The Priestly Office Of Christ

1. What is a priest?
2. What are the peculiar functions of the priesthood?
3. What is the distinction between the Prophetic office and the Priestly office?

All three questions are answered by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Hebrews. "For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins." (Heb. 5: 1.)

1. The first word that arrests our attention is "ordained," which means "divinely appointed." There can be no doubt regarding the meaning, as the Apostle, in verse 4, says: "And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God." The answer to our first question is, a priest is one divinely ordained "appointed" to his office.
2. The word "ordained" is followed by the words "for men," "ordained for men," that is the priest is appointed to represent men with reference to worship and the service of God; and "to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins." (See also Heb. 9: 6, 7.) The representative character of the priestly office is plainly revealed by the "breastplate of judgment," set with precious stones, on which were engraved the names of the twelve tribes (Ex. 28: 21), and worn by Aaron when he entered into the holy place. (Ex. 28: 29, 30.) The priest was "ordained for men that he might offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins." The offering of the sacrifice and intercession were the main and essential functions of the high priest. The answer to the second question is, the priesthood was representative and its functions were to "offer gifts and sacrifices for sins."
3. The distinction between the prophetic office and the priestly office. The prophetic office has to do with the approach to man on the part of God, in the revelation of His holiness, justice, goodness, truth and sovereign claims. The priestly office is the reverse; it has to do with the approach to God on the part of man, to seek forgiveness of sins and the restoration of man to God's favour.

The Lord Jesus Christ in the exercise of His prophetic office, proceeds from the "bosom of the Father," assuming our nature, to show the Father to us. Christ in the exercise of His priestly office returns to the Father, with a sacrifice, and by intercession deals with the Father for our reconciliation to God. Dr. Hugh Martin says: "The Priestly office of Christ has God as its immediate object. It propitiates God; it intercedes to God. It satisfies God's justice; It pacifies God's wrath: it secures God's favour; it seals God's covenant love; and gives effect to God's eternal purpose and grace." Herein it is conspicuously distinguished from the Prophetic and Kingly offices of our Lord. These, in their several actings, have not God for their immediate object, but mainly the souls of His people." (Atonement.) See also the answers to Questions 43 and 44, in the Larger Catechism.

CHRIST'S APPOINTMENT TO THE PRIESTLY OFFICE

Before we enter into the consideration of Christ's appointment to His priestlr office, it will be well to keep clearly in mind that Christ's Priestly office and action were effective before His sacrifice offered on the Cross of Calvary and His High Priestly intercession within the veil.

The Old Testament saints were redeemed by the sacrifice yet to be offered and by the intercession of our Great High Priest "within the veil" that He had not as yet entered into. What we wish to emphasize is that, salvation purchased by Christ was effective from the beginning, although the sacrifice and the highest functions of Christ's Priestly office were not performed until thousands of years later.

The Holy Scriptures do not state that Christ's Prophetic or Kingly office "glorified Him"; but the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments emphatically declare that He is glorified by His Priestly office. "So also Christ glorified not Himself to be made an high priest; but He (glorified Him) that said unto Him, Thou art My Son; today have I begotten Thee." (Heb. 5: 5.) Neither do we read that His Prophetic or Kingly office was confirmed with an oath; but His Priestly office is confirmed with all the solemnity of a divine oath.

God does not use an oath only in extraordinary circumstances, and in matters of supreme importance. "The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent; Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchezedec." (Psa. 110: 4.) The inspired writer to the Hebrews four times repeats the inauguration oath. (Heb. 5: 6; 7: 17; 11: 20; 7: 21.)

The above affirmation declares Christ to be "a priest after the order of Melchezedec." Melchezedec was a priest of the Most High God. (Heb. 7: 1.) In verse 3 of the 7th chapter of Hebrews, various features that constituted Melchezedec as a type of Christ are given; then follows the words: "made like unto the Son of God." Dr. Geerhardus Vos, commenting on this passage, says: "This cannot refer to the Son of God in His historic appearance and priestly activity, for of these the epistle everywhere affirms that they were after the order of Melchezedec. Here, on the contrary, Melchezedec is declared to have been made after the likeness of the Son of God. The Son of God designates Christ in His eternal, heavenly, divine existence, and Melchezedec was made like unto Him, partly in the general greatness which belongs to the delineation of his figure in Scripture (compare verse 4, "consider how great this one was," and verse 7, "without any dispute the less is blessed of the better"), partly in the eternal character imparted to this figure by the narrative in Genesis. It is the Son of God as a person, apart from His office, who thus forms the pattern after which Melchezedec was fashioned." ("Princeton Review," '07.)

The inauguration of Christ to the priesthood was "after the order of Melchezedec," who was "made like unto the Son of God." Therefore the distinctive character of Christ's Priesthood is derived from the very nature of His own Sonship. It is necessary that we understand this point as it bears directly upon all the functions of Christ's Priestly office. To quote Professor Vos again: "In having no beginning of days" as well as "no end of life," was Melchezedec made like unto the "Son of God." Now, if the greatness and eternity of the Person of the "Son of God" determined the greatness and eternity-appearance of the figure of Melchezedec, and in consequence determined the character of Melchezedec's priesthood, and if further the priesthood of Christ was, historically speaking, copied "after the order of Melchezedec," then it follows that it is ultimately nothing else but the divine eternal nature of the Son of God, by which His priesthood is shaped and which it derives its unique character." ("Princeton Review," '07.) The distinctive features of the priestly king, who met Abram returning after his battle with the kings (Gen. 14: 18) were patterns of the perfections that Christ assumed when He was inaugurated into the Priestly office.

THE SACRIFICE

"Christ executeth the office of a priest; in His once offering up of Himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice, and reconcile us to God; and in making intercession for us." - (Shorter Catechism, Q. 25.)

THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, in the exercise of His office as a prophet, represents God, and, by virtue of Christ's deity, His revelation bears the signature of God. Christ, in His priestly office, represents man, and His qualifications are measured by His nearness to man, or, to use the words of Professor Vos: "If He (Christ) is to express in His own Person the nearness of man to God, then He must obviously partake of human nature, since otherwise no direct contact between God and man could be established. A Priest who was not a man would make a separation between the two parties in the covenant, just as a revealer who was not the "Son" would fall short of being the ideal direct speech of God to man." - ("Princeton Review," '07.)

The Apostle reveals the necessary qualifications in Hebrews, Chap. 2: 16, 17. "It behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God." And in Hebrews, Chap. 5: 7, that a body was prepared for the Messiah that He might execute the will of God, by His sacrificial death.

Superficial thinking has resulted in grave misunderstanding of Christ's priestly office and action in His sacrificial death. Christ is both the sacrifice and the officiating priest. The Holy Scriptures, with equal emphasis, declare that Christ both "suffered" as a sacrifice and "offered" Himself as a sacrifice. We must avoid limiting Christ's priestly office by emphasizing the sacrifice at the expense of His priestly action in offering the sacrifice. The Lord Jesus Christ was not the victim of physical causes when He died on the Cross of Calvary. It is true that the nails were driven into His hands and feet by human agency, but only by the consent of Christ's own active will. He died on the Cross, but not until He had exhausted the power of death. While physical causes were the means, it was Christ's high priestly action that determined how and when the means would operate.

There has been many speculations concerning the means of Christ's death, among them the theory of the "Broken Heart." This theory was given prominence by "A Treatise on the Physical Cause of the Death of Christ," by Dr. William Stroud, 1847, and in recent years has been revived. The theory tends towards sentimentalism at the expense of the unspeakable wealth of grace that is manifest in Christ's priestly action. The punishment for sin is eternal death, but Christ did not die such a death; nevertheless, His sacrifice exhausted the penalty of eternal death completely. Christ's death was incomparable, although it is emphatically stated in the Holy Scripture that Christ's death was effected by the means of human agency, and not only so, but the means were pre-determined: "Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and, by wicked hands, have crucified and slain." (Acts 2: 23.) We have also the Master's own statement concerning His death: "And, while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them: The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men; and they shall kill Him." (Matt. 17: 22-3.) See also Matt. 16: 21, Mark 10: 34, Luke 9: 22, Mark 8: 31, Acts 3: 15, 1st Cor. 2: 8.

Although all the means in the universe were employed to bring about Christ's death, they could not prevail until Christ said: "It is finished." "The soldiers," said John Owen, "were no more but as the cords that bound the sacrifice to the horns of the altar, nor did they so take away His life, but that He laid it down on His own mere will, in compliance with the commandment of the Father." (Owen Works, Vol. 19, p. 158.) The Lord Jesus Christ did not, even for one moment, permit the power of life and death to pass from Him; He plainly declares: "I lay down My life for the sheep." "No man taketh it rom Me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." (John 10: 18.) The nature of His death was not, and could not, be forced upon Him.

The Saviour, in offering Himself a sacrifice, did so by the active execution of His priestly office. John Calvin writes: "But since God under the law ordered sacrifices of beasts to be offered to Him, there was a difference and new arrangement in regard to Christ, viz., that He should be at once the victim and priest, because no other fit satisfaction for sin could be found, nor was anyone worthy of the honour of offering the only begotten Son of God." (Calvin's Institutes.) Dr. Hugh Maitin uses similar language to Calvin: "For assuredly no creature could be admitted to the honour of offering up the only begotten of the Father," and goes on to say: "I deny that His (Christ's) God-glorifying agency was overborne before He died, leaving Him a mere victim to causes and means of death, aside from His own active will and power offering Him to God. I deny that on the Cross all His duty turned at last into patience, and became negation. It was His duty to die; and He discharged His duty. It was never any other man's duty to die, therefore do not rob Him of a glory all His own." (Atonement, p. 65.)

The Rev. Marcus Dods, in his work on the "Incarnation," page 180, writes: "To say that when the Word was made flesh He was less than the Word and power of God, was less than the light and life of men, less than the ruler and Lord of all than He was before His incarnation, is an impiety which I shall not attempt to characterise. Yet how can they plead guiltless who teach us that, in consequence of the fallen sinful nature which He assumed, the Word was incapable of resisting the power of death as we are? - that He, the life of all, was compelled, not merely by the covenant entered into with the Father, nor by substitution or imputation only, but by physical constitution of that humanity which He had assumed, to yield Himself a prey to the king of terrors? But there is no ground for the supposition. When He became man, He was not the less God.... In the depth of His humiliation He was not less God, nor less powerful and glorious, than in the height of His exaltation. Nay, in His death He was giving the most decisive proof of His Godhead; for He was showing that He possessed a power which no mere creature can ever possess, a power to lay down His life which had been forfeited by no sin, was demanded of Him by no law, and could be taken from Him by no power. In dying He proved Himself to be the Lord, both of life and death. When crucified, He was still the 'Lord of glory.'"

Our Great High Priest, not death, offered up the sacrifice to God. Christ did not die by death's demand, but by "His own active will and power offered Himself to God." (See Matt. 20: 28, John 10: 17.) The point we wish to emphasize is that Christ's death cannot be severed from His priestly office. In Hebrews, Chap. 5: 7, we read that Christ prayed "unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard, in that He feared." Dr. Hugh Martin, commenting on this passage, makes it clear that Christ prayed for that which God was able to give, "Salvation from death," not to be saved from dying, "but strength actively to die; to die in active service of His office, and not as a down-borne victim of death; to die as a priest - a priest for ever - a priest in death itself; His priestly action uninterrupted in death, yea, triumphing in death - an offerer as well as a sufferer." Professor G. Vos comments on the same passage as follows: "He obtained what He prayed for, and this was not escape from death, but salvation through and out of death." ("Self-Disclosure of Jesus.")

The endlessness of Christ's priesthood is described by the Apostle when he says:- "Who is made not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life. For He testifieth,'Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec." (Heb. 7: 15-17.) The "LIFE" here spoken of could not be dissolved by death, for it was "according to the power of an endless (indissoluble) life." He was able to pass through death; as the great High Priest, administering His sacrifice in its absolute fulness.

In considering the unsearchable wisdom of God as manifest in Christ's priestly office, we must not forget that the nature of His priesthood is united with His Person, having taken into indissoluble union our nature, being God and man in two distinct natures and one Person for ever. We must see the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as an event where the temporal enters into the eternal; life and death held securely in the hands of the Person of the Son of God.