ACC ~ Hebrews 7 v11 - 12

EARTHLY LINEAGE DOES NOT OBTAIN THE ANOINTING. LEO THE GREAT: When I compare the impoverishment of my insufficiency with the greatness of the gift I have received, I too should cry out in those words of the prophet, “Lord, I have heard your word and was afraid; I have considered your works and trembled.” What indeed could instill as much anxiety and fear as labor for the frail, elevation for the lowly, dignity for the undeserving? Yet we do not despair or give up, since we do not depend on ourselves but on the one “who works in us.”… So we have chanted with one voice the psalm of David, dearly beloved, not for our own exaltation but for the glory of Christ the Lord.

He it is of whom it was said in prophetic manner, “You are a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek,” that is to say, “not according to the order of Aaron,” whose priesthood passed down through the descent of his offspring and was a temporary ministry that ceased with the law of the Old Testament, but “after the order of Melchizedek,” in whom the office of eternal high priest was prefigured. Since there is no mention of the parents he came from, he must be understood as standing for the one “whose genealogy cannot be told.”

Finally, since the mystery of this divine priesthood also extends to its implementation by people, it does not pass down through the course of generations. It is not what flesh and blood have created that is chosen. Rather, the privileges of paternity give way, and the social positions of families are disregarded, as the church accepts for its rulers those whom the Holy Spirit has prepared. Among the people of God’s adoption, which is priestly and kingly when taken as a whole, the prerogative of earthly lineage does not obtain the anointing. SERMON 3.1.

THE LAW COMES TO AN END. THEODORET OF CYR: If the priesthood according to the law contained perfection, he is saying, on the grounds that through it everything according to the law was fulfilled, why is the giving of another one intended? Why on earth is the promise made to give it not according to the order of Aaron but according to the order of Melchizedek? Actually, all the law’s requirements were fulfilled in the former one: it offered sacrifices, it gave purification from defilement, through it the commandments about festivals were fulfilled, the text says, “for under it the people received the law.”

After thus demonstrating the change of priesthood, he shows also the cessation of the law. The law was liked to the priesthood; so with priesthood coming to an end, the law also suffered the same fate. INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 7.

JUDAH BECOMES PRIESTLY. THEODORET OF CYR: The mystery of the divine plan is worthy of admiration: as Christ the Lord, eternal king as he is, was styled our high priest, so the tribe of Judah, which was formerly kingly, attained the priesthood through the Lord. INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 7.

Heb