Threefold office

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Stained glass window of Christ the King, Tipperary, Ireland

The threefold office (

Christians hold different views. It was described by Eusebius and more fully developed by John Calvin
.

The doctrine states that Jesus Christ performed three functions (or "offices") in his earthly ministry – those of

king.[3]

In the Old Testament, the appointment of someone to any of these three positions could be sanctioned by anointing him by pouring oil over his head. Thus the term

Book of Hebrews
.

The three offices

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    Eusebius worked out this threefold classification, writing: "And we have been told also that certain of the prophets themselves became, by the act of anointing, Christs in type, so that all these have reference to the true Christ, the divinely inspired and heavenly Word, who is the only high priest of all, and the only King of every creature, and the Father’s only supreme prophet of prophets."[4] During the Reformation this concept played a substantial role in scholastic Lutheran Christology and in the christology of Reformed theologians such as John Calvin[5] as well as that of John Wesley.[6]

    The entry in the

    Christian theologians view all the other roles of Christ as falling under one of these three distinctions.[7]

    Prophet

    See also: Prophet

    Christ is the mouthpiece of God as the Prophet, speaking and teaching the Word of God,[8] infinitely greater than all prophets, who spoke for God and interpreted the will of God.[9] The Old Testament prophet brought God's message to the people. Christ, as the Word, the Logos, is the source of revelation.[10] Accordingly, Jesus Christ never used the messenger formula, which linked the prophet's words to God in the prophetic phrase Thus says the Lord.[11]

    The Bible refers about the prophetic nature of Christ in the following verses, among others:

    • John 17:4 – "I have glorified thee on earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do."[12]
    • John 14:24 – "These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me."[13]
    • Acts 2:22 – "Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, A man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know."[14]
    • Mark 6:4 – But Jesus said unto them, "A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house."[15]
    • Luke 4:43 – And he said unto them, "I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent."[16]

    There are several instances in the Bible that suggest that Jesus' contemporaries regarded him as a prophet:

    • After raising the widow's son at Nain in Luke 7:16, the witnesses say: "A great prophet has arisen among us!"[17]
    • In Luke 24:19, Jesus is called a prophet by the people who do not recognize him when they say: "The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and some of the people".[18]

    Priest

    Icon of "Christ the Great High Priest", vested as a bishop, on a bishop's cathedra, blessing as a priest

    Christ, whom believers draw near to in confidence, offered Himself as the sacrifice for humanity as

    High Priest.[19] Old Testament priests declared the will of God, gave the covenant of blessing, and directed the processing of sacrifices.[20] The priest represented humankind before God. While humankind took the office of priesthood in their weakness, Jesus holds the position with an indestructible power that overcomes the weakness of humanity as described throughout the book of Hebrews.[21]
    The
    Sacrament of Holy Orders through the laying on of hands, shares the one priesthood of Christ, and thus it is only priests (and their superiors in Holy Orders, the bishops) who can offer the Eucharistic
    Sacrifice.

    King

    Main article:
    Kingly office of Christ
    See also: Christ the King

    Christ, exalted High Priest, mediates the sin that estranges humankind from the fellowship of God. In turn, he has full rights to reign over the church and world as King. Christ

    age to come. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church."[23]
    So priest, prophet and king are the threefolds.

    Reformed and Presbyterian traditions

    The

    Christ
    " in terms of the threefold office, in Lord's Day 12, Question and Answer 31:

    Q. Why is he called "Christ," meaning "anointed"?

    A. Because he has been ordained by God the Father

    and has been anointed with the Holy Spirit to be
    our chief prophet and teacher
    who perfectly reveals to us
    the secret counsel and will of God for our deliverance;
    our only high priest
    who has set us free by the one sacrifice of his body,
    and who continually pleads our cause with the Father;
    and our eternal king
    who governs us by his Word and Spirit,
    and who guards us and keeps us
    in the freedom he has won for us.

    The Westminster Shorter Catechism explains the role of Christ as redeemer in terms of the threefold office:

    Q. 23: What offices doth Christ execute as our Redeemer?

    Christ, as our Redeemer, executeth the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king, both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation.

    Q. 24: How doth Christ execute the office of a prophet?

    Christ executeth the office of a prophet, in revealing to us, by his word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation.

    Q. 25: How doth Christ execute the office of a priest?

    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 continual intercession for us.

    Q.26: How doth Christ execute the office of a king?

    Christ executeth the office of a king, in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.

    Lutheranism

    (a) The prophetical office (munus, or officium propheticum) includes teaching and the miracles of Christ.

    (b) The priestly office (munus sacerdotale) consists of the satisfaction made for the sins of the world by the death on the cross, and in the continued intercession of the exalted Savior for his people (redemptio et intercessio sacerdotalis).

    (c) The kingly office (munus regium), whereby Christ founded his kingdom, defends his church against all enemies, and rules all things in heaven and on earth. The old divines distinguish between the reign of nature (regnum naturae sive potentiae), which embraces all things; the reign of grace (regnum gratiae), which relates to the

    church triumphant
    in heaven.

    The theologians who followed

    Schleiermacher restored it.[citation needed
    ]

    Roman Catholicism

    The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "Jesus fulfilled the messianic hope of Israel in his threefold office of priest, prophet, and king."[24]

    In his 5th century

    Augustine viewed the variations in the gospel accounts in terms of the different focuses of the authors on Jesus: Matthew on royalty, Mark on humanity, Luke on priesthood and John on divinity.[25]

    See also

    References

    1. ^ Deuteronomy 18:14–22
    2. ^ Psalm 110:1–4
    3. ^ Psalm 2
    4. ^ Hist. eccl. 1.3.8, in Philip Schaff, ed., Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series (New York, 1890), 1:86.
    5. ^ Institutes of the Christian Religion, 2.15
    6. ^ H. Orton Wiley, Christian Theology Chapter 22 [resource online] (Nampa, Idaho: 1993-2005, accessed 3 June 2006); available from http://wesley.nnu.edu/holiness_tradition/wiley/wiley-2-22.htm
    7. ^ Reymond, R. L. (2001). "Offices of Christ". In Elwell, Walter A. (ed.). Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic. p. 858.
    8. ^ Letham 1993, p. 143
    9. ^ Brown 1986, p. 1107
    10. ^ John 1:1–18
    11. ^ LaSor 1996, p. 221–230
    12. ^ John 17:4
    13. ^ John 14:24
    14. ^ Acts 2:22
    15. ^ Mark 6:4
    16. ^ Luke 4:43
    17. ^ Luke 7:16
    18. ^ Luke 24:19
    19. ^ Hebrews 4:14
    20. ^ Matthews 1993, p.187-198
    21. ^ see Hebrews 2::17, 3:1, 4:14, 4:1–16, 5:1; 6:20; 7:1, 8:3, 9:1–10:39, and 13:11.
    22. ^ Rev 19:16 (NRSV).
    23. ^ Eph 1:20–23 (NRSV).
    24. ISBN 0-89870-482-0
    25. ISBN 9004116796
      pages 37-40
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