“He came to institute a *direct* method of accessing the Father.”
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If that’s the case, then why did Jesus bother to establish a Church founded on the Rock of St. Peter (Matthew 16:18-19), giving him the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and conferring on him the power of binding and loosing?
Jesus told his apostles,
Luke 10:16 “The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.”
He also gave them the power to forgive sins or NOT to forgive them:
John 20:23 “Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.”
He commanded them to consecrate the bread and wine and transform them into His Body and Blood, just as He did at the Last Supper:
Luke 22:19 “Do this for a commemoration of Me.”
He gave them the Great Commission to baptize and teach in His name:
Matthew 28:19 “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, ; teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you.”
This visible Church is called by St. Paul:
1 Timothy 3:15 ...the Church, the pillar and foundation of the truth.
Why would Jesus do all these things if he merely intended to establish a “direct”, person-to-person access to the Father without any intermediary on Earth?
I’m not saying that’s not also available to a Christian (praying to the Father and asking Him for anything in Jesus’ name. e.g.), but it’s certainly not all there is to Christ’s mission. Not by a long shot.
I'll even go a step further, why did He need a SINGLE Apostle? He could have simply willed the New Testament into existence and made every person on Earth aware of who He was.
Now there you go again...Adding words to God's scripture to justify your religion...
Jesus did not tell them to transform the bread and wine...
And there's good reason for that...That's because the bread and wine never did get changed into anything else...
Because that isn't what it says... Peter's a stone in the wall (the first of the stones, but a stone, none the less).
and what was conferred, was conferred to EACH stone singly.
Jesus told his apostles, Luke 10:16 “The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.”
So what?
He also gave them the power to forgive sins or NOT to forgive them: John 20:23 “Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.”
Pretty much the same as any Christian.
He commanded them to consecrate the bread and wine and transform them into His Body and Blood, just as He did at the Last Supper: Luke 22:19 “Do this for a commemoration of Me.”
No, He did *not*.
He gave them the Great Commission to baptize and teach in His name: Matthew 28:19 “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, ; teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you.”
And so do we all.
This visible Church is called by St. Paul: 1 Timothy 3:15 ...the Church, the pillar and foundation of the truth.
... And the OT says the truth is the Torah... So the passage above cannot apply the way you'd like it to, unless the Romish church has suddenly become aware of the OT...
Why would Jesus do all these things if he merely intended to establish a “direct”, person-to-person access to the Father without any intermediary on Earth?
The Spirit is His intermediary. No other is necessary.
I’m not saying that’s not also available to a Christian (praying to the Father and asking Him for anything in Jesus’ name. e.g.), but it’s certainly not all there is to Christ’s mission. Not by a long shot.
Sure it is.