Priest:
The Heb. kohen, Gr. hierus, Lat. sacerdos, always denote one who offers sacrifices.
At first every man was his own priest, and presented his own sacrifices before God. Afterwards that office devolved on the head of the family, as in the cases of Noah (Gen 8:20), Abraham (12:7; 13:4), Isaac (26:25), Jacob (31:54), and Job (Job 1:5).
The name first occurs as applied to Melchizedek (Gen 14:18). Under the Levitical arrangements the office of the priesthood was limited to the tribe of Levi, and to only one family of that tribe, the family of Aaron. Certain laws respecting the qualifications of priests are given in Lev 21:16-23. There are ordinances also regarding the priests' dress (Exd 28:40-43) and the manner of their consecration to the office (29:1-37).
Their duties were manifold (Exd 27:20,21; 29:38-44; Lev 6:12; 10:11; 24:8; Num 10:1-10; Deu 17:8-13; 33:10; Mal 2:7). They represented the people before God, and offered the various sacrifices prescribed in the law.
In the time of David the priests were divided into twenty-four courses or classes (1Ch 24:7-18). This number was retained after the Captivity (Ezr 2:36-39; Neh 7:39-42).
"The priests were not distributed over the country, but lived together in certain cities [forty-eight in number, of which six were cities of refuge, q.v.], which had been assigned to their use. From thence they went up by turns to minister in the temple at Jerusalem. Thus the religious instruction of the people in the country generally was left to the heads of families, until the establishment of synagogues, an event which did not take place till the return from the Captivity, and which was the main source of the freedom from idolatry that became as marked a feature of the Jewish people thenceforward as its practice had been hitherto their great national sin."
The whole priestly system of the Jews was typical. It was a shadow of which the body is Christ. The priests all prefigured the great Priest who offered "one sacrifice for sins" "once for all" (Hbr 10:10,12). There is now no human priesthood. (See Epistle to the Hebrews throughout.) The term "priest" is indeed applied to believers (1Pe 2:9; Rev 1:6), but in these cases it implies no sacerdotal functions. All true believers are now "kings and priests unto God." As priests they have free access into the holiest of all, and offer up the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, and the sacrifices of grateful service from day to day.
Priest:
prest (kohen, "priest," "prince," "minister"; hiereus archiereus; for hiereus megas, of Heb 10:21, see Thayer's Lexicon, under the word hiereus:
I. NATURE OF THE PRIESTLY OFFICE
1. Implies Divine Choice
2. Implies Representation
3. Implies Offering Sacrifice
4. Implies Intercession
II. THE TWO GREAT PRIESTS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, MELCHIZEDEK AND AARON
III. PRIESTLY FUNCTIONS AND CHARACTER
1. A Strictly Religious Order
2. Priestism Denied
3. The High Priest's Qualifications
4. Symbolism of Aaron's Rod
IV. CONSECRATION OF AARON AND HIS SONS (EXODUS 29; LEVITICUS 8)
1. Symbolism of Consecration
2. Type and Archetype
LITERATURE
A priest is one who is duly authorized to minister in sacred things, particularly to offer sacrifices at the altar, and who acts as mediator between men and God. In the New Testament the term is applied to priests of the Gentiles (Ac 14:13), to those of the Jews (Mt 8:4), to Christ (Heb 5:5,6), and to Christians (1Pe 2:9; Re 1:6). The office of priest in Israel was of supreme importance and of high rank. The high priest stood next the monarch in influence and dignity. Aaron, the head of the priestly order, was closely associated with the great lawgiver, Moses, and shared with him in the government and guidance of the nation. It was in virtue of the priestly functions that the chosen people were brought into near relations with God and kept therein. Through the ministrations of the priesthood the people of Israel were instructed in the doctrine of sin and its expiation, in forgiveness and worship. In short, the priest was the indispensable source of religious knowledge for the people, and the channel through which spiritual life was communicated.
I. Nature of the Priestly Office.
1. Implies Divine Choice:
The Scriptures furnish information touching this point. To them we at once turn. Priesthood implies choice. Not only was the office of divine institution, but the priest himself was divinely-appointed thereto. "For every high priest, being taken from among men, is appointed for men in things pertaining to God..... And no man taketh the honor unto himself, but when he is called of God, even as was Aaron" (Heb 5:1,4). The priest was not elected by the people, much less was he self-appointed. Divine selection severed him from those for whom he was to act. Even our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, came not into the world unsent. He received His commission and His authority from the fountain of all sovereignty. At the opening of His earthly ministry He said, "He anointed me..... He hath sent me" (Lu 4:18). He came bearing heavenly credentials.
2. Implies Representation:
It implies the principle of representation. The institution of the office was God's gracious provision for a people at a distance from Him, who needed one to appear in the divine presence in their behalf. The high priest was to act for men in things pertaining to God, "to make propitiation for the sins of the people" (Heb 2:17). He was the mediator who ministered for the guilty. "The high priest represented the whole people. All Israelites were reckoned as being in him. The prerogative held by him belonged to the whole of them (Ex 19:6), but on this account it was transferred to him because it was impossible that all Israelites should keep themselves holy as became the priests of Yahweh" (Vitringa). That the high priest did represent the whole congregation appears, first, from his bearing the tribal names on his shoulders in the onyx stones, and, second, in the tribal names engraved in the twelve gems of the breastplate. The divine explanation of this double representation of Israel in the dress of the high priest is, he "shall bear their names before Yahweh upon his two shoulders for a memorial" (Ex 28:12,19). Moreover, his committing heinous sin involved the people in his guilt: "If the anointed priest shall sin so as to bring guilt on the people" (Le 4:3). The Septuagint reads, "If the anointed priest shall sin so as to make the people sin." The anointed priest, of course, is the high priest. When he sinned the people sinned. His official action was reckoned as their action. The whole nation shared in the trespass of their representative. The converse appears to be just as true. What he did in his official capacity, as prescribed by the Lord, was reckoned as done by the whole congregation: "Every high priest.... is appointed for men" (Heb 5:1).
3. Implies Offering Sacrifice:
It implies the offering of sacrifice. Nothing is clearer in Scripture than this priestly function. It was the chief duty of a priest to reconcile men to God by making atonement for their sins; and this he effected by means of sacrifice, blood-shedding (Heb 5:1; 8:3). He would be no priest who should have nothing to offer. It was the high priest who carried the blood of the sin offering into the Most Holy Place and who sprinkled it seven times on and before the mercy-seat, thus symbolically covering the sins of the people from the eyes of the Lord who dwelt between the cherubim (Ps 80:1). It was he also who marked the same blood on the horns of the altar of burnt offering in the Court of the Tabernacle, and on those of the golden altar, that the red sign of propitiation might thus be lifted up in the sight of Yahweh, the righteous Judge and Redeemer.
4. Implies Intercession:
It implies intercession. In the priestly ministry of Aaron and his sons this function is not so expressly set forth as are some of their other duties, but it is certainly included. For intercession is grounded in atonement. There can be no effective advocacy on behalf of the guilty until their guilt is righteously expiated. The sprinkling of the blood on the mercy-seat served to cover the guilt from the face of God, and at the same time it was an appeal to Him to pardon and accept His people. So we read that after Aaron had sprinkled the blood he came forth from the sanctuary and blessed Israel (Le 9:22-24; Nu 6:22-27).
II. The Two Great Priests of the Old Testament, Melchizedek and Aaron:
These were Melchizedek and Aaron. No others that ever bore the name or discharged the office rank with these, save, of course, the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom they were distinguished types. Of the two, Melchizedek was the greater. There are two reasons why they are to be considered chiefs: first, because they are first in their respective orders. Melchizedek was not only the head of his order, but he had no successor. The office began and terminated with him (Heb 7:3). The ordinary priests and the Levites depended for their official existence on Aaron. Apart from him they would not be priests. Second, the priesthood of Christ was typified by both. The office is summed up and completed in Him. They were called and consecrated that they might be prophecies of Him who was to come and in whom all priesthood and offering and intercession would find its ample fulfillment. In the Epistle to the Hebrews the priesthood of both these men is combined and consummated in Christ. But let it be noted that while He is of the order of Melchizedek He exercises the office after the pattern of Aaron. He perfects all that Aaron did typically, because He is the true and the real Priest, while Aaron is but a figure.
III. Priestly Functions and Character.
1. A Strictly Religious Order:
These are minutely prescribed in the Law. #In the institution of the office the Lord's words to Moses were, "Take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office" (Ex 28:1 the King James Version). Their duties were strictly religious. They had no political power conferred upon them. Their services, their dependent position, and the way in which they were sustained, i.e. by the free gifts of the people, precluded them from exercising any undue influence in the affairs of the nation. It is true that in process of time the high office degenerated, and became a thing of barter and sale in the hands of unscrupulous and corrupt men, but as originally appointed the priesthood in Israel was not a caste, nor a hierarchy, nor a political factor, but a divinely-appointed medium of communication between God and the people.
2. Priestism Denied:
The Hebrew priests in no wise interfered with the conscience of men. The Hebrew worshipper of his own free will laid his hand on the head of his sacrifice, and confessed his sins to God alone. His conscience was quite free and untrammeled.
3. The High Priest's Qualifications:
There were certain duties which were peculiar to the high priest. He alone could wear the "garments for glory and for beauty." To him alone it pertained to enter the Most Holy Place and to sprinkle the blood of the sin offering on the mercy-seat. To him alone it pertained to represent the congregation before the Lord as mediator, and to receive the divine communications. He was to be ceremonially pure and holy. He must be physically perfect. Any defect or deformity disqualified a member of the priestly family from performing the duties of the office (Le 21:17-21). The Law spoke with the utmost precision as to the domestic relations of the high priest. He could marry neither a widow, nor a divorced woman, nor one polluted, nor a harlot; only a virgin of his own people, a Hebrew of pure extraction, could become his wife (Le 21:14,15). Nor was he to come in contact with death. He must not rend his clothes, nor defile himself, even for his father or his mother (Le 21:10,11). His sons might defile themselves for their kin, but the high priest must not. For he was the representative of life. Death did not exist for him, in so far as he was a priest. God is the Ever-Living, the Life-Giving; and His priest, who had "the crown of the anointing oil of his God upon him," had to do with life alone.
4. Symbolism of Aaron's Rod:
Adolph Saphir believes there is deep significance in the miracle of Aaron's rod that budded and bare almonds (Nu 17). It was a visible sign of the legitimacy of Aaron's priesthood and a confirmation of it, and a symbol of its vitality and fruitfulness. The twelve rods of the tribes were dead sticks of wood, and remained dead; Aaron's alone had life and produced blossoms and fruit. It was the emblem of his office which correlated itself with life, and had nothing to do with death.
IV. Consecration of Aaron and His Sons (Exodus 29; Leviticus 8).
The process of the consecration is minutely described and is worthy of a more detailed and careful study than can here be given it. Only the more prominent features are noticed.
(1) Both the high priest and his sons were together washed with water (Ex 29:4). But when this was done, the high priest parted company with his sons.
(2) Next, Aaron was arrayed in the holy and beautiful garments, with the breastplate over his heart, and the holy crown on his head, the mitre, or turban, with its golden plate bearing the significant inscription, "Holy to Yahweh." This was Aaron's investiture of the high office.
(3) He was then anointed with the precious oil. It is noteworthy that Moses poured the oil on his head. When he anointed the tabernacle and its furniture he sprinkled the oil, but in Aaron's case there was a profusion, an abundance in the anointing (Ps 133:2).
(4) After the anointing of the high priest the appointed sacrifices were offered (Ex 29:10 ). Up to this point in the ceremony Aaron was the principal figure, the sons having no part save in the bathing. But after the offerings had been made the sons became prominent participants in the ceremonies, sharing equally with the high priest therein.
(5) The blood of the offering was applied to the person of father and sons alike (Ex 29:20,21). On the tip of the right ear, on the thumb of the right hand, and on the great toe of the right foot was the consecrating blood-mark set.
1. Symbolism of Consecration:
The significance of this action should not escape the reader. The whole person and career of the priest were thus brought under power of the blood. He had a blood-stained ear that he might hear and obey the divine injunctions, that he might understand the word of Yahweh and interpret it to the people. His will was brought into subjection to the will of His Lord that he might be a faithful minister in things pertaining to God. He had a blood-stained hand that he might execute, rightly and efficiently, the services of the sanctuary and the duties of his great office. He had likewise a blood-stained foot that he might walk in the statutes and commandments of the Lord blameless, and tread the courts of the Lord's house as the obedient servant of the Most High. Sacrificial blood, the blood of atonement, is here, as everywhere else, the foundation for saints and sinners, for priests and ministers alike, in all their relations with God.
2. Type and Archetype:
The priests of Israel were but dim shadows, obscure sketches and drafts of the one Great Priest of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Without drawing out at length the parallelism between the type and the archetype, we may sum up in a few brief sentences the perfection found in the priestly character of Christ:
(1) Christ as Priest is appointed of God (Heb 5:5). (2) He is consecrated with an oath (Heb 7:20-22).
(3) He is sinless (Heb 7:26).
(4) His priesthood is unchangeable (Heb 7:23,24).
(5) His offering is perfect and final (Heb 9:25-28; 10:12).
(6) His intercession is all-prevailing (Heb 7:25).
(7) As God and man in one Person He is a perfect Mediator (Heb 1; 2).
LITERATURE.
Smith, DB; HDB; P. Fairbairn, Typology of Scripture, II; Soltau, Exposition of the Tabernacle; the Priestly Garments and the Priesthood; Martin, Atonement; A.B. Davidson, Hebrews; Moorehead, Mosaic Institutions.
Written by William G. Moorehead
Priest: Antemosaic (Before Moses):
Melchizedek,
Gen 14:18; Hbr 5:6, 10, 11; 6:20; 7:1-21.
Jethro,
Exd 2:16.
Priests in Israel before the giving of the law,
Exd 19:22, 24.
Called angel,
Ecc 5:6.
Priest: Mosaic (The Time of Moses):
Exd 28:1-4; 29:9, 44; Num 3:10; 18:7; 1Ch 23:13
Hereditary descent of office,
Exd 27:21; 28:43; 29:9.
Consecration of,
Exd 29:1-9, 19-35; 40:12-16; Lev 6:20-23; 8:6-35; Hbr 7:21.
Is holy,
Lev 21:6, 7; 22:9, 16.
Ablutions of,
Exd 40:30-32; Lev 16:24;
see Consecration of, above.
Must be without blemish,
Lev 21:17-23.
Vestments of,
Exd 28:2-43; 39:1-29; Lev 6:10, 11; 8:13; Eze 44:17-19.
Don vestments in temple,
Eze 42:14; 44:19.
Atonement for,
Lev 16:6, 24; Eze 44:27.
Defilement and purification of,
Eze 44:25, 26.
Marriage of,
Lev 21:7-15; Eze 44:22.
Chambers for, in temple,
Eze 40:45, 46.
Exempt from tax,
Ezr 7:24.
Armed and organized for war at the time of the disaffection toward Saul,
1Ch 12:27, 28.
Beard and hair of,
Eze 44:20.
Twenty-four divisions (shifts) of
1Ch 24:1-19; 28:13, 21; 2Ch 8:14; 31:2; 35:4, 5; Ezr 2:36-39; Neh 13:30.
Chosen by lot,
Luk 1:8, 9, 23.
Usurpations of office of,
Num 3:10; 16; 18:7; 2Ch 26:18.
Priests were appointed by Jeroboam who were not of the sons of Levi,
1Ki 12:31; 13:33.
See LEVITES; MINISTERS
Priest: Duties Of:
To offer sacrifices,
Lev 1:4-17; 2:2, 16; 3:5, 11, 13, 16; 4:5-12, 17, 25, 26, 30-35; 1Ch 16:40; 2Ch 13:11; 29:34; 35:11-14; Ezr 6:20; Hbr 10:11;
see OFFERINGS.
To offer the first fruits,
Lev 23:10, 11; Deu 26:3, 4.
Pronounce benedictions,
Num 6:22-27; Deu 21:5; 2Ch 30:27.
Teach the law,
Lev 10:11; Deu 24:8; 27:14; 31:9-13; 33:10; Jer 2:8; Mal 2:7.
Light the lamps in the tabernacle,
Exd 27:20, 21; 2Ch 13:11; Lev 24:3, 4.
Keep the sacred fire always burning,
Lev 6:12, 13.
To furnish a quota of wood for the sanctuary,
Neh 10:34.
Responsible for the sanctuary,
Num 4:5-15; 18:1, 5, 7.
To act as scribes,
Ezr 7:1-6; Neh 8:9.
Be present at and supervise the tithing,
Neh 10:38.
Sound the trumpet in summoning assemblies and in battle,
Num 10:2-10; 31:6; Jos 6; 2Ch 13:12.
Examine lepers,
see LEPROSY.
Purify the unclean,
Lev 15:31;
see DEFILEMENT.
Valuate things devoted,
Lev 27:8, 12.
Officiate in the holy place,
Hbr 9:6.
Chiefs of Levites,
Num 3:9, 32; 4:19, 28, 33; 1Ch 9:20.
To act as magistrates,
Num 5:14-31; Deu 17:8-13; 19:17; 21:5; 2Ch 19:8; Eze 44:23, 24.
To encourage the army on the eve of battle,
Deu 20:2-4.
Carry the ark of the covenant through the Jordan River,
Jos 3; 4:15-18;
in battle,
1Sa 4:3-5.
Priest: Emoluments (Benefits) Of:
No part of the land of Canaan allowed to,
Num 18:20; Deu 10:9; 14:27; 18:1, 2; Jos 13:14, 33; 14:3; 18:7; Eze 44:28.
Provided with cities and suburbs,
Lev 25:32-34; Num 35:2-8; Jos 21:1-4, 13-19, 41, 42; 1Ch 6:57-60; Neh 11:11, 20; Eze 45:1-6; 48:8-20.
Own lands sanctified to the Lord,
Lev 27:21.
Tithes of the tithes,
Num 18:8-18, 26-32; Neh 10:38.
Part of the plunder of war, including captives,
Num 31:25-29.
Firstfruits,
Lev 23:20; 24:9; Num 18:12, 13, 17, 18; Deu 18:3-5; Neh 10:36.
Redemption money,
Lev 27:23;
of firstborn,
Num 3:46-51; 18:15, 16.
Things devoted,
Lev 27:21; Num 5:9, 10; 18:14.
Fines,
Lev 5:16; 22:14; Num 5:8.
Trespass money and other trepass offerings,
Lev 5:15, 18; Num 18:9; 2Ki 12:16.
The shewbread,
Exd 25:30; Lev 24:5-9; 2Ch 2:4; 13:11; Neh 10:33; Mat 12:4; Hbr 9:2.
Portions of sacrifices and offerings,
Exd 29:27-34; Lev 2:2, 3, 9, 10; 5:12, 13, 16; 6:15-18, 26; 7:6-10, 31-34; 10:12-14; 14:12, 13; Num 6:19, 20; 18:8-19; Deu 18:3-5; 1Sa 2:13, 14; Eze 44:28-31; 45:1-4; 1Cr 9:13.
Regulations by Hezekiah concerning benefits to the priests,
2Ch 31:4-19.
Portion of land allotted to, in redistribution in Ezekiel's vision,
Eze 48:8-14.
For the sustenance of their families,
Lev 22:11-13; Num 18:11, 19.
Priest: Figurative:
Exd 19:6; Isa 61:6; 1Pe 2:9; Rev 1:6; 5:10; 20:6
Priest: High Priest:
Moses did not denominate Aaron chief or high priest. The function he served was superior to that of other priests. The title appears after the institution of the office,
Lev 21:10-15; Num 3:32.
For qualifications, consecration, etc. see under the general topic above, PRIEST, MOSAIC INSTITUTION OF.
Priest: High Priest: Vestments Of
Exd 28:2-43; 39:1-31; Lev 8:7-9
Respect due to,
Act 23:5.
Priest: High Priest: Duties Of:
Had charge of the sanctuary and altar,
Num 18:2, 5, 7.
To offer sacrifices,
Hbr 5:1; 8:3.
To designate subordinate priests for duty,
Num 4:19; 1Sa 2:36.
To officiate in consecrations of Levites,
Num 8:11-21.
To have charge of the treasury,
2Ki 12:10; 22:4; 2Ch 24:6-14; 34:9.
To light the lamps of the tabernacle,
Exd 27:20, 21; 30:8; Lev 24:3, 4; Num 8:3.
To burn incense,
Exd 30:7, 8; 1Sa 2:28; 1Ch 23:13.
To place shewbread on the table every Sabbath,
Lev 24:8.
To offer for his own sins of ignorance,
Lev 4:3-12.
Priest: High Priest: On the Day of Atonement
Exd 30:10; Lev 16; Hbr 5:3; 9:7, 22, 23
Priest: High Priest: Judicial
Num 5:15; Deu 17:8-13; 1Sa 4:18; Hsa 4:4; Mat 26:3, 50, 57, 62; Act 5:21-28; 23:1-5
To count the people,
Num 1:3.
Officiate at the choice of a ruler,
Num 27:18, 19, 21.
Distribute spoils of war,
Num 31:26-29.
Priest: High Priest: Emoluments (Benefits) Of:
See PRIEST, EMOLUMENTS OF, above
Priest: A Second Priest
Under the high priest,
Num 3:32; 4:16; 31:6; 1Ch 9:20; 2Sa 15:24; 2Ki 25:18; Luk 3:2.
Priest: Miscellaneous Facts Concerning:
Loyal to Rehoboam at the time of the revolt of the ten tribes,
2Ch 11:13.
Zeal of, in purging the temple,
2Ch 29:4-17.
Wickedness of,
2Ch 36:14.
Taken with the captivity to Babylon,
Jer 29:1.
Return from the captivity,
Ezr 1:5; 2:36-39, 61, 70; 3:8; 7:7; 8:24-30; Neh 7:39-42, 63-73; 10:1-8; 12:1-7.
Polluted by marrying idolatrous wives,
Ezr 9:1, 2; 10:5, 18, 19; Neh 10:28.
Restore the altar, and offer sacrifices,
Ezr 3:1-7.
Supervise the building of the new temple,
Ezr 3:8-13.
Inquire of John the Baptist to see if he might be the Messiah,
Jhn 1:19.
Conspire to destroy Jesus,
Mat 26:3-5, 14, 15, 47, 51; Mar 14:10, 11, 43-47, 53-66; 15:1; Luk 22:2-6, 50, 54, 66-71; 23:1, 2; Jhn 11:47; 19:15, 16, 18.
Put on trial and condemn Jesus,
Mat 26:57-68; 27:1, 2; Mar 14:53-65; Luk 22:54-71; 23:13-24; Jhn 18:15-32.
Incite the people to ask that Barabbas be released and Jesus be destroyed,
Mat 27:20; Mar 15:11; Luk 23:18.
Persecute the disciples,
Act 22:5.
Reprove and threaten Peter and John,
Act 4:6-21; 5:17-41.
Put on trial, condemn, and stone Stephen,
Act 6:12-15; 7.
Paul brought before,
Act 22:30; 23:1-5.
Priest: High Priest: Corrupt
Jer 23:11, 12; Eze 22:26; Luk 10:31
INSTANCES OF:
Eli's sons,
1Sa 2:12-17, 22;
of the captivity,
Ezr 9:1, 2; 10:18-22; Neh 13:4-9, 13, 28, 29.
Priest: High Priest: Zealous
1Ch 9:10-13
Priestly office performed by prophets,
1Sa 16:5.
Priest:
"one who offers sacrifice and has the charge of things pertaining thereto," is used
(a) of a "priest" of the pagan god Zeus, Act 14:13;
(b) of Jewish "priests," e.g., Mat 8:4; 12:4, 5; Luk 1:5, where allusion is made to the 24 courses of "priests" appointed for service in the Temple (cp. 1Ch 24:4 ff.); Jhn 1:19; Hbr 8:4;
(c) of believers, Rev 1:6; 5:10; 20:6. Israel was primarily designed as a nation to be a kingdom of "priests," offering service to God, e.g., Exd 19:6; the Israelites having renounced their obligations, Exd 20:19, the Aaronic priesthood was selected for the purpose, till Christ came to fulfil His ministry in offering up Himself; since then the Jewish priesthood has been abrogated, to be resumed nationally, on behalf of Gentiles, in the Millenial Kingdom, Isa 61:6; 66:21. Meanwhile all believers, from Jews and Gentiles, are constituted "a kingdom of priests," Rev 1:6 (see above), "a holy priesthood," 1Pe 2:5, and "royal," 1Pe 2:9. The NT knows nothing of a sacerdotal class in contrast to the laity; all believers are commanded to offer the sacrifices mentioned in Rom 12:1; Phl 2:17; 4:18; Hbr 13:15, 16; 1Pe 2:5;
(d) of Christ, Hbr 5:6; 7:11, 15, 17, 21; 8:4 (negatively);
(e) of Melchizedek, as the forshadower of Christ, Hbr 7:1, 3.
2Strong's Number: g749Greek: archiereusPriest:
designates
(a) "the high priests" of the Levitical order, frequently called "chief priests" in the NT, and including "ex-high priests" and members of "high priestly" families, e.g., Mat 2:4; 16:21; 20:18; 21:15; in the singular, a "high priest," e.g., Abiathar, Mar 2:26; Annas and Caiaphas, Luk 3:2, where the RV rightly has "in the high priesthood of A. and C." (cp. Act 4:6). As to the combination of the two in this respect, Annas was the "high priest" from A.D. 7-14, and, by the time referred to, had been deposed for some years; his son-in-law, Caiaphas, the fourth "high priest" since his deposition, was appointed about A.D. 24. That Annas was still called the "high priest" is explained by the facts
(1) that by the Mosaic law the high priesthood was held for life, Num 35:25; his deposition was the capricious act of the Roman procurator, but he would still be regarded legally and religiously as "high priest" by the Jews;
(2) that he probably still held the office of deputy-president of the Sanhedrin (cp. 2Ki 25:18);
(3) that he was a man whose age, wealth and family connections gave him a preponderant influence, by which he held the real sacerdotal power; indeed at this time the high-priesthood was in the hands of a clique of some half dozen families; the language of the writers of the Gospels is in accordance with this, in attributing the high priesthood rather to a caste than a person;
(4) the "high priests" were at that period mere puppets of Roman authorities who deposed them at will, with the result that the title was used more loosely than in former days.
The Divine institution of the priesthood culminated in the "high priest," it being his duty to represent the whole people, e.g., Lev 4:15, 16; ch. 16. The characteristics of the Aaronic "high priests" are enumerated in Hbr 5:1-4; 8:3; 9:7, 25; in some mss., Hbr 10:11 (RV, marg.); 13:11.
(b) Christ is set forth in this respect in the Ep. to the Hebrews, where He is spoken of as "a high priest," Hbr 4:15; 5:5, 10; 6:20; 7:26; 8:1, 3 (RV); 9:11; "a great high priest," Hbr 4:14; "a great priest," Hbr 10:21; "a merciful and faithful high priest," Hbr 2:17; "the Apostle and high priest of our confession," Hbr 3:1, RV; "a high priest after the order of Melchizedek," Hbr 5:10. One of the great objects of this Epistle is to set forth the superiority of Christ's High Priesthood as being of an order different from and higher than the Aaronic, in that He is the Son of God (see especially Hbr 7:28), with a priesthood of the Melchizedek order. Seven outstanding features of His priesthood are stressed,
(1) its character, Hbr 5:6, 10;
(2) His commission, Hbr 5:4, 5;
(3) His preparation, Hbr 2:17; 10:5;
(4) His sacrifice, Hbr 8:3; 9:12, 14, 27, 28; 10:4-12;
(5) His santuary, Hbr 4:14; 8:2; 9:11, 12, 24; 10:12, 19;
(6) His ministry, Hbr 2:18; 4:15; 7:25; 8:6; 9:15, 24;
(7) its effects, Hbr 2:15; 4:16; 6:19, 20; 7:16, 25; 9:14, 28; 10:14-17, 22, 39; 12:1; 13:13-17.
Note: In Act 4:6 the adjective hieratikos, "high priestly," is translated "of the high priest."
Priest:
The English word is derived from the Greek presbyter, signifying an "elder" (Heb. cohen.)
Origin.-The idea of a priesthood connects itself in all its forms, pure or corrupted, with the consciousness, more or less distinct of sin. Men feel that they have broken a law. The power above them is holier than they are, and they dare not approach it. They crave for the intervention of some one of whom they can think as likely to be more acceptable than themselves. He must offer up their prayers, thanksgivings, sacrifices. He becomes their representative in "things pertaining unto God." He may become also (though this does not always follow) the representative of God to man. The functions of the priest and prophet may exist in the same person. No trace of a hereditary or caste priesthood meets us in the worship of the patriarchal age. Once and once only does the word cohen meet us as belonging to a ritual earlier than the time of Abraham. Melchizedek is "the priest of the most high God" (Genesis 14:18). In the worship of the patriarchs themselves, the chief of the family, as such, acted as the priest. The office descended with the birthright, and might apparently be transferred with it.
When established.-The priesthood was first established in the family of Aaron, and all the sons of Aaron were priests. They stood between the high priest on the one hand and the Levites on the other. SEE [HIGH PRIEST], [LEVITES]. The ceremony of their consecration is described in HIGH PRIEST (Exodus 29:1; Leviticus 8:1).
Dress.-The dress which the priests wore during their ministrations consisted of linen drawers, with a close‐fitting cassock, also of linen, white, but with a diamond or chess‐board pattern on it. This came nearly to the feet, and was to be worn in its garment shape (compareJohn 19:23). The white cassock was gathered round the body with a girdle of needle work, in which, as in the more gorgeous belt of the high priest, blue, purple and scarlet were intermingled with white, and worked in the form of flowers (Exodus 28:39-40; 39:2; Ezekiel 44:17-19). Upon their heads the were to wear caps or bonnets in the form of a cup‐shaped flower, also of fine linen. In all their acts of ministration they were to be bare footed.
Duties.-The chief duties of the priests were to watch over the fire on the altar of burnt offering, and to keep it burning evermore both by day and night (Leviticus 6:12; 2 Chronicles 13:11) to feed the golden lamp outside the vail with oil (Exodus 27:20-21; Leviticus 24:2) to offer the morning and evening sacrifices, each accompanied with a meet offering and a drink offering, at the door of the tabernacle (Exodus 29:38-44). They were also to teach the children of Israel the statutes of the Lord (Leviticus 10:11; Deuteronomy 33:10; 2 Chronicles 15:3; Ezekiel 44:23-24). During the journeys in the wilderness it belonged to them to cover the ark and all the vessels of the sanctuary with a purple or scarlet cloth before the Levites might approach them (Numbers 4:5-15). As the people started on each days march they were to blow "an alarm" with long silver trumpets (Numbers 10:1-8). Other instruments of music might be used by the more highly‐trained Levites and the schools of the prophets, but the trumpets belonged only to the priests. The presence of the priests on the field of battle (1 Chronicles 12:23; 12:27; 2 Chronicles 20:21-22) led, in the later periods of Jewish history, to the special appointment at such times of a war priest. Other functions were hinted at in Deuteronomy which might have given them greater influence as the educators and civilizers of the people. They were to act (whether individually or collectively does not distinctly appear) as a court of appeal in the more difficult controversies in criminal or civil cases (Deuteronomy 17:8-13). It must remain doubtful however how far this order kept its ground during the storms and changes that followed. Functions such as these were clearly incompatible with the common activities of men.
Provision for support.-This consisted-
(1.) Of one tenth of the tithes which the people paid to the Levites, i.e. one per cent on the whole produce of the country (Numbers 18:26-28).
(2.) Of a special tithe every third year (Deuteronomy 14:28; 26:12).
(3.) Of the redemption money, paid at the fixed rate of five shekels a head, for the first‐born of man or beast (Numbers 18:14-19).
(4.) Of the redemption money paid in like manner for men or things specially dedicated to the Lord (Leviticus 27:5).
(5.) Of spoil, captives, cattle and the like, taken in war (Numbers 31:25-47).
(6.) Of the shew‐bread, the flesh of the burnt offerings, peace offerings, trespass offerings (Leviticus 6:26; 6:29; 7:6-10; Numbers 18:8-14) and in particular the heave‐shoulder and the wave‐breast (Leviticus 10:12-15).
(7.) Of an undefined amount of the first‐fruits of corn, wine and oil (Exodus 23:19; Leviticus 2:14; 26:1-10).
(8.) On their settlement in Canaan the priestly families had thirteen cities assigned them, with "suburbs" or pasture‐grounds for their flocks (Joshua 21:13-19). These provisions were obviously intended to secure the religion of Israel against the dangers of a caste of pauper priests, needy and dependent, and unable to bear their witness to the true faith. They were, on the other hand as far as possible removed from the condition of a wealthy order.
Course.-The priesthood was divided into four and twenty "courses" or orders (1 Chronicles 24:1- 19; 2 Chronicles 23:8; Luke 1:5) each of which was to serve in rotation for one week, while the further assignment of special services during the week was determined by lot (Luke 1:9). Each course appears to have commenced its work on the Sabbath, the outgoing priests taking the morning sacrifice, and leaving that of the evening to their successors (2 Chronicles 23:8).
Numbers-If we may accept the numbers given by Jewish writers as at all trustworthy, the proportion of the priesthood population of Palestine during the last century of their existence as an order, must have been far greater than that of the clergy has ever been in any Christian nation. Over and above those that were scattered in the country and took their turn there were not fewer than 24,000 stationed permanently at Jerusalem, and 12,000 at Jericho. It was almost inevitable that the great mass of the order, under such circumstances, should sink in character and reputation. The reigns of the two kings David and Solomon were the culminating period of the glory of the Jewish priesthood. It will be interesting to bring together the few facts that indicate the position of the priests in the New Testament period of their history. The number scattered throughout Palestine was, as has been stated, very large. Of these the greater number were poor and ignorant. The priestly order, like the nation, was divided between contending sects. In the scenes of the last tragedy of Jewish history the order passes away without honor, "dying as a fool dieth." The high priesthood is given to the lowest and vilest of the adherents of the frenzied Zealots. Other priests appear as deserting to the enemy. The destruction of Jerusalem deprived the order at one blow of all but an honorary distinction.
Christ, Offices Of:
of'-is-is.
General Titles of our Lord
I. CHRIST'S MEDIATION EXPRESSED IN THE SPECIFIC OFFICES
Historical Review of the Theory
II. THE THREEFOLD OFFICE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
The Failure of the Offices to Secure Their Desired Ends
III. THE PROPHET
The Forecast of the True Prophet
IV. CHRIST THE PROPHET
1. Christ's Manner of Teaching
2. Christ as Prophet in His Church
V. THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST
1. Judaic Priesthood
2. Sacrificial Relations of Christ in the Gospels
3. Christ's Ethical Teaching Affected by Sacrificial Ideas
4. Mutual Confirmations of the Synoptics
5. The Dual Outgrowth of Sacrifice, the Victim and Sacrificer
6. Christ's Priesthood in the Apostolic Ministry and Epistles
7. The Crowning Testimony of the Epistle to the Hebrews
8. Christ's Relation to Sin Expressed in Sacrificial Terms
VI. CHRIST'S KINGLY OFFICE
The Breakdown of the Secular Monarchy
VII. THE MESSIANIC BASIS OF THE THREEFOLD OFFICE OF THE LORD
LITERATURE
General Titles of our Lord:
This term has been used by theologians to describe the various characters of our Lord's redemptive work. Many appellative and metaphorical titles are found in Scripture for Christ, designative of His Divine and human natures and His work: God (Joh 20:28); Lord (Mt 22:43-44); Word (Joh 1:1,14); Son of God (Mt 3:17; Lu 1:35; Col 1:15; 1 Joh 5:20); Firstborn from the dead (Col 1:18); Beginning of the Creation of God (Re 3:14); Image of God (2Co 4:4); Express Image of His Person (Heb 1:3 the King James Version); Alpha and Omega (Re 1:8; 22:13); Son of Man (Mt 8:20; Joh 1:51; Ac 7:56); Son of David (Mt 9:27; 21:9); Last Adam (1Co 15:45,47); Captain of Salvation (Heb 2:10 margin); Saviour (Lu 2:11; Joh 4:42; Ac 5:31); Redeemer (Isa 59:20; Tit 2:14); Author and Perfecter of Faith (Heb 12:2); Light of the World (Joh 8:12); Lamb of God (Joh 1:29,36); Creator of all things (Joh 1:3,10); Mediator (1Ti 2:5); Prophet (De 18:15; Lu 24:19); Great High Priest (Heb 4:14); King (Lu 1:33; Re 17:14; 19:16); Way, Truth and Life (Joh 14:6). These and many others express the mediatorial office of the Lord. As mediator, He stands between God and Man, revealing the Father to man, and expressing the true relation of man to God. The term (Greek mesites), moreover, signifies messenger, interpreter, advocate, surety or pledge in Ga 3:19,20, where a covenant is declared to be assured by the hand of one who intervenes. Thus the covenant is confirmed and fulfilled by Him who secures that its stipulations should be carried out, and harmony is restored where before there had been difference and separation (1Ti 2:5; Heb 8:6; 9:15; 12:24). Thus is expressed the purpose of God to redeem mankind by mediation.
I. Christ's Mediation Expressed in the Specific Offices.
In presenting a systematic idea of this Redemptive Work of Christ by Mediation, Christian thought gave to it a harmonious character by choosing the most general and familiar titles of the Lord as the most inclusive categories expressive of the mode of Redemption. These were prophetic, priestly and regal.
Historical Review of the Theory:
The first trace of this division is found in Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica, I, 3, and his Demonstratio Evangelica, IV, 15. It was accepted very largely in the Greek church, and continues to be used by Russian ecclesiastical writers. The Roman church has not so generally followed it, though it is found in the writings of many Roman theologians. The earlier reformers, especially Lutheran, ignored it. But Gerhard employed it and the Lutheran theologians followed his example, although some of these repudiated it, as Ernesti, Doderlein and Knapp. Calvin employed the division in his Institutes, II, 15. It was incorporated in the Heidelberg Catechism and has been adopted by most theologians of the Reformed church and by English and American divines. In Germany most theological writers, such as De Wette, Schleiermacher, Tholuck, Nitzsch, Ebrard, adopt it, affirming it as expressive of the essential quality of the work of redemption, and the most complete presentment of its contents. The justification of this position is found in the important place occupied in the progress of revelation by those to whom were entrusted the duties of teaching and leading men in relation to God in the offices of priest, prophet and king. Even the modern development of Christian thought which extends the view of Divine dealing with man over the entire race and its religious history, not excluding those who would find in the most recent conditions of the world's life the outworking of the will of God in the purposes of human salvation, cannot discover any better form of expressing Christ's relation to man than in terms of the prophetic, the priestly and the governmental offices. The prophet is the instrument of teaching: the priest expresses the ethical relation of man to God; while the king furnishes the typical form of that exercise of sovereign authority and Providential direction which concerns the practical life of the race.
II. The Threefold Office in the Old Testament.
From the close relation which Jesus in both His person and work bore to the Old Testament dispensation, it is natural to turn to the preparatory history of the early Scriptures for the first notes of these mediatorial offices. That the development of the Jewish people and system ever moved toward Christ as an end and fulfillment is universally acknowledged. The vague and indeterminate conditions of both the religious and national life of Israel manifest a definite movement toward a clearer apprehension of man's relationship to God. Nothing is more clear in Israel's history than the gradual evolution of official service both of church and state, as expressed in the persons and duties of the prophet, the priest and the king. The early patriarch contained in himself the threefold dignity, and discharged the threefold duty. As the family became tribal, and the tribe national, these duties were divided. The order of the household was lost for a while in the chaos of the larger and less homogeneous society. The domestic altar was multiplied in many "high places." Professional interpreters of more or less religious value began to be seers, and here and there, prophets. The leadership of the people was occasional, ephemeral and uncertain. But the men of Divine calling appeared from time to time; the foundation work of Moses was built on; the regular order of the worship of Yahweh, notwithstanding many lapses, steadily prevailed. Samuel gave dignity to his post as judge, and he again beheld the open vision of the Lord; he offered the appointed sacrifices; he established the kingly office; and although he was not permitted to see the family of David on the throne, like Moses he beheld afar off the promised land of a Divinely appointed kingdom. With the accession of the Davidic house, the three orders of God's service were completely developed. The king was seated on the throne, the priest was ministering at the one altar of the nation, the prophet with the Divine message was ever at hand to teach, to guide and to rebuke.
The Failure of the Offices to Secure Their Desired Ends:
Notwithstanding this growth of the special institutions-prophet, priest and king-the religious and national condition was by no means satisfactory. The kingdom was divided; external foes threatened the existence of the nation; idolatry was not extinguished, and the prophets who were true to Yahweh were compelled to warn and rebuke the sins of the rulers and the people, and even to testify against the priests for their unfaithfulness to the truth and purity of the religion which they professed. The best hopes of Israel and the Divine promises seem thus to be contradicted by the constant failure of the people to realize their best ideals. Hence, slowly arose a vague expectation of reform. The idea of the better condition which was coming grew ever more distinct, and settled down at length to Israel's Messianic hope, expressed in various forms, finally converging to the looking for of one who should in some mysterious way gather into himself the ideas which belonged especially to the three great offices.
III. The Prophet.
In this article we are concerned only with the offices as they tend to their fulfillment in Christ. For the more general treatment of each office, reference must be made to the special articles.
The Forecast of the True Prophet:
The first appearance of the idea of the special prophet of Yahweh is in De 18:15. Moses had been sent by the people to hear the Lord's words on their behalf (Ex 20:19; De 5:27); and this incident in the later passage of De 18:15-22 is connected with the promise of a prophet, while at the same time reference is made to the general fact of prophecy and the conditions of its validity and acceptance. Here we find the germ of the expectation of the Prophet, which occupied so large a place in the mind of Israel. In the act of the people sending Moses to receive the word, and Yahweh's promise to send a prophet whom they would accept, we see also the suggestion of a distinction between the first dispensation and the latter. The Divine promise was to the effect that what was given by Moses God would consummate in a prophetic revelation through a person. The conception of this personality is found in the second part of Isa (40-66). Isaiah's mission was vain, Isa 49:4, but the coming one shall prevail, 49-53 (passim). But the success of this servant of Yahweh was not to be only as a prophet, but by taking on himself the penalty of sin (Isa 53:5), and by being made an offering for sin; and as Mighty Victor triumphing over all foes (Isa 53:10-12), the dignities of whose kingship are set forth in various parts of the prophetic writings. Thus the general effect of the course of the earlier revelation may be summed up in this prophetic ministry with which has been combined a priestly and a royal character. It was an ever-advancing manifestation of the nature and will of God, delivered by inspired men who spake at sundry times and in divers manners, but whose message was perfected and extended by Jesus Christ (Heb 1:1), who thus became the Prophet of the Lord.
IV. Christ the Prophet.
Christ's ministry illustrates the prophetic office in the most extensive and exalted sense of the term. He was designed and appointed by the Father (Isa 61:1,2; compare Lu 4:16-21; Mt 17:5). In 1Co 1:30, Christ is declared to be made to us wisdom. His intimate knowledge of God (Joh 1:18; Mt 11:27; Joh 16:15), the qualities of His teaching dependent upon His nature, both Divine and human (Joh 3:34); His authority (Joh 1:9,17,18; Lu 4:18-21); His knowledge of God (Mr 12:29; Joh 4:24; Mt 11:25; Joh 17:11,25; Mt 18:35)-these all peculiarly fitted Christ to be the Revealer of God. Besides His doctrine of God, His ministry included the truth concerning Himself, His nature, claims, mission, the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, and the religious life of man. He taught as none other the foundation of religion, the facts on which it was based, the essence of Divine service, the nature of sin, the grace of God, the means of atonement, the laws of the kingdom of God and the future state. By the acknowledgment of even those who have denied His Divine nature and redemptive work, He has been recognized as the Supreme Moral Teacher of the world. His claim to be the Prophet is seen in that He is the source of the ever-extending revelation of the eternal. His own words and works He declared were only part of the fuller knowledge which would be furnished by the system which He established (Lu 9:45; 18:34; Joh 12:16; 14:26; 15:26; 16:12,13,14).
1. Christ's Manner of Teaching:
How remarkable was His method of teaching! Parable, proverb, absolute affirmation, suggestion, allusion to simple objects, practical life-these all made His teaching powerful, easily understood, living; sometimes His action was His word-and all with a commanding dignity and gracious winsomeness, that was felt by His hearers and has ever been recognized (Mt 7:29). So perfect and exalted was the teaching of Jesus that many have supposed that revelation ceased with Him, and the immediate followers whom He especially inspired to be His witnesses and interpreters. Certainly in Him the prophetic ministry culminated.
2. Christ as Prophet in His Church:
An important aspect of Christ's prophetic office is that of His relation to the church as the source, through the instrumentality of His Spirit, of ever-enlarging knowledge of Divine truth which it has been able to gain. This is the real significance of the claim which some churches make to be the custodians and interpreters of the tradition of faith, with which has also gone theory of development-not as a human act but as a ministration of the Lord through His Spirit, which is granted to the church. Even those who hold that all Divine truth is to be found in the sacred Scriptures have yet maintained that God has much truth still to bring out of His word by the leading and direction of the Spirit of Jesus. The Scripture itself declares that Christ was the light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world (Joh 1:9). He Himself promised that the Spirit which He would give would guide His followers into all truth (Joh 16:13). The apostles claimed to receive their teaching and direction of the church from the Lord (1Co 11:23). The testimony of Jesus is definitely declared to be the spirit of prophecy (Re 19:10). Indeed, all the apostolic writings in almost every line affirm that what they teach is received from the Spirit, who is the Spirit of the Lord.
V. The Priesthood of Christ.
1. Judaic Priesthood:
For the history of the development of the priesthood of Israel on which our Lord's High-Priesthood is ideally based, reference must be made to the article especially dealing of with that subject. The bearings of that institution upon the work of Jesus as Redeemer alone fall under this section. Judaism like all religions developed an extensive system priestly service. As the moral sense of the people enlarged and became more distinct, the original simplicity of sacrifice, especially as a commensal act, in which the unity of the celebrants with each other and with God was expressed, was expanded into acts regularly performed by officials, in which worship, thanksgiving, covenant and priestly expiation and atonement were clearly and definitely expressed. The progress of sacrifice may be seen in the history of the Old Testament from Cain and Abel's (Ge 4:3,4), Noah's (Ge 8:20), Abraham's covenant (Ge 15:9-18), etc., to the elaborate services of the Mosaic ritual set forth in Lev, the full development of which is found only in the later days of Israel. When Christ appeared, the entire sacerdotal system had become incorporated in the mind, customs and language of the people. They had learned more or less distinctly the truth of man's relation to God in its natural character, and especially in that aspect where man by his sin had separated himself from God and laid himself open to the penalty of law. The conception of priesthood had thus grown in the consciousness of Israel, as the necessary instrument of mediation between man and God. Priestly acts were performed on behalf of the worshipper. The priest was to secure for man the Divine favor. This could only be gained by an act of expiation. Something must be done in order to set forth the sin of man, his acknowledgment of guilt, the satisfaction of the law, and the assurance of the Divine forgiveness, the restored favor of God and finally the unity of man and God.
2. Sacrificial Relations of Christ in the Gospels:
That the work of Christ partook of the nature of priestly service is already indicated by references in the Gospels themselves. He was called "Jesus; for it is he that shall save his people from their sins" (Mt 1:21). Salvation from sin, in the habit of thought at which the Jew had arrived, must have expressed itself most clearly in the symbolic signification of the sacrifices in the temple. Thus in the very name which our Lord received His priesthood is suggested. The frankincense of the Magi's offering is not without its mystical meaning (Mt 2:11). Some may find in the Baptist's words, "baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire" (Mt 3:11), a suggestion of priestly action, for the understanding of John's declaration must be found in the conventional ideas of the Jewish thought of the period, determined as they undoubtedly were by the history of priestly service in the past and the fully developed ritual of the temple. The baptizing of the proselyte was not necessarily a priestly act, as indeed we cannot be certain that the baptism was always necessary at the introduction of a proselyte into the Jewish church. But the association of circumcision with the initiation of the proselyte certainly introduced the priest, and the sprinkling of the congregation by the priest was a familiar part of his official duties. It is quite probable therefore that John's use of the expression carried with it something of the sacerdotal idea.
3. Christ's Ethical Teaching Affected by Sacrificial Ideas:
The spirit of our Lord's teaching, as seen in the Sermon on the Mount, etc., as it reflects the thought of the Galilean ministry, may be regarded as prophetic rather than priestly. Still the end of the teaching was righteousness, and it was impossible for a Jew to conceive of the securing of righteousness without some reference to priestly administration and influence. The contrast of the effect of Christ's teaching with that of the scribes (Mt 7:29) keeps us in the vicinity of the law as applied through the sacerdotal service of which the scribes were the interpreters and teachers, and surely therefore a hint of our Lord's relation to priesthood may have found its way into the minds of His immediate hearers. He was careful to recognize the authority of the priest (Mt 8:4). The doctrine of sacrifice emerges somewhat more distinctly in the reference to the cross, which our Lord associates with the thought of finding life by losing it (Mt 16:24,25), and when the taking up the cross is interpreted by following Christ, and this hint is soon followed by Christ's distinct reference to His coming sufferings (Mt 17:9,12), more definitely referred to in Mt 17:22,23. Now the object of the work of the Lord takes clearer form. The Son of Man is come to save that which was lost (Mt 18:11 the American Revised Version, margin). As the time of the catastrophe drew nearer, the Lord became still more distinct in His references to His coming death (Mt 20:18,19), and at length declares that "the Son of man came.... to give his life a ransom for many" (Mt 20:28). our Lord's quotations (Mt 21:42; 23:39) concerning the rejected "corner stone," and the Blessed One "that cometh in the name of the Lord" (Ps 118:22,26), are drawn from a psalm filled with the spirit of the priestly service of the temple, and in their reference to Himself again illustrate the ever-increasing recognition of His priesthood. He also uses the official term "Christ" (Messiah, the anointed one) more frequently (Mt 24:5,23-24). On the eve of the betrayal and trial the crucifixion is clearly foretold (Mt 26:2); and the death (Mt 26:12). The full significance of the death is asserted at the institution of the Lord's Supper. The bread is "my body," the wine is "my blood of the new covenant," and it is declared to be "poured out for many unto remission of sins" (Mt 26:26-28 margin).
4. Mutual Confirmations of the Synoptics:
A similar succession of ideas of our Lord's priestly work may be found in the other gospels (see Mr 1:8,44; 8:29; see below on the significance of the term Christ; Mr 8:31,34; 9:9,10). The inability of the disciples to understand the life that was to follow death here is indicated-the truth of the gospel of death and resurrection so closely bound up with the conception of sacrifice, where the blood is the life which given becomes the condition of the new union with God, being thus revealed by Christ as the initial doctrine to be continuously enlarged (Mr 9:31; 10:21,33-34, 45; 11:9; 12:10; 13:21,22; 14:8,22-25,61,62). In Luke the priestly "atmosphere" is introduced in the earliest part of the narrative, the history of Zacharias and Elisabeth giving emphasis to the setting of John's own mission (Lu 1). The name Jesus (Lu 1:31); the special relation of the new kingdom to sin, necessarily connected with sacrifice in the mind of a priest, found in Zacharias' psalm (Lu 1:77,78); the subtle suggestion of the Suffering One in the "also" of Lu 2:35 the King James Version (the American Standard Revised Version omits) shows that the third Gospel is quite in line with the two other Synoptics (see also Lu 3:3; 5:14). The claim to forgive sins must have suggested the sacrificial symbol of remission (Lu 5:24; 9:23; 13:35; 14:27; 18:31; 20:14; 22:19,20; 24:7,26,46,47). In the Fourth Gospel, we have the word of the Baptist, "Behold, the Lamb of God" (Joh 1:29,36), where Christ's relation to sin is distinctly expressed (see LAMB OF GOD)-the baptism in the Spirit (Joh 1:33). It is highly probable that the apostle John was the "other" of the two disciples, (Joh 1:40) and, having heard the Baptist's words, is the only evangelist who records them, thus introducing from his personal knowledge the sacrificial idea earlier into his history than the Synoptics. Christ declares that He will give His life for the life of the world (Joh 6:51). The entire passage (Joh 6:47-65) is suffused with the conception of "life for life," one of the elements constituting the conception of the sacrificial act. In Joh 8:28 (compare Joh 3:14; 12:32) Christ predicts His crucifixion. The Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep (Joh 10:15). In Joh 10:17,18, Christ claims the power to lay down His life and to take it again. He is the sacrifice and the Sacrificer.
5. The Dual Outgrowth of Sacrifice, the Victim and Sacrificer:
Here appears for the first time the double relation of Christ to the sacrificial idea, worked out in the later thought of the church into the full significance of our Lord's priestly office. In Joh 11:25,26 Christ is the source of life, and life after death. It is hardly possible that this conception should not have, even if remotely suggested, some reference to the significance of sacrifice; for in the sacrifices the Divine claim for the blood, as specially to be set apart as the Divine portion, was ever present. God ever claimed the blood as His; for to Him the life was forfeited by sin. And moreover He alone possesses life and gives it. Of that forfeit and that Divine sovereignty of life, sacrifice is the expression. This is fully realized and made actual in Christ's life and death for man, in which man shares by His unity with Christ. Man at once receives the penalty of sin in dying with Christ, and rises again into the new life which our Lord opened, and of which He is the ceaseless energy and power through the spirit of God. The emergence of this idea is illustrated by the evangelist in the sayings of Caiaphas, where as the high priest of the nation he gives, though unconsciously, a significant expression to the truth that it was "expedient" that Jesus should die for the nation and for the children of God everywhere scattered' (Joh 11:47-52). Here the symbolic significance of sacrifice is practically realized: death in the place of another and the giving of life to those for whom the sacrifice was offered. The vitalizing power of Christ's death is asserted in the discourse following the visit of the Greeks (Joh 12:24-33). The idea of life from the dying seed is associated with the conception of the power of attraction and union by the cross. The natural law of life through death is thus in harmony with the gift of life through sacrifice involving death. That sacrifice may be found much more widely than merely in death, is shown by the law of service illustrated in the washing of the disciples' feet (13:14-17); and this is declared to spring out of love (Joh 15:13). For the priestly ideas of our Lord's prayer (Joh 17) see INTERCESSION; INTERCESSION OF CHRIST; PRAYERS OF CHRIST.
6. Christ's Priesthood in the Apostolic Ministry and Epistles:
Christ's priestly office finds illustration in the Ac of the Apostles, in the apostolic declaration of Christ's Messianic office, not only Lord, but also Christ the Anointed One (Ac 2:36). Peter's reference to the stone which completed the temple, the service of which was essentially sacrificial, as the Symbol of Christ, the Crown of that Spiritual Temple (Ac 4:11); Philip's application of the passage in Isa of the sheep led to the slaughter (Isa 53:7,8) to our Lord (Ac 8:32,35); Peter's discourse to Cornelius, culminating in the remission of sins through Christ (Ac 10:43)-all indicates the steady growth in the apostolic ministry of the conception of our Lord's priestly office. The idea takes its most distinct form in Paul's sermon at Antioch (Ac 13:38,39). The necessity of Christ's death and resurrection was the essence of Paul's message (Ac 17:3). And in the address to the elders, the church is declared to have been purchased by God with His own blood (Ac 20:28).
As the epistles express the more elaborated thought of the apostolic ministry, the sacrifice of our Lord naturally finds more definite exposition, and inasmuch as He was both active and passive in the offering of Himself, the conception of sacrifice branches into the twofold division, the object offered, and the person offering. It must never be forgotten, however, that the thought of Christ's sacrifice even when thus separated into its two great divisions necessarily involves in each conception the suggestion of the other: God setting Him forth as a propitiation through faith in His blood (Ro 3:25). He was delivered for our offenses and raised for our justification (Ro 4:25). Through Him we have access to the conditions of justification and peace (Ro 5:2). Christ died for the ungodly, and we are justified by His blood (Ro 5:8,9). The conception of life both as forfeit from man and gift by God, expressed by sacrifice, runs through the reasoning of Ro 8 (see especially Ro 8:11,32-34, where Christ who died for man rises from the dead, and becomes the intercessor; the victim and the High Priest are thus united in the Lord, and thus He becomes full expression and supplier of the love of God which is the perfect life). In 1Co 1:23 Paul affirms the preaching of the cross as the center of his message. The subject of his teaching was not merely Christ, but Christ and Him crucified (1Co 2:2). In 1Co 5:7 Christ is declared to be the Passover, and sacrificed for us (1Co 10:16-18). The manifestation of the death of the Lord by the bread and wine is given in the account of the institution of the Supper (1Co 11:26). In 1Co 15:3 Christ is said expressly to have died for our sins. Christ's sacrifice lies at the basis of all the thought of the Galatian epistle (Gal 1:4; 2:20; 3:13). In Eph we have the definite statement of redemption through the blood of Christ (Eph 1:7). Christ's humiliation to the cross is given in Php 2:8; community with Christ's death, one of the important elements of sacrifice, in Php 3:10,11. Forgiveness, the essence of redemption, is declared to be through the blood of Christ (Col 1:14). Peace is secured through the blood of the cross, and reconciliation (Col 1:20); the presentation of us in Christ's flesh through death, holy and unblamable and unreprovable to God (Col 1:22). The community of sacrifice sets forth the oneness of believers with Christ (Col 3:1-4). Christ is declared to be the one Mediator between God and man, who gave Himself a ransom for all (1Ti 2:5,6).
7. The Crowning Testimony of the Epistle to the Hebrews:
The chief source of the priestly conception of our Lord is the Epistle to the Hebrews. Christ is declared to have by Himself purged our sins (Heb 1:3); to taste of death for every man (Heb 2:9); that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest to make reconciliation for the sins of the people (Heb 2:17; compare Heb 3:1); the community of sacrifice (Heb 3:14); our great High Priest has passed into the heavens (Heb 4:14); His pitifulness (Heb 4:15); the authority and power of Christ's priesthood fully set forth (Heb 5). Christ was made a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek (Heb 5:6). The priesthood of Christ being of the order of Melchizedek is more excellent than the Aaronic priesthood (Heb 7). Christ's priesthood being eternal, that of the Aaronic is abolished (Heb 8). Christ's high-priesthood is made effectual by His own blood; and He entered once for all into the holy place, and has become the Mediator of a New Covenant (Heb 9:11-15). Christ is forever the representative of man in heaven (Heb 9:24-28). Christ by the sacrifice of Himself forever takes away sin, and has consecrated the new and living way to God (Heb 10). He is the Mediator of the New Covenant (Heb 12:24). The entire Epistle is steeped in the conception of Christ's priesthood.
In 1Pe 1:2 the sacrificial element appears in the "sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ." The sufferings of the Lord were prophesied, the spirit of the Anointed One signifying what the prophets desired to know (1Pe 1:11); the redemption by the precious blood of Christ is of "a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1Pe 1:19); the priesthood of believers was through Christ (1Pe 2:5), who carried up our sins in his body to the tree (1Pe 2:24 the Revised Version, margin).
In the Johannine writings we have the cleansing from sin by the blood of Jesus Christ (1Jo 1:7). Christ is said to have laid down His life for us (1Jo 3:16). The sacrifice as well as the teaching of Christ is insisted on in the coming by blood as well as by water (1Jo 5:6).
The appearance of Christ in Re 1:13 is high-priestly; His robe is the talar, the high-priestly garment. The sacrificial place of Christ is indicated by "a Lamb.... as though it had been slain" (Re 5:6,9,12). The repeated title of Christ throughout the Apocalypse is The Lamb.
8. Christ's Relation to Sin Expressed in Sacrificial Terms:
This review of the Scripture teaching on priesthood clearly indicates the development of thought which led to the affirmation of our Lord's priestly office. He came to put away sin. The doctrine of sin was intimately associated with the priestly service of the temple. The sacrifices were in some cases sin offerings, and in these there ever appeared, by the function of the blood which is the life, the fatal loss of life by sin, the punishment of which was the withdrawal of the Divine gift of life. The life was always in the sacrifice reserved for God. It was natural therefore when Christ appeared that His work in taking away sin should have been interpreted in the light of sacrificial thought. We find the idea steadily developed in the New Testament. He was the sacrifice, the Lamb of God. The question as to who offered the sacrifice was answered-Himself. Then He became in the conception of apostolic teaching, especially emphasized in the Epistle to the He, the priest as well as the sacrifice. This was at length completely defined in theology of the church, and has generally been accepted as setting forth an important aspect of our Lord's redemptive work.
VI. Christ's Kingly Office.
The Breakdown of the Secular Monarchy:
The association of rule with the redemption of mankind was early found in Divine revelation. It is in the Protevangelium of Ge 3:15; the covenant with Abraham contains it (Ge 22:17,18); the blessing of Jacob reflects it (Ge 49:10). After the successive attempts to establish a visible and earthly monarchy, its settlement in the family of David was associated with Divine premonitions of continued and gracious royalty (2Sa 7:18-29; 23:1-7; Psalms 2; 45; 72; 110). The failure of the earthly monarchy and the fatal experiences of the kingdom turned the thought of the devout, especially guided by prophetic testimony, to a coming king who should restore the glory of the Davidic house and the people of Israel. Here and there the conception appears of the more extended reign of the Coming One, and the royal authority finds a growing place in the prophetic Scriptures (Isa 2:1-4; 9:6,7; 11:1-10; 42:1-4; 52:13-15; 53:12; 60:1ff; Jer 23:5,6; 30:18-24; Da 2:44; 7:9-14,27; Mic 5:1-4; Zec 3). The postexilic conception of the king became one of the supreme and most active ideas in the Jewish mind. The reign of the Messiah was to be earthly, and all nations were to be subject to the Jew. The Jews of Palestine seem to have retained the more patriotic and the more material form of the idea (see 1 Macc 14:41), while the Egyptian and dispersed Jews began to regard the more spiritual character of the coming Messiah. References to the future blessedness of Israel under the restored royalty do not appear so largely in the Apocrypha writings which it must be remembered reflect chiefly their Egyptian-Jewish sources. Still there are some passages of interest (Baruch 4:21-5; Tobit 13; Ecclesiasticus 35:18,19; 36:11-16; 47:11,22). In the New Testament we have references to the strong ex pectation of the restored royalty and kingdom (Joh 1:49; 6:15; 12:12-15; Ac 1:6). Christ's kingship was speedily recognized by those who saw His works of power, and acknowledged His authority. He Himself clearly claimed this authority (Mt 22:43-45; Joh 18:36,37). It was however not a kingdom based upon material and external power and rule, but on the foundation of truth and righteousness. The Kingdom of Heaven or of God is familiar to every reader of the words of Jesus. It was thus He described the new order which He had come to establish, of which He was to be the Lord and Administrator; not an earthly dominion after the fashion of this world's kingdoms; it was to be the rule of mind and of spirit. It was to be extended by ethical forces, and the principle of its authority was centered in Christ Himself. It was to be developed on earth but perfected in the future and eternal life. Some divines have distinguished Christ's regal power as that of nature, that of grace, that of glory. Many believe that there is to be a personal visible reign of Christ upon the earth. Some hold that this will be produced by His advent prior to an age of millennial glory. Other views regard the advent as the close of earthly conditions and the final judgment.
VII. The Messianic Basis of the Threefold Office of the Lord.
That the developments of Jewish thought centered round what may conveniently be called the idea of the Messiah is plain to any student of the Old Testament and other Jewish writings. They sprang from the ethical and theological ideas of this people, interpreted by and expressed in their political and religious forms, and continually nurtured by their experiences in the varied course of their national life. The essence of Messianic belief was a personal deliverer. Jewish history had always been marked by the appearance and the exploits of a great man. The capacity of the production of exceptional and creative individuals has been the characteristic of the race in all its ages. A judge, a lawgiver, a teacher, a seer, a king-each had helped, or even saved the people in some critical period. Each had added to the knowledge of God, whether received or rejected by the people. The issues of such service had remained, enshrined in a growing liturgy, or made permanent in a finally centralized and unified ritual, recorded in chronicle and lyric. The hope of Israel at one time did not take the completely personal form; indeed, it is probably easy to exaggerate the Messianic element as we look back from the perfect realization of it, in the Christian revelation and history. Much that has been called Messianic has been the result of reading into the Old Testament what has been derived from Christian thought and experience. Zephaniah has been described as a picture of Israel's restoration and triumph. Yet apparently it has no reference to the personal element. Still the "Messiah" begins to appear in the prophetic writings (see above), especially in the royal elements of His office. It is at this point that the meaning of the term is to be considered. "Yahweh's anointed" is found as applied to a king, and is familiar in this use in the Old Testament. But anointing belonged to the priesthood and to the prophetic order, if not actually, at least metaphorically, as sett ing apart (see 1Ki 19:16; Ps 105:15; Isa 61:1). And the word Messiah (Christ) the Anointed, came to be used for that conception of a person, perhaps first employed definitely (Da 9:24-26), who should be the Deliverer of the Jews and even still more widely, a Redeemer. In the age immediately preceding the Christian, the idea had taken possession not only of the Jews, but also of the Samaritans (Joh 4:25); and was not altogether unknown in Gentilethought; e.g. Sib Or, iii.97; Virgil Ecl. iv. It involves certainly the prophetic and royal offices and, in the idea of a Suffering Servant, was closely allied to the objects of the sacrificial order.
The claim of Jesus to be the Christ, and the recognition of this claim by His followers and apostles, gave a new meaning to the teaching of the Old Testament, and the writings lying outside the canon, but which were familiar to the people. Especially was the suffering and death of the Lord and its relation to sin the occasion of a new Understanding of the Mosaic and later-developed sacrificial system. Jesus as the Offerer of Himself perfected the function of the priest, as He became the Lamb of God who t aketh away the sins of the world. He thus completed the threefold ministry of the Messiah as the Prophet who reveals, the Priest who offers and intercedes, the King who rules. In Him the offices are commingled. He rules by His sacrifice and His teaching; He reveals by His Kingship and His offering. The offices spring from both His person and His work, and are united in the final issue of the salvation of the world.
LITERATURE.
Euseb., HE, I, 3; Aug., De civ. Dei, x. 6; Catech. Council of Trent; Calvin, Instit., II, 15; Heidelb. Catech. Ans. 31 and Reformed Liturg; Thanksgiving aft. Inft. Bapt.; J. Gerhard, Loci Theolog; Spener, Catechism.; Ernesti, De officio Christi triplici; Knapp, Theology, section 107; Ebrard, Herzog Realencyc., under the word Further discussion is found in the standard theologies, as Pye Smith, First Lines, and Scrip. Teatim. to the Messiah; Hodge, Shedd, Weiss, Biblical Theol. of the New Testament, Van Oosterzee, Christian Dogmatics. See also Higginson, Ecce Messias; Moule's brief but suggestive statement in Outlines of Christian Doctrine; Ritschl, A Critical History of the Christian Doctrine of Justification and Reconciliation, especially Introduction; Dorner, The Development of the Doctrine of the Person of Christ.
Written by L. D. Bevan
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