THE TWO UNALTERABLE THINGS

WEDNESDAY, SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Heb 7:1-3,15-17; Ps 110:1-4; Mk 3:1-6

Sameness of the Word and the Oath

As we correctly inferred in the reflection of yesterday, the two unalterable things referred to by the author are: first, the word of the Father proclaiming Jesus Christ as the only Begotten Son of God, even in his human nature; second, the divine oath which established him as a priest in the order of Melchizedek. The Church puts the scriptural text containing these two unalterable things for our reflection in confirmation of our inference. Psalm 110 has these two as follows. “A prince from the day of your birth on the holy mountains; from the womb before the dawn I begot you. The Lord has sworn an oath he will not change. ‘You are a priest forever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.’” The author has treated the divine Sonship of our Lord Jesus Christ in his humanity in the preceding chapters of the letter. The letter itself starts on that very note when he writes: “In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.” God's testimony to his Son is one of the pillars of our Christian faith. The testimony, prophesied in the Psalm, was renewed and realised on the day of the baptism of our Lord. The wisdom of the Church put that testimony on the very first Sunday of the liturgical year of the Church to indicate its importance in our spiritual journey.

The second unalterable thing is the priesthood of Jesus Christ. The understanding of the priesthood of Jesus Christ has implications on Christianity as a religion, on the covenant that establishes the Christian faith, the ritual and the practice of the religion, its efficacy in the salvation of the faithful, and the communion with God, which is the promised end. The author will delve into these and other related matters in the subsequent chapters. The passage today highlights the person of Melchizedek, who shares the same order of priesthood with the Lord. The scripture calls him a priest of God Most High, and the author takes it up from there and establishes the holiness and the mystery surrounding his life. “By the interpretation of his name, he is, first, ‘king of righteousness’ and also king of Salem, that is, ‘king of peace’; he has no father, mother or ancestry, and his life has no beginning or ending; he is like the Son of God. He remains a priest for ever.” In these words, the author sets the parameters for evaluating the priesthood of the Son of Man. These parameters accord with the divine oath by which God irrevocably established the priesthood of the Son of Man. To use any other parameter or measure to judge our Lord’s priesthood is to falter in ignorance and unbelief.

The author immediately commences the treatment of the priesthood of Christ based on these parameters. The first measure he applies is that of indestructibility of his life. He has shown this to be the case with Melchizedek and proceeds to establish it for Jesus Christ. “This becomes even more clearly evident when there appears a second Melchizedek, who is a priest not by virtue of a law about physical descent, but by the power of an indestructible life.” The conception of our Lord in mystery is alluded to in the Psalm above, concerning his birth on the holy mountains and his coming forth from the Father before the dawn of time. Another aspect flowing from this divine conception is his sinless conception and life, by which he is also the king of righteousness and peace, which follows from it. The Lord demonstrates these attributes in the Gospel, where he teaches the Pharisees the meaning of righteousness, interpretation, and application of the law of the Sabbath when he healed the man with a withered hand in the synagogue. “Then he said to them, ‘Is it against the law on the sabbath day to do good, or to do evil; to save life, or to kill? But they said nothing. Then, grieved to find them so obstinate, he looked angrily round at them, and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out and his hand was better.” We pray for faith to believe in the power of Christ’s priesthood in which we share.

Let us pray: Almighty ever-living God, who established your Only Begotten Son to be our brother and the High Priest of our holy religion, grant us faith in his intercessory power which can never fail us when we implore your graces in his name. Through the same Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.