Jesus Christ the Priest by Jorge Mario Bergoglio

THUS JESUS "ENTERS in patience," with his flesh, in his flesh, and through that flesh he is constituted priest. "Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested" (Heb 2: 17-18). In his total destitution and acceptance of failure, he offered "a single sacrifice for sin" (Heb 10: 12-13), a sacrifice he performed not with words but with his flesh and blood: "But when Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation), he entered once for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, with the sprinkling of the ashes of a heifer, sanctifies those who have been defiled so that their flesh is purified, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to worship the living God! " (Heb 9: 11-14). "For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he has no need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for those of the people; this he did once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests those who are subject to weakness, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect for ever" (Heb 7: 26-28). We have drawn close to this priest, who is the mediator of a new covenant, for the cleansing torrent of his blood speaks louder than that of Abel (cf. Gen 4: 8-11).

The priesthood of Christ is exercised at three moments: in the sacrifice of the cross (and in that sense it was "once and for all"), in his present intercession with the Father (cf. Heb 7: 22-25), and at the end of time when Christ hands all creation over to the Father (but "not to deal with sin" [Heb 9: 27-28]). In the second moment, the present time, Jesus the Christ exercises his priestly intercession through us: "He holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues for ever. Consequently he is able for all time to save those who approach God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them" (Heb 7: 24-25). Jesus Christ is alive and is interceding with the fullness of his humanity and divinity: "Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin" (Heb 4: 14-15). In the mystery of the resurrection, Jesus, now constituted Lord, appears bodily to the disciples and has them touch the wounds of his flesh (see John 20: 19-20, 27; Luke 24: 36-39, 40-42). That body, those wounds, that flesh-all are intercession. What is more, there is no other way of access to the Father except this one. It is in beholding the flesh of the Son that the Father grants salvation. It is through the wounds of Christ that we encounter the Father. Fully alive in his glorified flesh, Christ is bringing forth life in our midst as we take part in his flesh and enter in patience into his passion so as to share also in his glorification. Such is the substance of that crucial statement in the letter to the Hebrews: "We have an altar from which those who officiate in the tent [the priests of the former covenant] have no right to eat" (Heb 13: 10). That altar is Christ, with his body suspended on the cross.