07/2004                   
A Prayer of Jesus
I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will

YOUR QUESTION (No. 47)

You've pointed out that we're to call no man 'father,' 'teacher,' etc.  But one of the offices that Jesus never mentions (or prohibits) is 'priest.'  What are your thoughts?


MY ANSWER


There is little one can say because Jesus did not discuss the office of 'priest.'  Why did he forbid other exalted titles, but not this?  My best guess comes in the light of the fact that, in Israel, the priest was an inherited office that was restricted to the tribe of Levi.  As an office that was closed to everyone outside that tribe, it was not open to his disciples in general and therefore required no comment from him.  The titles and respective offices that he forbids are those to which anyone could aspire, and many have.  In Christendom, the office of 'priest' seems invariably to be associated with the title 'father,' and is therefore forbidden on that ground.

We can speculate further.  The office of priest in Israel was an exalted position and was joined to the title, 'father' just as in Christendom.  A quick search turns up the following from the OT.

Judg.17
[10] And Micah said to him, "Stay with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, and a suit of apparel, and your living."
Judg.18
[19] And they said to him, "Keep quiet, put your hand upon your mouth, and come with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and family in Israel?"
Neh.9
[32] "Now therefore, our God, the great and mighty and terrible God, who keepest covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to thee that has come upon us, upon our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria until this day.
[
34] our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept thy law or heeded thy commandments and thy warnings which thou didst give them.
So, it is my view that Jesus would include the priest with the fathers.  He finally revealed that the priesthood of the Jews was to be destroyed and that the kingdom was to be taken away from the Jews and give to the Little Flock.  The Little Flock, consisting of the children of the Father, have no need of a priesthood!

The priesthood is also eliminated for his disciples by this saying:
Matt.23
[12] whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
See how Nehemiah puts the priest in an exalted position, second to the princes, third to the kings and but one notch above the father.  He who is denied the title of 'father' is denied the office of 'priest.'

Finally, by definition a priest is a mediatory agent between humans and God.  Jesus established that position for himself when he said:

John 14
6 Jesus says to him: I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the father except through me.

With these few words he established himself as the sole and exclusive High Priest for all human beings.


Return to Q&A    . Email    . Return to home page
Valid HTML 4.01!