When we hear the title “high priest”, we all have some mental picture of what that person looks
like. Usually, we will picture a man with a grey beard, wearing elaborate clothing, carrying some
sign of his office. Beyond the trappings of the office, the high priest was the only person who
could enter the Holy of Holies to offer the annual sacrifice on the Day of Atonement. In the
Gospels, the high priest is shown as a political leader of the Israelites, as one who stood in
judgment.
But what makes a man eligible to be the high priest? While we may look to the ancestral focus
most people think about, being a Levite, that isn’t really the case. There are actually two criteria –
be of the people and being chosen by God. Melchizedek, who is revered by the Jews because of
his interactions with Abraham, was clearly not a Levite, but was of the people and chosen by
God.
