5.

For the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the one true King and the one true Priest, the former to rule us, and the latter to make expiation for us, has shown us how His own figure bore these two parts together, which were only separately commended [to notice] among the Fathers. ¹ This becomes apparent if (for example) we look to that inscription which was affixed to His cross--"King of the Jews:" in connection also with which, and by a secret instinct, Pilate replied, "What I have written, I have written." ² For it had been said aforetime in the Psalms, "Destroy not the writing of the title." ³ The same becomes evident, so far as the part of priest is concerned, if we have regard to what He has taught us concerning offering and receiving. For thus it is that He sent us beforehand a prophecy ⁴ respecting Himself, which runs thus, "Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedek." ⁵ And in many other testimonies of the divine Scriptures, Christ appears both as King and as Priest. Hence, also, even David himself, whose son He is, not without good reason, more frequently declared to be than he is said to be Abraham's son, and whom Matthew and Luke have both alike held by,--the one viewing him as the person from whom, through Solomon, His lineage can be traced down, and the other taking him for the person to whom, through Nathan, His genealogy can be carried up,--did represent the part of a priest, although he was patently a king, when he ate the shew-bread. For it was not lawful for any one to eat that, save the priests only. ⁶ To this it must be added that Luke is the only one who mentions how Mary was discovered by the angel, and how she was related to Elisabeth, ⁷ who was the wife of Zacharias the priest. And of this Zacharias the same evangelist has recorded the fact, that the woman whom he had for wife was one of the daughters of Aaron, which is to say she belonged to the tribe of the priests. ⁸