After the first sign or miracle, Jesus and his family went to Capernaum to stay and from there he proceeded to Jerusalem for the Paschal festival. Although many believed in him in Jerusalem seeing the signs he performed there, Jesus did not give much value to their allegiance to him as he knew every person without testimony from others and so did not trust himself to them (John, 2: 12-25). Chapters 3 & 4 of John's Gospel are beautiful examples of how Jesus effectively exercised his priestly ministry of teaching and guiding a learned teacher of Israel, Nicodemus, and a simple Samaritan woman. When he came back to Cana-in-Galilee, he performed his second sign after returning from Judea. It was also by a simple command from far off that Jesus healed the son of an officer in the royal command at Capernaum. We have an interesting point of humility from the part of Jesus in this case when the father of the boy who was ill did not have the patience to listen to Jesus' concern about the usual tendency of the people not to believe unless confronted by signs and portents. Jesus immediately understood the actual and pressing concern of the man and gave priority to his need without taking offence at his attitude , curing the illness of his son on the spot. Jesus was willing to submit himself to the wishes of the man who came seeking a favor from him. His humility shone out of the action of immediately healing a person whose father, so to say, thwarted the procedure of Jesus in teaching the people. Any ordinary person would have thought of teaching a lesson to the man who was so audacious, but not so Jesus. His priestly ministry of healing and restoring wholeness to an afflicted person took precedence over the duty of teaching the real significance of signs and miracles he performed. At the same time, Jesus never encouraged indifference in matters of faith as we may note from his reaction of surprise to the father of the boy who was possessed and whose request was conditional (Mark, 9:22-24). The remark of Jesus in this connection that everything is possible for one who believes throws light on his world-view and the kind of priesthood he is invested with.
From the above instances it is clear that anyone participating in the Priesthood of Jesus Christ is a true upholder and promoter of human dignity without seeking honor and subservience from the beneficiaries of the favors done. A step further, one who renders service should have the attitude of a servant with regard to the beneficiaries of their service from whom nothing in return is expected. Those who are ordained to the priesthood in the Church are sealed with this special mark of a call to humble service without any selfish motives. Whether they succeed in their special vocation or not, we may say for certain that anyone, ordained or not, Christian or non-Christian, who lives out a life of selfless service without expecting anything in return from here below, participates in the Priesthood of Jesus Christ.
On rare occasions Jesus has taken initiative to perform signs and miracles unasked for by anyone, but out of pure compassion for the plight of the afflicted people. Examples for the same can be seen in the cure of the man who was crippled for 38 years at the sheep-pool in Jerusalem, known as Bethesda, and the raising to life of the dead son of the widow of Nain (John, 5: 1-9; Like, 7: 11-15). In such cases, Jesus dispenses with the usual requirement of faith from the beneficiary of favors received as they were not even aware of the presence of Jesus in their midst. The cripple was not able to answer the Jews about their query about who cured him as they wanted to find out who ordered him to break the law of Sabbath by asking the man to carry his bed on the day of rest (John, 5: 12-13). The widow of Nain was, so to say, transported to another world by the experience of receiving back her son alive who was being carried away for burial that she could not even thank Jesus for this great favor (Luke, 7:15). That Jesus did not expect anything in return for favors rendered should explain the real intent of the surprise expressed in Luke, 17: 11-19 reporting the curing of 10 lepers. That only one of them returned to thank Jesus for his cure may have elicited the thought in Jesus about the spiritual condition of the other ten. In these instances we see another mark of the priestly ministry of Jesus in coming to the aid of people without waiting for requests from them and without any requirement as pre-condition including faith. The absolutely gratuitous nature of the priestly ministry is exemplified in these cases. The self-giving of Jesus in his passion and death prefigured in the Last Supper, the culmination of his priestly ministry was expressed through the multiplication of loaves and fish standing for himself as the bread of life (John, Chapter 6). Our next Post shall discuss the priestly ministry of Jesus through his passion and death
From the above instances it is clear that anyone participating in the Priesthood of Jesus Christ is a true upholder and promoter of human dignity without seeking honor and subservience from the beneficiaries of the favors done. A step further, one who renders service should have the attitude of a servant with regard to the beneficiaries of their service from whom nothing in return is expected. Those who are ordained to the priesthood in the Church are sealed with this special mark of a call to humble service without any selfish motives. Whether they succeed in their special vocation or not, we may say for certain that anyone, ordained or not, Christian or non-Christian, who lives out a life of selfless service without expecting anything in return from here below, participates in the Priesthood of Jesus Christ.
On rare occasions Jesus has taken initiative to perform signs and miracles unasked for by anyone, but out of pure compassion for the plight of the afflicted people. Examples for the same can be seen in the cure of the man who was crippled for 38 years at the sheep-pool in Jerusalem, known as Bethesda, and the raising to life of the dead son of the widow of Nain (John, 5: 1-9; Like, 7: 11-15). In such cases, Jesus dispenses with the usual requirement of faith from the beneficiary of favors received as they were not even aware of the presence of Jesus in their midst. The cripple was not able to answer the Jews about their query about who cured him as they wanted to find out who ordered him to break the law of Sabbath by asking the man to carry his bed on the day of rest (John, 5: 12-13). The widow of Nain was, so to say, transported to another world by the experience of receiving back her son alive who was being carried away for burial that she could not even thank Jesus for this great favor (Luke, 7:15). That Jesus did not expect anything in return for favors rendered should explain the real intent of the surprise expressed in Luke, 17: 11-19 reporting the curing of 10 lepers. That only one of them returned to thank Jesus for his cure may have elicited the thought in Jesus about the spiritual condition of the other ten. In these instances we see another mark of the priestly ministry of Jesus in coming to the aid of people without waiting for requests from them and without any requirement as pre-condition including faith. The absolutely gratuitous nature of the priestly ministry is exemplified in these cases. The self-giving of Jesus in his passion and death prefigured in the Last Supper, the culmination of his priestly ministry was expressed through the multiplication of loaves and fish standing for himself as the bread of life (John, Chapter 6). Our next Post shall discuss the priestly ministry of Jesus through his passion and death
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