Posted on 04/14/2016 6:54:09 AM PDT by Salvation
A key aspect of the priesthood, set forth by Jesus in the New Covenant, is that priest and victim are one and the same. Prior to this, the priests of the Old Covenant sacrificed animals: lambs, bulls, goats, turtle doves, etc. But in the priesthood of Jesus Christ, the priesthood of the New Covenant, the priest offers himself as victim.
Regarding Jesus and His priesthood, Scripture says,
For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’” When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all (Heb 10:4-10).
So priest and victim are one and the same. Christ does not offer animals (which cannot take away sin) but offers Himself as the Lamb of God.
This insight is essential for us who share in the priesthood of Jesus Christ, whether as ministerial priests or as those who share in the royal priesthood of Christ given to all believers at baptism (see Catechism # 1268). Although the royal and ministerial priesthoods are different in kind (not merely in degree), they have in common the fact that every priest offers sacrifice. The New Testament priest (royal or ministerial) is called to offer himself, not merely an animal, or money, or time, etc.
But what does this mean on a daily basis? How can we bring such a concept in for a landing, so to speak, so that it is not merely an abstract notion?
In the reading this past Sunday in the Extraordinary Form of the Mass there is a passage from First Peter which helps to specify three examples of how we offer a sacrifice to God not merely distinct from us (such as money or time or talent) but also one which is personal. The text says,
Dearly beloved, Christ suffered for us, leaving you an example, that you should follow His steps who did no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth. Who when He was reviled, did not revile: when He suffered, He threatened not, but delivered Himself to him that judged Him unjustly: who His own self bore our sins in His body upon the tree: that we, being dead to sins, should live to justice; by whose stripes you were healed. For you were as sheep going astray: but you are now converted to the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls (1 Pet 2:21-25).
Note the reference to Christ’s priesthood, in which He is both priest and victim:
He delivered Himself to him that judged Him unjustly: who His own self bore our sins in His body upon the tree: that we, being dead to sins, should live to justice; by whose stripes you were healed.
That there are three ways that describe how Christ offered His very self. They are ways that we are called to imitate as well, for priest and victim are one and the same.
I. Resisting Temptation – The text of 1 Peter above speaks of Jesus as one who did no sin. It is easy to sin, to give in to temptation. It is much harder not to sin, to resist temptation.
Here, then, is our first sacrifice: that we engage in the difficult act of resisting temptation and sin. Sin does offer pleasures, but the bill comes later. The sacrifice is to refuse those pleasures, offered to us by the world, the flesh, and the devil. We sacrifice pleasures or we postpone them until there are sinless ways to gain them.
The royal priesthood of believers is called to offer this personal sacrifice. It is the sacrifice of obedience to which the Old Testament pointed:
Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams (1 Sam 15:22).
Better to draw near in obedience than to offer the sacrifice as fools do (Eccl 5:1).
Here is our first priestly sacrifice: the sacrifice of our will, of our obedience to God.
Priest and victim are one and the same.
II. Reverencing the Truth – The text also says of Jesus, neither was deceit found in His mouth. There was in Jesus no duplicity; he did not gainsay the truth. Even His opponents said of Him, Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are (Mat 22:16). Ultimately, Christ would pay the supreme sacrifice for this and be led out to the cross.
We, who would be members of the royal priesthood of believers, must likewise be willing to sacrifice our safety, our popularity, our access to higher places, our very lives in order to speak the truth. It is easy to compromise, to go along with what is popular. It is easy to quote trendy sayings. It is easy to be silent when the truth is scoffed at or ridiculed. It is harder—sacrificial—to speak the truth and to defend what is true.
And indeed we will pay a price for it in most cases. Some people will merely raise an eyebrow or scoff at us; others will ridicule us or label us as haters, bigots, and the like. Still others will seek to exclude us, compel us to change, or even criminalize us.
And herein lie the sacrifices we must be willing to make. Often they will be small sacrifices, but at times they will be costly. The martyrs of all ages are witnesses to the personal cost of speaking and living the truth. Those of the royal priesthood of Jesus Christ must be willing to attest to the truth, even at great cost.
Priest and victim are one and the same.
III. Resisting Retaliation – The text further says of Jesus the High Priest, Who when He was reviled, did not revile: when He suffered, He threatened not, but delivered Himself. The most instinctual human response is to retaliate against those who scoff at or seek to harm us. It is easy to hate; it is hard to love. It is easy to strike back; it is hard and sacrificial to absorb the hit but let the cycle of anger and hatred end with me.
Satan wants to see hatred and vengeance cascade through the human family and history. But Jesus put the cross in his way. It was as if He threw a wrench in the gears of Satan’s hate machine so as to grind it to a halt.
We, too, are asked to sacrifice a significant degree of our honor and become like sand in the gears of the cycle of hate and vengeance. It is a sacrifice to say, “The cycle of retribution ends with me. I will not perpetuate it. I will absorb the blow and not retaliate. I will not flee evil; I will confront it without entering its world or adopting its tactics. I will likely suffer for this, but I will not become what I must resist. I will fight it with the paradoxical weapons of love and the cross.”
We make this sacrifice because in the priesthood of Jesus Christ, priest and victim are one and the same.
Here, then, is a brief summary (with examples) of the priesthood of Jesus Christ, in which priest and victim are one and the same. Again, the royal priesthood of all the baptized, while different in kind (not merely in degree) from the ministerial priesthood, shares this truth with it: priest and victim are one and the same.
Offer the sacrifice of your very self to God.
Complete Headline:
Priest and Victim Are One and the Same – A Meditation on Offering Our Lives to God as Members of a Royal Priesthood
Monsignor Pope Ping!
Why do they call it “Royal” Priesthood?
Jesus did not come to this earth, sacrifice, die on the cross to establish any “Royalty” among his apostles, let alone the priests that followed.
The church hierarchy is to full of itself.
I am Catholic, went to Catholic schools k thru 16, and still go to church, but the Church has really done everything possible to turn away almost everyone.
As a Christian, I’ve often wondered why roman catholicism does so many of the things it does.
After studying history, I honestly came to feel that, IRONICALLY, after Christians were stopped being persecuted by the Romans 313 AD, when Constantine the Great became the first Roman emperor to become “Christian”, then it seemed that many people became “Christian” for ‘political’ and ‘social acceptance’ reasons, eventually diluting and coming of influence and rising to power of these ‘higher politically motivated’ influence peddlers within the Christian church. Where more ‘earthly’ traditions.
Constantine never became a Christian.
Read the passage in the Bible about Melchizedek. I think it comes from there.
Plus, Christ is King, Prophet and Savior.
I’m sure you learned that.
He was baptized on his deathbed, though possibly by an Arian priest rather than by a Catholic one.
**Plus, Christ is King, Prophet and Savior.**
Plus, Christ is Priest, King, Prophet and Savior.
Because the Bible does: 1 Peter 2:9, quoting Exodus 19:6. ("Royal priesthood" also sometimes translated "kingdom of priests".)
Rev 1:6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Constantine was baptized on his deathbed by the Arianizing bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia. He had promised that, if baptized, he would try to reform his life and live as a Christian, but he died very soon thereafter.
Yes, Christ is the “King”....
“My Kingdom is not of this world”
...ALSO.... we are all his ‘subjects’.... we (all of us humans, priests, bishops, cardinals,.... are not “Royalty”!
...ALSO.... we are all his ‘subjects’.... we (all of us humans, priests, bishops, cardinals),.... are not “Royalty”!
Are you saying that you don’t have Christ within you?
Catholicism[edit]
Catholics find the roots of their priesthood in the tradition of Melchizedek. (CCC 1544)[7] In Genesis 14:18, Melchizedek offers a sacrifice of bread and wine. Christ therefore fulfilled the prophecy of Ps 110:4, that he would be a priest “after the order of Melchizedek,” at the Last Supper, when he broke and shared bread with his disciples. Catholics take seriously Christ’s command that the Apostles should “do this in memory of Me”. As such, the Catholic Church continues to offer sacrifices of bread and wine at Mass, as part of the sacrament of the Eucharist.
Oh but we are royalty We have been adopted into the Family and call God Father and Christ Brother. It has pleased God to give us all this through Christ. I don’t think we stop often enough and think about or appreciate all God has given us Mercy grace and salvation are important and the way back to God Once there He has given us all things in Christ If He gave Himself to us and died for our sake, how would He withhold anything else? He gave it all for us and to us. Humbling and awesome!!!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.