{"id":25775,"date":"2010-08-26T05:31:53","date_gmt":"2010-08-26T09:31:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/2010\/08\/melchizedek-the-righteous-king\/"},"modified":"2010-08-26T05:31:53","modified_gmt":"2010-08-26T09:31:53","slug":"melchizedek-the-righteous-king","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/2010\/08\/melchizedek-the-righteous-king\/","title":{"rendered":"Melchizedek, the righteous King of Salem"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n\"Abraham<\/a><\/p>\n

The Roman Martyrology lists one of the saints for today as Melchizedek, the righteous King of Salem who offered bread and wine to God in worship. Melchizedek means the King of Justice or King of Peace; “Salem” is the root word for Jerusalem. Melchizedek is also remembered in the Roman Canon of the Mass when the priest prays, “…according to the order of Melchizedek.” The Church’s commemoration of this mysterious King of Salem reminds us that Melchizedek is a bridge between the Old and New Testaments; he is the first priest of the Old Testament mentioned in sacred Scripture and St. John Chrysostom even speaks of the King as “the perfect image of the Savior,” that is, he’s an Old Testament type, a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ as priest and king.<\/p>\n

In a homily Bishop Photius of Lyons in part says of Melchizedek:<\/p>\n

St. John Chrysostom says:
\n“Melchizedek was righteous and the faithful image of Christ.  Moved
\nby a prophetic spirit, he discerned the oblation which must one day be offered
\nfor the Gentiles, and, in the example of the future Christ, he offered bread
\nand wine as sacrifice to God.  But, the Judaic synagogue, which honored
\nGod according to the order of Aaron, offered Him a sacrifice, not of bread and
\nwine, but of bulls and lambs and glorified the Lord by bloody sacrifices. 
\nThat is why God, addressing Himself to the One Who was to be born of the Virgin
\nMary, Jesus Christ, His Son, says to Him, `You are Priest forever according to
\nthe order of Melchizedek’ and not according to the order of Aaron, who honors
\nhis God while offering Him bulls and heifers” (Op.  cit.,
\np.482-483).  St. Ambrose draws the conclusion that the Christian worship
\nis more ancient than that of the Law since it is Melchizedek, the image of
\nChrist, who brings the bread and the wine, not Abraham (Cf “Dictionnaire
\nde Spiritualite”, col. 971.  St. Ambrose, “De Sacramentis”,
\nIV, 8, 10-11; “De Mysteriis”, 8, 44-45).<\/p>\n

That the figure of
\nMelchizedek is fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Fathers all hold to the
\nfact that He alone is truly `without genealogy’: “The Son of God,”
\nsays St. John Chrysostom, “is without father and without mother; without father
\nas to His earthly genesis; without mother as to His heavenly genesis”
\n(“Homelie sur Melchizedek”, op. cit., p.479.  Cf. also
\n“Expication des Psaumes”, Ps. CIX, ibid., p.332).  If then the
\nScriptures say of Melchizedek that he was `without genealogy’, it is not at all
\nthat in reality he did not have parents, “because”, says St. John
\nChrysostom, “we maintain that Melchizedek is not only a man like us . .
\n.  but as Melchizedek was the type of Christ, Whose image he bore, in the
\nsame way was Jonas.  The Scriptures had not spoken of his father, so that
\nhe might offer us a perfect image of the Saviour Who alone, in truth, has
\nneither father nor genealogy” (Ibid., p.482).  Likewise, in his
\nhomily on the Psalm of David, he says: “That which Melchizedek was in figure,
\nJesus Christ was in reality, and the name of Melchizedek was like the names of
\nJesus and of Christ, which long in advance announced and prefigured the mission
\nof the Saviour.  When we read that Melchizedek had neither beginning nor
\nend of his life, it is not that in reality he had had neither beginning nor
\nend, but because no trace is found of his genealogy.  Jesus, on the
\ncontrary, had in truth no beginning of His days, nor end of His life.  His
\nexistence had no time, no beginning, no end.  One was the figure, the other
\nthe truth” (Id.,”Oeuvres Completes”, t.IX, p.332).<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Blessed John Henry Newman was enchanted by the mysteriousness of the priest and king Melchizedek who composed a poem, “Melchizedek”:<\/p>\n

\n
\n

Without father, without mother, without descent; having neither beginning of days, nor end of life.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Thrice bless’d are they, who fell their lonliness;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

To whom nor voice of friends nor pleasant scene<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Brings that on which the sadden’d heart can lean;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Yea, the rich earth, garb’d in her daintiest dress<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Of light and joy, doth but the more oppress,<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Claiming responsive smiles and rapture high;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Till, sick at heart, beyond the veil they fly,<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Seeking His Presence, who alone can bless.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Such, in strange days, the weapons of Heaven’s grace;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

When, passing o’er the high-born Hebrew line,<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

He forms the vessel of His vast design;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Fatherless, homeless, reft of age and place,<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Sever’d from earth, and careless of its wreck,<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Born through long woe His rare Melchizedek.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Nicholson & Lee, eds. The Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse<\/i>, 1917.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Roman Martyrology lists one of the saints for today as Melchizedek, the righteous King of Salem who offered bread and wine to God in worship. Melchizedek means the King of Justice or King of Peace; “Salem” is the root word for Jerusalem. Melchizedek is also remembered in the Roman Canon of the Mass when … Continue reading Melchizedek, the righteous King of Salem<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[32085,1759,1710],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25775"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25775\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}