, NASU). Abraham made offering to this man, and as explained in the Hebrews, this also describes Abraham’s descendent Aaron making similar offering (Heb. 7).

What we can learn about this mysterious priesthood was that it came before the priest of the Old Testament and was therefore a higher, or better, priesthood. It is for this priesthood that God’s chosen One was destined according to the same order (Psa. 110). The realization of how wondrous this priesthood is occurred when the Priest become both the offerer and the sacrifice, making a perfect sacrifice for sin once and for all (Heb. 7:27; 10:10).

No Other Person Ever

No other man could be this priest for many reasons, but the most important being that no other man could become the sacrifice the office demanded. This singular sacrifice not only gave every prior sacrifice meaning, it made any other sacrifice meaningless. Such a priesthood could only ever be filled by the very Son of God.