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Who was Melchizedek?
You can read his full story in Genesis 14. Basically, he was a priest who came to Abraham after his defeat of Chedorlaomer and his three allies. Melchizedek gave bread and wine to Abraham and his men which symbolized friendship. He also blessed Abraham and praised God for His powerful victory. Because of this, Abraham presented Melchizedek with a tenth of all items he had acquired. Through this act, Abraham was recognizing Melchizedek as a great man. The author of Hebrews agrees.
Now consider how great this man was—even Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the plunder to him!
Hebrews 7:4 HCSB
Melchizedek being both a king and a priest was extremely unique and presented an Old Testament Christlike figure. In fact, some scholars believe this was the incarnate Christ appearing to Abraham. Regardless, the imagery is striking.
“This description of Melchizedek prefigures the eternal priesthood of Jesus. Like Melchizedek, Jesus is both a Priest and a King, belonging to a righteous priesthood that is independent of Aaron’s.”
Nelson’s Commentary
The point is simple. If the Jews believed in the greatness of Melchizedek as a king and priest, what was stopping them from believing that Jesus was even greater? The evidence had walked among them. But in His grace, God offered this metaphor of Melchizedek as another spectacular example of how Jesus is both our King and High Priest.