The traditional method of Christology elucidates the person of Jesus Christ with the dual concept of a divine-human individual with a human and a divine nature, both of these supported by a divine person preexisting as the Word of God. In the Trinity of the Father- Son- Holy Spirit, the Son is identified with the Word of God. The Word incarnate, Jesus Christ, is further explained in Christology as the Priest, Prophet and the King. We shall try to cover all these points in our Study of Christology under the large themes of 'The Priesthood of Jesus Christ' 'The Son of God' and the 'Son of Man'. The priesthood of Jesus Christ is eternal not only after his ascension to God the Father, although that was a moment very special in its operation in accordance with the economy of salvation. Eternity suggests without beginning and end and thus the eternal priesthood too is without beginning and end. However, the economy of salvation demands gradual revelation of eternal mysteries of which the priesthood of Jesus Christ occupies a prominent place (Psalm, 110:4). We shall try through the following Posts to clarify the mystery of the eternal priesthood of Jesus Christ as well as the participation of all types of priesthood in the unique priesthood of Christ.
An objection may be raised against Christ's priesthood before Incarnation saying that the essence of priesthood is not found in the pre-existence of the Word with God the Father. What then is the essence of priesthood? Is it being a mediator between God and the human race or offering of sacrifice to God or standing before God in our place as a victim of sacrifice or offering prayers for us? What exactly constitutes the essence of priesthood so that we could determine the scope and nature of Christ's priesthood? If we try to discover such an essence, it would be like putting the cart before the horse since the very concept of priesthood originates from the priesthood of Christ as it is eternal. The relation of the priesthood of Christ to all kinds of priesthood is like that between a standard of measure and the things measured. We do not arrive at a standard of measure by putting together elements from the things to be measured in order to determine the essence of measuring of things. All measurements, for instance, in meter depend on the standard meter maintained in Paris as the criterion of measurement in meters. This criterion of measurement set up by convention or consensus is agreed upon by every one as the criterion of measurement in meters. Similarly, the priesthood of Christ is set up by God as the criterion of all types of priesthood from the beginning till the end of the world. This claim is from the revelation of God through His Word presented as Theology in the form of an invitation to all those who are inspired to accept it as true. All types of priesthood in any and every religion, culture, language, castes and creeds have their legitimacy in relation to the priesthood of Christ. If this is true, it is necessary that the priesthood of Christ has relevance even before the Incarnation without which no priesthood till then could qualify as legitimate. Instead of hunting for the essence of priesthood in the abstract, if we consider the goal and purpose of priesthood as union with God , we see immediately that the priesthood of Jesus Christ is eminently suited to stand as the criterion for any priesthood. For, this union with God is not something which was achieved only after his Incarnation. but was always present from eternity as the Word of God and will continue to eternity as the slain Lamb of God (Revelation, 5:6).
If any one of the many and varied elements of the priesthood like mediation, sacrifice, victim-hood, prayer, etc. is considered as its essence, we shall end up denying that the other elements have any true value for priesthood. On the contrary, if we consider all of them as essential, priesthood in one or other religion , culture, etc., would be found wanting in meeting the essential requirements of priesthood. Therefore, our method is to look at the goal and purpose of priesthood as union with God that is fully realized in Jesus Christ from eternity to eternity in relation to which every other priesthood is measured for its genuineness. Just considering one of the many manifestations of priesthood, for example the Jewish priesthood according to the Law of Moses, as the essence of true priesthood would make Jesus himself a layman who was outside of that priesthood. The eternal priesthood is in the succession of Melchizedek (Psalm, 110: 4) and Jesus is the High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews, 5: 10). Since Jesus was not of the tribe of Levi, the source of legitimacy for the Jewish priesthood, but of Judah from which king David descended, he could not be a priest according to the Jewish norms. He could very well be a king , being the son of David, and yet his kingship was subsumed under his priesthood as his kingship was not of this world (John, 18: 36). Even as a prophet Jesus is not just one of the prophets as he is the very Word of God of which a genuine prophet should be the official bearer and interpreter. Thus we see that all the traditional qualifications of men of God as prophet, king and priest in various religions have coalesced into the eternal priesthood of Christ. This priesthood of Christ is according to the order of Melchizedek, the meaning and scope of which we shall discuss in due course.
The reference in Revelation, 13: 8 to the slain Lamb from the beginning of the world indicates the eternal nature of the priesthood of Jesus Christ as he is the eternal Lamb of God. Since the priest and victim are identical in the case of Jesus Christ, being a victim is at the same time being a priest. Thus from the very beginning of the world Jesus as the Word of God exercised his function as priest though the sacrifices, mediation, offerings and prayers offered by people in various religions (1 Peter, 1:19-20). That is why St. Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologica quotes Revelation , 13:8 to conclude that it is true to say that Christ was sacrificed even in the figures of the Old Testament ( Question 83, Article 1, Answer to objection 1). This he mentions in connection with his argument that the daily Eucharistic offering in the Church is actually the sacrifice of Christ, although Jesus offered himself up once and for all at Golgotha (Hebrews, 10: 12-14). In the same spirit of understanding the efficacy of Christ's sacrifice both before and after his unique sacrifice on Golgotha, we hold that any sacrifice, irrespective of religions, acceptable to God derives its value from the sacrifice of Christ. As we are interested in the relevance of Christ's priesthood before the Incarnation and how it was operative in the religions of the world, our next Post shall consider a brief overview of priesthood in general.
An objection may be raised against Christ's priesthood before Incarnation saying that the essence of priesthood is not found in the pre-existence of the Word with God the Father. What then is the essence of priesthood? Is it being a mediator between God and the human race or offering of sacrifice to God or standing before God in our place as a victim of sacrifice or offering prayers for us? What exactly constitutes the essence of priesthood so that we could determine the scope and nature of Christ's priesthood? If we try to discover such an essence, it would be like putting the cart before the horse since the very concept of priesthood originates from the priesthood of Christ as it is eternal. The relation of the priesthood of Christ to all kinds of priesthood is like that between a standard of measure and the things measured. We do not arrive at a standard of measure by putting together elements from the things to be measured in order to determine the essence of measuring of things. All measurements, for instance, in meter depend on the standard meter maintained in Paris as the criterion of measurement in meters. This criterion of measurement set up by convention or consensus is agreed upon by every one as the criterion of measurement in meters. Similarly, the priesthood of Christ is set up by God as the criterion of all types of priesthood from the beginning till the end of the world. This claim is from the revelation of God through His Word presented as Theology in the form of an invitation to all those who are inspired to accept it as true. All types of priesthood in any and every religion, culture, language, castes and creeds have their legitimacy in relation to the priesthood of Christ. If this is true, it is necessary that the priesthood of Christ has relevance even before the Incarnation without which no priesthood till then could qualify as legitimate. Instead of hunting for the essence of priesthood in the abstract, if we consider the goal and purpose of priesthood as union with God , we see immediately that the priesthood of Jesus Christ is eminently suited to stand as the criterion for any priesthood. For, this union with God is not something which was achieved only after his Incarnation. but was always present from eternity as the Word of God and will continue to eternity as the slain Lamb of God (Revelation, 5:6).
If any one of the many and varied elements of the priesthood like mediation, sacrifice, victim-hood, prayer, etc. is considered as its essence, we shall end up denying that the other elements have any true value for priesthood. On the contrary, if we consider all of them as essential, priesthood in one or other religion , culture, etc., would be found wanting in meeting the essential requirements of priesthood. Therefore, our method is to look at the goal and purpose of priesthood as union with God that is fully realized in Jesus Christ from eternity to eternity in relation to which every other priesthood is measured for its genuineness. Just considering one of the many manifestations of priesthood, for example the Jewish priesthood according to the Law of Moses, as the essence of true priesthood would make Jesus himself a layman who was outside of that priesthood. The eternal priesthood is in the succession of Melchizedek (Psalm, 110: 4) and Jesus is the High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews, 5: 10). Since Jesus was not of the tribe of Levi, the source of legitimacy for the Jewish priesthood, but of Judah from which king David descended, he could not be a priest according to the Jewish norms. He could very well be a king , being the son of David, and yet his kingship was subsumed under his priesthood as his kingship was not of this world (John, 18: 36). Even as a prophet Jesus is not just one of the prophets as he is the very Word of God of which a genuine prophet should be the official bearer and interpreter. Thus we see that all the traditional qualifications of men of God as prophet, king and priest in various religions have coalesced into the eternal priesthood of Christ. This priesthood of Christ is according to the order of Melchizedek, the meaning and scope of which we shall discuss in due course.
The reference in Revelation, 13: 8 to the slain Lamb from the beginning of the world indicates the eternal nature of the priesthood of Jesus Christ as he is the eternal Lamb of God. Since the priest and victim are identical in the case of Jesus Christ, being a victim is at the same time being a priest. Thus from the very beginning of the world Jesus as the Word of God exercised his function as priest though the sacrifices, mediation, offerings and prayers offered by people in various religions (1 Peter, 1:19-20). That is why St. Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologica quotes Revelation , 13:8 to conclude that it is true to say that Christ was sacrificed even in the figures of the Old Testament ( Question 83, Article 1, Answer to objection 1). This he mentions in connection with his argument that the daily Eucharistic offering in the Church is actually the sacrifice of Christ, although Jesus offered himself up once and for all at Golgotha (Hebrews, 10: 12-14). In the same spirit of understanding the efficacy of Christ's sacrifice both before and after his unique sacrifice on Golgotha, we hold that any sacrifice, irrespective of religions, acceptable to God derives its value from the sacrifice of Christ. As we are interested in the relevance of Christ's priesthood before the Incarnation and how it was operative in the religions of the world, our next Post shall consider a brief overview of priesthood in general.
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