A question for non-Catholics: Why, if Jesus’ sacrifice is a past event, (in the sense that His flesh and blood are not re-presented under the veil of bread and wine) - is Jesus still considered a priest?
I think you could come to an understanding with most Protestants, provided that they fully understand what you are saying. You haven’t made it incredibly easy, by the way. Most Protestants will read this (especially the part about the slain lamb) and think “He’s asserting that Jesus continues to be slain in heaven. And not just in heaven, either- on earth as well!” But you’re not talking about Jesus being slain in heaven. You’re talking about Jesus presenting Himself to the Father, and I think most non-Catholics can get on board with that- provided that you’re crystal clear in saying you believe Jesus was only slain once and then never again.
Can I get a crystal clear comment to that effect? If so, we’re probably describing the same thing that’s happening in heaven. All that remains is for Joe to get that re-presentation of the sacrifice from heaven…down to earth. (This is the part where we won’t agree).
Just as the sacrifice of the Priest Jesus, on Calvary, was supposedly a past event, according to protestants, in the sense that I mentioned, so should His priesthood be a past event, and yet Paul tells us that He has a permanent priesthood and John tells us that Jesus, the Lamb of God, still appears as a slain Lamb in Heaven, long after He was sacrificed on Calvary.
I think we can agree on a few things: Jesus only died once. When Jesus died, He became the sacrifice for our sins. Jesus won’t ever stop being that sacrifice, even though He doesn’t ever suffer and die again. Also, Jesus is in heaven, and His sacrifice continues to be efficacious for sinners. I’m probably more comfortable with using the term “efficacious,” and at this point, you’re probably more comfortable with calling it a “re-presentation of the sacrifice.” As far as what happens in heaven, though, it seems like we’re describing the same things.
Where we part ways, though, is when it comes down to the re-presentation on earth. You see a need for it, as if Jesus’ body and blood is no good if it stays in heaven and never gets in your mouth. I disagree with this. You also believe Jesus gets Himself into the hands of around half a million priests…who then do the re-presentation down here. As if Jesus can’t do it Himself, from heaven, where He’s literally right next to His Father. You believe He has to put Himself in the hands of a priesthood on earth, and the job of re-presenting Him simply doesn’t get done if you don’t have an earthly priest mediating on behalf of the heavenly priest. I disagree with this as well, and I don’t think you have the material to demonstrate the necessity of an earthly priesthood or the impossibility/implausibility of what most Protestants believe Jesus is doing in heaven on our behalf without a priesthood to mediate.
You did a good post here, though. Not a bad starting point at all. It’s just that non-Catholics don’t have any reason to assume that Jesus needs an earthly priesthood in order to make the re-presentation happen, and the only way we reach that conclusion is if we accept that the Catholic Church leadership has enough authority to be right about everything. Generally, the only way we believe this is if we first decide to become Catholic. (But you remember how that was- it wasn’t so long ago, right?) You usually can’t convince someone to first believe this and then become Catholic. It’s extremely unlikely, at any rate. I’m probably not allowed to say why that is (so don’t ask), but that’s how it tends to be.
Oh, and about the lamb that appears “as one who was slain” in heaven…That’s not actually Jesus’ glorified body. In the following verses, we find out this lamb has seven horns and seven eyes. This is an apparition in a vision that John had, and the apparition
represents some things about Christ and probably something about the Holy Spirit, too. John isn’t actually
looking at Jesus in heaven, so you don’t have to wonder why Jesus never “got cleaned up.” He may have. He probably did. But this
apparition has some characteristics to it that say things about Jesus that don’t have anything to do with His physical description. The seven horns represent something. They don’t describe the headgear of Jesus’ glorified body. The seven eyes are identified as the seven Spirits of God, and that probably has more to do with the Holy Spirit than it does with Jesus. You don’t have to ask yourself why Jesus would have seven eyes instead of two. He actually does have just two. Neither do you have to ask yourself why Jesus is walking around heaven dripping blood on everything. I wouldn’t assume that Jesus actually has seven horns, and I wouldn’t assume that He has seven eyes. Neither would I assume that He’s actually bleeding right now, still bloody, or in any kind of pain. That would not be consistent with any of the other things that John said about the lamb in his vision.
). And that’s on just one concept.
