De Melchisedech

Paul expressed Melchisedek as without mother and without father. That the greatest of the priests, Melchisedek, did not arise from the earth, no one could gainsay; for he was not born from an oak or from a rock, nor, taken from the earth, is he molded like clay, being fashioned and shaped by the hand like Adam. And after a short space: What then might one say? For Melchisedek is recorded for us as motherless. Yet if he were like God the Word and altogether resembled him, bearing his image and preserving his character, he is not without mother nor without father; for Christ has both a mother, Mary, and the royal lineage of David, and from the root of Jesse the flower of all fragrance arises for us, and his lineage according to flesh is genealogized, but that of Melchisedek is observed to be without genealogy. Therefore one might say that Melchisedek is without genealogy because he is not from the seed of Abraham nor ever genealogized by Moses, but is of Canaanite race and originates from that accursed stock, having been declared righteous on his own account and not proceeding from righteous ancestors nor from any righteous seed. It was not lawful, then, to genealogize and trace back to the race of Canaan one who inclined to the utmost righteousness, nor was it at all fitting to entwine the one who had seized the highest righteousness with the race that had seized the highest injustice. Hence scripture says he is without father and without mother, deeming the ancestors unworthy of the virtue of the righteous and temperate man.

That Melchisedek is shown to be Canaanite by race, one may infer also from those very regions which he held and over which he ruled, and with which he was acquainted; for he was a neighbor of the Sodomites, and more closely associated with Abraham dwelling near the oak of Mamre. I think also that he was king of that Salem, which is this much-celebrated Jerusalem. And a little further on. Therefore, if Melchisedek clearly resembles the Son of God, he will not be without father nor without mother nor without genealogy, but the things of the flesh will be genealogized according to the nature of the flesh, while the other, the ungenealogized, will be seen, just as indeed also in the case of Christ; for Christ is genealogized according to the body, but according to the highest order he has an indescribable generation, as we have previously set forth. 2 Of Chrysostom on the same: Many, not understanding what has been said about Melchisedek, have declared him greater than Christ and have established a heresy for themselves, who are called Melchisedekians. Striving, therefore, and wishing to show that Melchisedek is greater than Christ, they bring forward as a witness the scripture saying: "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedek." For how, they say, would he not be greater, according to whose image and order Christ serves as priest? Others, being led astray, say that he is the Holy Spirit. We, however, say that he is a man subject to the same passions as we, and neither greater than Christ, nor than John the Baptist, nor indeed is he the Holy Spirit. But that he is not greater than Christ, let those who say this tell us of what place they say he is?

Of what kind? Of heaven? Of earth or of the underworld? If of heaven or of some other place, let them hear that every knee will bow to him, and so forth. If then he bows the knee, the one worshipping would be inferior to the one worshipped, Christ. But those wretches do not even know the following verse: "to him who is made like the Son of God," just as we also were made in the image and likeness of God. But perhaps one of the hearers asks and says: What then does it mean that he is called fatherless, motherless, and unregistered in genealogy? To him we will say that the Jews have said that he was born of a harlot and for this reason was not genealogized by Scripture. To them we will say that you have spoken wrongly. For we find others also born of a harlot and genealogized: immediately Solomon from the wife of Uriah, and also Abimelech son of Gideon. For what reason then is he not genealogized? Because he was a type of Christ and bore his image; for this reason Scripture omitted his father and mother, so that in him, as in an image, we might behold Christ, who is truly fatherless, motherless, and unregistered in genealogy. For Christ is fatherless on earth according to the flesh, motherless in the heavens according to the spirit, according to the divinity. Such also is the one who has neither beginning of days nor end of life. For Scripture did not genealogize Melchisedek, but omitted his birth and his death, so that, as we said before, we might behold the latter in the former. For Melchisedek is interpreted as "king of righteousness," who is Christ, having neither beginning of days nor end of life.

For neither was the God Word born at the beginning of days, nor did he ever cease or come to an end, for Christ abides forever. Thus then Melchisedech became a righteous man and truly bearing the image of God in himself; moved by prophetic spirit, having understood that the future offering would be brought to God by Christ, he honored God with bread and wine, imitating the Christ who was to come. Since then in the synagogue of the Jews the order of Aaron offered sacrifice to God, not bread and wine, but calves and lambs, glorifying God with bloody sacrifices, God cried out to Jesus, who was to be born of the virgin Mary, saying: You are priest forever according to the order of Melchisedech, not according to Aaron who served with bloody sacrifices, but according to the order of Melchisedech, bringing the offering of the nations with bread and wine perpetually.