this question has already been indicated when the general subject of the relation of the ministry to the Church was under discussion. The supernatural authority does inhere in the Church as a body, but the Church has (not by her own but by Christ's authority) executive officers, and it is through them that her judicial power is put into effect. Christ makes two promises: He promises judicial authority to the Church, and He promises to make St. Peter a steward, an administrative officer in the Church with special reference to this power; and these two promises are correlative, not contradictory. mission to minis- (2) The com With the whole insti- body after apostolic (2) Christ's dealings in the last days of His try are wholly concentrated upon the twelve. them alone He celebrates the Last Supper and tutes the memorial of His death, which He commits tion, to them to be perpetuated in the Church1; to them He addresses the last discourses, which are calculated 1 The Eucharist was certainly regarded from the first in the Church as a sacrifice. 'The conception of the whole action of the Last Supper as a sacrificial action (Opferhandlung) is found clearly in the Didache (c. xiv), in Ignatius, and before all in Justin (Apol. i. 65 f.). But Clement of Rome also expresses it when he (cc. 40-44) draws a parallel between the bishops and deacons and the O. T. priests and Levites, and indicates the mроσ éрev тà dupa as their special function' (Harnack Dogmengesch. i. 152 n.1). See Didache xiv: Κατὰ κυριακὴν δὲ κυρίου συναχθέντες κλάσατε ἄρτον καὶ εὐχαριστήσατε προσεξομολογησάμενοι τὰ παραπτώματα ὑμῶν, ὅπως καθαρὰ ἡ θυσία ὑμῶν ᾖ . . . αὕτη γάρ ἐστιν ἡ ῥηθεῖσα ὑπὸ κυρίου· Ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ καὶ χρόνῳ προσφέρειν μοι θυσίαν καθαράν. Justin Dial. c. Tryph. 41 : Καὶ ἡ τῆς σεμιδάλεως προσφορά, ὦ ἄνδρες, ἔλεγον, ἡ ὑπὲρ τῶν καθαριζομένων ἀπὸ τῆς λέπρας προσφέρεσθαι παραδοθεῖσα, τύπος ἦν τοῦ ἄρτου τῆς εὐχαριστίας, ὃν εἰς ἀνάμνησιν τοῦ πάθους, οὗ ἔπαθεν ὑπὲρ τῶν καθαιρομένων τὰς ψυχὰς ἀπὸ πάσης πονηρίας ἀνθρώπων, Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς ὁ κύριος ἡμῖν παρέδωκε ποιεῖν : the offering, he explains, is to be made in thanksgiving for the blessings of creation and redemption through Christ's death; he then quotes the usual passage from Malachi i. 11 and continues: #epì dè tŵv év παντὶ τόπῳ ὑφ' ἡμῶν τῶν ἐθνῶν προσφερομένων αὐτῷ θυσιῶν, τουτέστι τοῦ ἄρτου τῆς εὐχαριστίας καὶ τοῦ ποτηρίου ὁμοίως τῆς εὐχαριστίας, προλέγει τότε εἰπὼν καὶ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ δοξάζειν ἡμᾶς ὑμᾶς δὲ βεβηλοῦν. Irenaeus iv. 17. 5: 'Sed et suis discipulis dans consilium primitias Deo offerre ex suis creaturis. . . eum qui ex creatura panis est, accepit et gratias egit, dicens: Hoc est meum corpus. Et calicem similiter, qui est ex ea creatura quae est secundum nos, suum sanguinem confessus est, et novi testamenti novam docuit oblationem quam ecclesia ab apostolis accipiens in universo mundo offert Deo.' It would not be in place here to discuss at length the sense in which the early the resurree to prepare them in character and intelligence for the withdrawal of His visible presence and the substitution for it of that new and higher mode of inward presence by His Spirit, which He should give to His Church when He was glorified. In all this Christ is dealing with them no less as apostles than as representative disciples. After His resurrection He does not cease to deal with them in the latter capacity, but it would appear that the commissions, which in the 'great forty days' were no longer promised Church believed the eucharist to be a sacrifice. Briefly however it is in place to remark that (1) The whole language of the earliest Church seems most easily interpreted, if we suppose that the bread and wine, chosen out of the general offerings of the congregation and presented before God as a memorial of Christ's sacrifice with accompanying prayers, were regarded as constituting the thank-offering (eucharist) or oblations (gifts) of the Church and as expressive of that relation of sonship and purity and freedom of approach to God, which belonged to the Church in virtue of her redemption, as being the 'high-priestly race.' These 'gifts' were then offered for the consecration of the Holy Spirit. They became 'no longer common bread but eucharist, made up of two substances, an earthly and an heavenly': they became to the Church 'the Body and Blood of Christ.' This response of God to the Church's invocation, this mingling of heavenly and earthly things, gave to the Church's sacrifice a new power and brought it into essential union with the One Sacrifice, with 'Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant,' and with 'the blood of sprinkling.' But for this, the Church's sacrifice would have been most Judaic in character. (2) The consent of the Church in regarding the eucharist as a sacrifice appears to fix the meaning of Christ's words of institution. In this connection it requires to be observed (a) That Justin Martyr interprets motiv as = 41, just quoted, and 70), and this use of the word is common in the LXX without any 'to offer' (Dial. c. Tryph. qualification, e.g. in Exod. xxix. 36-41, Lev. ix. 7-22, it occurs nine times. lacks support in the New Testament and generally in Fathers and Liturgies. It But it enables us, however, in St. Luke xxii. 19, 20, 1 Cor. xi. 24, 25 to give, as is natural, the same meaning to τοῦτο in both corresponding clauses, τοῦτό ἐστιν . . . τοῦτο TOLETTE: and in 1 Cor. xi. 25 also to make roûto the accusative, as the sentence requires, to both verbs, ToLeire and mívnтe. (b) That there is an obvious reference to the words of Moses in Exod. xxiv. 8, idoù Tò aiμa Tηs diałŋŋs, and that agree. ably with this reference the word éxxvvvóμevov (Matt., Mark, Luke) expresses probably not the shedding of Christ's blood in death, but the sacrificial pouring out of it. See Rendall Theol. of the Hebr. Chr. (Macmillan, 1884) p. 123 f., and cf. Exod. xxix. 12, Lev. iv. 7, 19, 25, 30, 34, viii. 15, ix. 9, etc., in LXX. (c) That áváμvnσis in the LXX means a memorial before God; see Lev. xxiii. 7, Num. x. 10, Ps. xxxvii. and lxix. (titles); but, on the other hand, see Wisd. xvi. 6, Heb. x. 3 and the references in the liturgies: Μεμνημένοι οὖν ὧν δι ̓ ἡμᾶς ὑπέμεινεν, κ.τ.λ. (Brightman Liturgies pp. 20, 52). 1 See St. Luke xxii. 14, 29-30: St. John xiii. 16, 29, xv. 16, xvii. 18. Matthew, but given, were addressed to them in their official character and to them alone. It would appear to be undeniable, if it had not been so often denied, that these commissions, taken together, are commissions given to an abiding apostolate, destined to be permanent till 'the end of the world.' The 'eleven as in St. disciples' are expressly mentioned as the subjects of the commission recorded by St. Matthew as given on the 'mountain where Jesus had appointed them,' which invested them with His royal power to go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the threefold Name and teaching them to observe all His precepts, and which was accompanied by the promise of His presence with them 'all the days till the com- St. Mark, pletion of the age.' The parallel account of the commission of Christ given in the verses which at present conclude St. Mark's Gospel describes it as given to the eleven.'2 In St. Luke's narrative, where in connection with Christ's appearance on the evening of His resurrection mention is made of 'the disciples and those who were with them,' it is noticeable that, though there is a record of encouragement and enlightenment and promise, there is no record of a ministerial commission. There was however such a and St. John. commission, given apparently on this occasion, which is recorded by St. John. It is there described as given to 'the disciples'; but this expression at the end of St. John's Gospel commonly refers to the 1 St. Matt. xxviii. 16 f. It is urged that, as there were some who doubted,' so others must have been present beside the Apostles. I should have thought that, as a matter of Greek, oi dè édíσraσav must express a subdivision of 'the eleven,' who are the subject of the whole sentence. See Meyer in loc. At any rate they are the only people mentioned in connection with the commission given. 2 St. Mark xvi. 14-18. 3 St. Luke xxiv. 33 f. but cf. Acts i. 1-5. 4 St. John xx. 19-23. twelve, who are the subjects of His typical training.1 The words of the commission, moreover, and the analogy of that recorded in St. Matthew and St. Mark, seem to make it natural to conclude that, though others may have been present, it was addressed to the Apostles only.2 As My Father hath sent Me,' Christ said, 'even so send I you,' and when He had said this, He breathed on them and said: 'Receive ye holy spirit:3 whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained.' Here the opening words contain a manifest reference to the apostolate, and the sub 1 So Dr. Westcott says that by 'the disciples' (in c. xxi. 1) is meant 'in all probability the Apostles, the disciples in the narrower sense, though "the twelve" were not all assembled on this occasion, but at most "seven" only.' This use of the word 'disciples' may be illustrated by a passage closely parallel to that under discussion. Our Lord's prayer in St. John xvii. is spoken amongst the disciples' (xvi. 29, xviii. 1). Yet by this is meant 'the twelve' (St. Matt. xxvi. 20): thus He prays for them as those whom the Father 'has given Him' (xvii. 6, 9, 11) and whom 'He guarded,' so that not one of them perished but the son of perdition' (ver. 12), and whom He has sent into the world,' as the Father sent Him into the world (ver. 18). These are clearly the definite body, the twelve; and the expression 'As thou didst send me, so sent I them' (ver. 18) interprets that in xx. 21. 2 I am of course aware that I have Dr. Westcott against me (Revel. of the Risen Lord pp. 81-83 and Comm. in loc.), as well as many others. On the other hand I am following M. Godet, one of the best recent commentators on St. John; and the arguments which seem to me of determining force in the matter are (1) The parallel commissions to 'the eleven' in St. Matt. and St. Mark. (2) The obvious reference to the apostolate in the words of St. John xx. 21; cf. xvii. 18. (The use of réμw in the former case hardly weakens the force of this.) (3) The habitual reference of the disciples' at the end of St. John's Gospel to the Apostles. (4) The implication of the Acts (as bearing on all the commissions taken together); if the Acts is accepted as historical, undoubtedly the Apostles must have received a commission distinct from the Church as a whole to account for their position. On the other hand (a) the presence of 'those with them' does not seem to be, in this case, more than in the case of any later ministerial commissions, an argument against the limitation to the Apostles; (b) the absence of St. Thomas is no hindrance to the commission having been given to the Apostles, as such. The narratives are fragmentary, and we cannot say but that St. Thomas may have had his loss by absence made good to him. He was present among the eleven to receive the commission recorded in the other Gospels. 3 Λάβετε πνεῦμα ἅγιον. Cf. 1 Cor. xiv. 12 where πνεύματα = χαρίσματα, and St. John vii. 39 where rò veûua=the Holy Ghost and veûμa= His inspiration (Westcott in loc. The distinction, however between πνεῦμα and τὸ πνεῦμα ἐς patristic; see Didymus de Sp. S. 15). sequent act of breathing, with the words accompanying, seems to be the actual bestowal in power and spirit of those 'keys of the kingdom' which Christ had formerly promised to the chief of the Apostles. What is bestowed is a judicial power with a supernatural sanction-the power, in pursuance of Christ's redemptive mission, to admit men into the new covenant of absolution and to exclude them from it according to considerations of their moral fitness. mission St. Peter. (3) If the threefold pastoral commission to St. (3) The comPeter1 represents, as seems most probable, simply a restored to personal restoration of St. Peter to the position of trust which his threefold denial might be supposed to have lost him, then we shall only be justified in concluding from our Lord's words on that occasion that the pastoral care, to govern and to feed, was supposed to be involved in the apostolic commission.2 as to Christ's of the It may very well be maintained that it would be Conclusion impossible to draw certain conclusions on the matter institution which has been under discussion from the four Apostles. Gospels, if they existed as isolated documents with no history of the Church to interpret them; but from a mere examination of the narratives the conclusions arrived at above appear to be the most probable, and as a fact they are supported by all the evidence of church history from its beginning. It would appear, then, that Christ founded not only a Church but an apostolate in the Church, an apostolate moreover which was intended in some real sense to be permanent; this apostolic office included all that was necessary to perpetuate that mission on which the Father had sent the Son into the world: it involved the authority to teach in Christ's name, to govern, 1 St. John xxi. 15-17. 2 St. John xxi. 15, 17 βόσκε, 16 ποίμαινε. |