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June 28, 2009
YEAR OF THE PRIEST New Temple, New Offering, New Priesthood: The coming of the Lord into our world and his self-insertion into the history of our humanity is not just a “happening” among other relevant or less relevant events, but it is the radical and uniquely pivotal and central act of divine intervention. A defining moment of that intervention, and a major lordly sign of the establishment of a new covenant between God and his people, was the cleansing by Lord Jesus of the temple of Jerusalem, in the wake of the Jewish Passover celebrations: “… The Jews … said to him: ‘What sign can you show us for doing this?’ Jesus answered and said to them: ‘Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up’…But he was speaking about the temple of his body. Therefore, when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they came to believe the scripture and the word Jesus had spoken.” (John 2: 18-22.) The offering of gifts and sacrifices to divinity was a worshiping act that was practiced by all cultures of antiquity; its main purpose was tripartite: a) Praise and thanksgiving to God; b) Atonement for men’s sins; c) Memorial celebration of redemptive events. Furthermore, the proper offering of sacrifices entailed two requirements: the provision of sacred altar and temple, and a consecrated class of priests. Thus, for Jesus to envisage the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem, with its sacrifices and priesthood, should entail likewise the provision for the new People of God not only of a new temple, but as well of a new sacrifice, and a new priesthood. The New Temple: Two locations identify and embody the features of the New Temple: Golgotha, where a cross carried a slain tortured body with the pierced side of Jesus the Son of God, and a tomb that became empty when the dead body of Jesus was raised to divine glory. Therefore, a cross with the icon of the Crucified and glorified Lord connected to an altar, signifying the empty tomb, are the visible features of every church building, worthy to be a new temple and properly host the offering of the sacrificed Lamb of God. The New Offering: Lord Jesus, the night before he died, taught his disciples how to celebrate his redemptive memorial, in the pattern of bread and wine, ordering them to reiterate his own sacrificial Eucharist until his second coming. Indeed, the crucified Lord himself is the vicarious sacrifice for our disobedience, and his blood is offered for the forgiveness of our sins: “For if the blood of goats and bulls…can sanctify those who are defiled…, how much more will the blood of Christ… cleanse our consciences.” (Heb. 9: 13-14). The New Priesthood: “Do this in remembrance of me” (1 Cor., 11, 24 & 25), Jesus ordered his disciples, providing his faithful followers, everywhere under the sun, with those who are qualified to be participants in his priesthood and mandated to celebrate his eternal sacrifice for his people. For the world, nothing is greater in meaning, value, and impact, than the sacrifice of Jesus the Lord; thus, of all human endeavors, nothing is greater in relevance and implications than the priestly celebration of the divine Qurbana. O Priesthood, how lofty are you!
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