From: Hebrews 5:1-10
Christ Has Been Made High Priest by God the Father
[1] For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on
behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for
sins. [2] He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he
himself is beset with weakness. [3] Because of this he is bound to offer
sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people. [4] And
one does not take the honor upon himself, but he is called by God, just
as Aaron was.
[5] So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but
was appointed by him who said to him, "Thou art my Son, today I have
begotten thee"; [6] as he says also in another place, "Thou art a
priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek." [7] In the days of
his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries
and tears, to him who has able to save him from death, and he was heard
for his godly fear. [8] Although he was a Son, he learned obedience
through what he suffered; [9] and being made perfect he became the
source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, [10] being designated
by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.
Commentary:
1-10. The central theme of the epistle, broached in 2:17 and taken up
again in 4:14-15, is discussed from here up to the start of chapter
10--the theme of Christ as high priest, the high priest who really can
free us from all sin. In fact, Christ is the only perfect Priest: other
priests--in both natural religions and the Jewish religion--are only
prefigurements of Christ. The first thing to be emphasized, because the
writer is addressing people of Jewish background, is that Christ's
priesthood is on a higher plane than that of the priests of the Old
Law. However, the argument applies not only to the priesthood of Aaron,
to whose family all Israelite priests belonged, but also, indirectly,
to all forms of priesthood before Christ. But there is a basic
difference, in that whereas other priests were chosen by men, Aaron was
chosen by God. Sacred Scripture introduces him as Moses' brother (cf.
Ex 6:20), acting as his interpreter to Pharaoh (because Moses was "slow
of speech": Ex 4:10; cf. 7:1-2) and joining him to lead the people out
of Egypt (cf. Ex 4:27-30). After the Israelites left Egypt, God himself
instituted the priesthood of Aaron to minister and carry out divine
worship at the tabernacle and later at the temple in Jerusalem (cf. Ex
28:1-5).
Divine intervention, therefore, brought to a close the period when
sacrifice was offered by the head of the family or the chief of the
tribe and when no specific calling or external ordination rite was
connected with priesthood. Thus, for example, in the Book of Genesis we
read that Cain, and Abel, themselves offered sacrifices (cf. Gen 4:35),
as did Noah after coming safely through the flood (cf. Gen 8:20); and
the patriarchs often offered sacrifices to God in adoration or
thanksgiving or to renew their Covenant--for example, Abraham (cf. Gen
12:8; 15:8-17; 22:1-13) and Jacob (cf. Gen 26:25; 33:20), etc.
Although for a considerable time after the institution of the Aaron
priesthood, sacrifices continued to be offered also by private
individuals--for example, in the period of the Judges, the sacrifice of
Gideon (Judg 6: 18,25-26) or that of Samson's parents (Judg 13:15-20)--
gradually the convictions grew that to be a priest a person had to have
a specific vocation, one which was not given to anyone outside males of
the line of Aaron (cf. Judg 17:7-13), whom God had chosen from out of
all the people of Israel, identifying him by the sign of his rod
sprouting buds (Num 17:16-24). God himself meted out severe punishment
to Korah and his sons when they tried to set themselves up as rivals of
Aaron: they were devoured by fire from heaven (cf. Num 16); and it was
specified in Mosaic legislation time and time again that only the sons
of Aaron could act as priests (cf. Num 3:10; 17:5; 18:7). This
priesthood offered the sacrifices of Mosaic worship--the burnt
offerings, cereal offerings, sin offerings and peace offerings (cf. Lev
6). To the descendants of Aaron, assisted by the Levites, was entrusted
also the care of the tabernacle and the protection of the ark of the
Covenant. They received their ministry and had it confirmed by the
offering of sacrifice and by anointing of the man's head and hands with
oil (Ex 29; Lev 8-9; Num 3:3). For all these reasons Hebrew priests were
honored and revered by the people and regarded (not without reason,
because God had ordained them) as on a much higher plane than other
priests particularly those of the peoples of Canaan, the priests of
Baal, for example. In Christ's time the high priest was the highest
religious authority in Israel; his words were regarded as oracular
statements, and his decisions could have important political
repercussions.
However, Christ came with the very purpose of taking this ancient
institution and transforming it into a new, eternal priesthood. Every
Christian priest is, as it were, Christ's instrument or an extension of
his sacred humanity. Christian priests do not act in their own name,
nor are they mere representatives of the people: they act in the name
of God. "Here we have the priest's identity: he is direct and daily
instrument of the saving grace which Christ has won for us" ([St] J.
Escriva, "In Love with the Church", 39). It is really Christ who is
acting through them by means of their words, gestures etc. All of this
means that Christian priesthood cannot be separated from the eternal
priesthood of Christ. This extension of God's providence (in the form
of the Old Testament priesthood and the priesthood instituted by Christ
in the New Testament and the mission entrusted to New Testament
priests) should lead us to love and honor the priesthood irrespective
of the human defects and shortcomings of these ministers of God: "To
love God and not venerate his Priests...is not possible" (St J. Escriva,
"The Way", 74).
1a. These words provide a very good short definition of what every
priest is.
"The office proper to a priest", St Thomas Aquinas points out, "is to
be a mediator between God and the people, inasmuch as he bestows divine
things on the people (he is called "sacerdos" (priest), which means 'a
giver of sacred things', "sacra dans" [...]), and again inasmuch as he
offers the people's prayer to God and in some way makes satisfaction to
God for their sins" ("Summa Theologiae", III, q.22, a.1).
In this passage of the letter we can detect an echo of the description
of Aaron in the Book of Sirach: "He chose him out of all the living to
offer sacrifice to the Lord, incense and a pleasing odor as a memorial
portion, to make atonement for the people" (Sir 45:16). Four elements
characterize the office of the high priest (the text speaks of the
"high" priest in the strict sense, but it is applicable to all priests
--1) his special dignity, because although he is a man he has been
specially chosen by God; 2) the purpose of his mission, which is the
good of mankind ("to act on behalf of men"); 3) the "material" side of
his office, that is, public divine worship; 4) the specific acts he
must perform, the offering of sacrifice at appropriate times.
In the specific case of priesthood instituted by God--such as that of
Aaron or the new priesthood instituted by Christ--the calling ("taken"
or "chosen" from among men) is not simply an influence the person feels
interiorly, or a desire to be a priest: its divine origin is confirmed
by nomination by the proper authority, and by official consecration.
1b. A priest is "chosen from among men", that is, he should possess a
human nature. This is a further sign of God's mercy: to bring about our
salvation he uses someone accessible to us, one who shares our human
condition, "so that man might have someone like himself to have
recourse to" (St Thomas, "Commentary on Heb, ad loc."). These words
also indicate the extent of God's kindness because they remind us that
the divine Redeemer not only offered himself and made satisfaction for
the sins of all, but desired that "the priestly life which the divine
Redeemer had begun in his mortal body by his prayers and sacrifice
(should not cease). He willed it to continue unceasingly through the
ages in his mystical body, which is the Church; and therefore he
instituted a visible priesthood to offer everywhere a clean oblation
(Mal 1:11), so that all men all over the world, being diverted from
sin, might serve God conscientiously, and of their own free will"
(Pius XII, "Mediator Dei", 1).
He is "chosen from among men" also in the sense that he is given
special consecration which is some way marks him off from the rest of
the people of God. St John Chrysostom comments, recalling Jesus triple
question to Peter after the Resurrection (cf. Jn 21:15-17): "When he
asked Peter if he loved him, he did not do so because he needed to know
whether his disciple loved him, but because he wanted to show how great
his own love was; thus, when he says, 'Who then is the faithful and
prudent servant', he does not say this because he does not know the
answer, but in order to show us how unique and wonderful an honor it
is, as can be deduced from the rewards: 'he will place him over all his
goods.' And he concludes that the priest ought to be outstanding in
holiness ("De Sacerdotio", II, 1-2).
"The priests of the New Testament", Vatican II reminds us, "are, by
their vocation to ordination, set apart in some way in the midst of the
people of God, but this is not in order that they should be separated
from that people or from anyone, but that they should be completely
consecrated to the task for which God chose them" ("Presbyterorum
Ordinis", 3). This calling, then, constitutes a distinction but not a
separation because it is indissolubly linked to a specific mission: a
priest is "chosen from among men" but for the purpose of acting "on
behalf of men in relation to God". In this delicate balance between
divine call and spiritual mission to men lies the essence of
priesthood. Christians, therefore, should never view a priest as "just
another person". "They want to find in the priest the virtues
appropriate to any Christian and even any upright man--understanding,
justice, commitment to work (priestly work, in this case), charity,
good manners, social refinement. But the faithful also want to be able
to recognize clearly the priestly character: they expect the priest to
pray, not to refuse to administer the sacraments; they expect him to be
open to everyone and not set himself up to take charge of people or
become an aggressive leader of human factions, of whatever shade (cf.
"Presbyterorum Ordinis", 6). They expect him to bring love and devotion
to the celebration of Mass, to sit in the confessional, to console the
sick and the troubled; to teach sound doctrine to children and adults,
to preach the Word of God and no mere human science which--no matter
how well he may know it--is not the knowledge that saves and brings
eternal life; they expect him to give counsel and be charitable to
those in need" ([St] J. Escriva, "In Love with the Church", 42).
Priests "could not be the servants of Christ unless they were witnesses
and dispensers of a life other than that of this earth. On the other
hand, they would be powerless to serve men if they remained aloof from
their life and circumstances" ("Presbyterorum Ordinis", 3). In this
connection, Pope John Paul II has made the following appeal: "Yes, you
are chosen from among men, given to Christ by the Father, to be in the
world, "in the heart of society". You are appointed to act on behalf of
men (Heb 5:1). The priesthood is the sacrament whereby the Church is to
be seen as the society of the people of God; it is the 'social'
sacrament. Priests should 'convoke' each of the communities of the
people of God, around them but not for themselves--for Christ!"
("Homily at an Ordination of Priests", 15 June 1980).
The specific function of the priest has, then, been clearly identified:
he is concerned about his brethren but he is not here to solve temporal
problems; his role is only "in relation to God". "Christian ministerial
priesthood is different from any other priesthood in that it is not an
office to which someone is appointed by others to intercede with God on
their behalf; it is a mission to which a man is called by God (Heb 5:
1-10; 7:24; 9: 11-28) to be towards others a living sign of the
presence of Christ, the only Mediator (1 Tim 2:5), Head and Shepherd of
his people [...]. In other words, Christian priesthood is essentially
(this is the only possible way it can be understood) an eminently
sacred mission, both in its origin (Christ) and in its content (the
divine mystery) and by the very manner in which it is conferred (a
sacrament)" (A. del Portillo, "On Priesthood", pp. 59f).
2-3. From the moral qualities a priest needs, these verses single out
mercy and compassion, which lead him, on the one hand, to be gentle to
sinners and, at the same time, to desire to make personal reparation
for their sins. The Latin translation of v. 2a puts the emphasis on the
fact that the priest shares in suffering for sin: he can "suffer along
with" ("aeque condolere") but in just measure on seeing those who go
astray, and, imitating Christ, he can himself perform some of the
penance those sinners should be doing. The original word translated
here as "deal gently" recalls the profound, but serene, sorrow which
Abraham felt when Sarah died (cf. Gen 23:2) and at the same time it
alludes to the need for forbearance, generosity and understanding: a
priest must be a person who, while rejecting sin, is understanding to
the sinner and conscious that it may take him time to mend his ways. He
is also inclined to put the sinner's intentions in the best light (cf.
Gal 6:1): people do not always sin deliberately; they can sin out of
ignorance (that is, not realizing the gravity of their actions) and,
more often than not, out of weakness.
The Old Testament makes a clear distinction between sin committed
unwittingly (cf. Lev 4:2-27; Num 14:24, 27-29) and sins of
rebelliousness (cf. Num 15:22-31; Deut 17:12). Further on (cf. Heb
6:4-6; 10:26-27; 12:17), the letter will again refer to the gravity of
sins committed out of malice. Here, however, it is referring to sin,
whether grave or not, committed out of weakness. "Ignorant" and
"wayward" are almost synonymous, for a person who sins out of ignorance
is described in Hebrews by a word which means "he who goes astray, he
who does not know the way". The basic reason why a priest should be
understanding and compassionate is his awareness of his own weakness.
Thus, the Church puts these words on his lips in Eucharistic Prayer I:
"'nobis quoque peccatoribus'--for ourselves, too, sinners" (cf. Wis
9:5-6). A priest is compassionate and understanding because "he himself
is beset with weakness". The word translated as "beset" contains the
idea of surrounded or covered by or wrapped as if in a cloak. Pope Pius
XI wrote: "When we see a man exercising this faculty (of forgiving
sins), we cannot but repeat (not out of pharisaical scandal, but with
reverent amazement) those words, 'Who is this, who even forgives sins?'
(Lk 7:49). It is the Man-God, who had and has 'authority on earth to
forgive sins' (Lk 5:24), and has chosen to communicate it to his
priests, and thereby with the generosity of divine mercy to meet the
human conscience's need of purification. Hence the great consolation
the guilty man receives who experiences remorse and contritely hears
the priest tell him in God's name, 'I absolve you from your sins.' The
fact that he hears this said by someone who himself will need to ask
another priest to speak the same words to him, does not debase God's
merciful gift: it enhances it, for the hand of God who works this
wonder is seen (as operating) by means of a frail creature" (Pius XII,
"Ad Catholici Sacerdotii").
3. Everyone, including the priest, is a sinner. In the Old Testament
rites for the Day of Atonement ("Yom Kippur"), the high priest, before
entering the Holy of Holies, offered a sin-offering for his own sins
(cf. Lev 16:3, 6, 11; Heb 9:6-14); so too the priests of the New
Testament have a duty to be holy, to reject sin, to ask for forgiveness
of their own sins, and to intercede for sinners.
The model the priest should always have before him is Jesus Christ, the
eternal high priest. "The main motive force actuating a priest should
be the determination to attain the closest union with the divine
Redeemer [...]. He should continually keep Christ before his eyes.
Christ's commands, actions and example he should follow most
assiduously, in the conviction that it is not enough for him to submit
to the duties by which the faithful are bound, but that he must at a
daily increasing pace pursue the perfection of life which the high
dignity of a priest demands" (Pius XII, "Menti Nostrae", 7). But, one
might object, Christ never had any defect, never sinned, because his
human nature was perfect and totally holy: is he not therefore too
perfect a model for men who when it comes down to it are sinners? The
answer is, No, not at all, for he himself said, "I have given you an
example, that you also should do as I have done to you" (Jn 13:15).
Besides, when the text (v. 2) refers to "weakness" this may refer to
two things the weakness of human nature (of man as creature), and the
imperfection resulting from his faults and his passions. The former
kind of defect is one Christ shares with us; the second is one he does
not. For this very reason, in the case of the priest, consciousness of
his sins, plus his conviction that he has been called by Christ, moves
him to be very committed to his apostolic ministry of reconciliation
and penance; and in the first instance priests perform this ministry
for one another. "Priests, who are consecrated by the anointing of the
Holy Spirit and sent by Christ, mortify the works of the flesh in
themselves and dedicate themselves completely to the service of people"
(Vatican II, "Presbyterorum Ordinis", 12). As Pope John Paul II has
stressed, "the priest's celebration of the Eucharist and administration
of the other sacraments, his pastoral zeal, his relationship with the
faithful, his communion with this brother priests, his collaboration
with his bishop, his life of prayer--in a word, the whole of his
priestly existence--suffers an inexorable decline if by negligence or
for some other reason he fails to receive the sacrament of Penance at
regular intervals and in a spirit of genuine faith and devotion. If a
priest were no longer to go to confession or properly confess his sins,
his priestly being and his priestly action would feel the effect of this
very soon, and it would also be noticed by the community of which he was
the pastor.
"But I also add that even in order to be a good and effective minister
of Penance the priest needs to have recourse to the source of grace and
holiness present in this sacrament. We priests, on the basis of our
personal experience, can certainly say that, the more careful we are to
receive the sacrament of Penance and to approach it frequently and with
good dispositions, the better we fulfill our own ministry as confessors
and ensure that our penitents benefit from it. And on the other hand
this ministry would lose much of its effectiveness if in some way we
were to stop being good penitents. Such is the internal logic of this
great sacrament. It invites all of us priests of Christ to pay renewed
attention to our personal confession" ("Reconciliatio Et Paenitentia",
31).
What the Pope says here ultimately stems from the fact that " as
ministers of the sacred mysteries, especially in the sacrifice of the
Mass, priests act in a special way in the person of Christ who gave
himself as a victim to sanctify men" ("Presbyterorum Ordinis", 13).
In this way, "Christ the shepherd is present in the priest so as
continually to actualize the universal call to conversion and
repentance which prepares for the coming of the Kingdom of heaven (cf.
Mt 4:17). He is present in order to make men understand that
forgiveness of sins, the reconciliation of the soul and God, cannot be
the outcome of a monologue, no matter how keen a person's capacity for
reflection and self-criticism. He reminds us that no one, alone, can
calm his own conscience; that the contrite heart must submit its sins
to the Church-institution, to the man-priest, who in the sacrament of
Penance is a permanent objective witness to the radical need which
fallen humanity has of the man-God, the only Just One, the only
Justifier" (A. del Portillo, "On Priesthood", p. 62).
10. As the epistle repeatedly teaches, Christ is a high priest "after
the order of Melchizedek". Two essential characteristics come together
here: he is the eternal Son of God, as announced in the messianic Psalm
2:7: "You are my Son, today I have begotten you"; and he is at the same
time high priest not according to the order which God instituted with
Aaron but according to the order of Melchizedek, also established by
God. Further on the letter explains in what sense this "order of
Melchizedek" is superior to that of Levi and Aaron. What it stresses at
this point is the connection between Christ's priesthood and his divine
sonship. Christ, the Son of God, was sent by the Father as Redeemer and
mediator, and the mediation of Christ, who is God and true man, is
exercised by way of priesthood. So, in the last analysis Christ is
Priest both by virtue of being the Son of God and by virtue of his
Incarnation as man. "The abyss of malice which sin opens up has been
bridged by his infinite charity. God did not abandon men. His plans
foresaw that the sacrifices of the Old Law would be insufficient to
repair our faults and re-establish the unity which had been lost. A man
who was God would have to offer himself up. To help us grasp in some
measure this unfathomable mystery, we might imagine the Blessed Trinity
taking counsel together in their uninterrupted intimate relationship of
intimate love. As a result of their eternal decision, the only-begotten
Son of God the Father takes on our human condition and bears the burden
of our wretchedness and sorrow, to end up sewn with nails to a piece of
wood" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 95).
It was appropriate that the divine person who became incarnate should
be the Son or Word, for "the Word has a kind of essential kinship not
only with rational nature but also universally with the whole of
creation, since the Word contains the essences of all things created
by God, just as man the artist in the conception of his intellect
comprehends the essences of all the products of art [...]. Wherefore
all things are said to be made by the Word. Therefore, it was
appropriate for Word to be joined to creature, that is, to human
nature" (St Thomas, "Summa Contra Gentiles", IV, 42). Finally, it was
fitting that Redemption from sin should be brought about by way of a
sacrifice offered by the same divine person.
So it is that Christ, the only-begotten Son, to whom God said, "You are
my son, today I have begotten you", is also the priest to whom God
swears, "Thou art a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek".
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.
THE PING!
