JESUS AS PROPHET, PRIEST, and KING: JOHN WESLEY and the RENEWAL of an ANCIENT TRADITION by Fred Guyette
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JESUS AS PROPHET, PRIEST, AND KING: JOHN WESLEY AND THE RENEWAL OF AN ANCIENT TRADITION by Fred Guyette The claim that Christ is prophet, priest, and king is familiar to most Christians, though the biblical and historical resources for making these claims are often not well understood. What do we find theologically and ethically when we follow this cluster of images through scripture and the permutations of different interpreters? Is it possible to make these claims and still respect the Jewish traditions from which they come? Early expressions are found in Justin Martyr, Eusebius of Caesarea, and Peter Chrysologous. In the Middle Ages, the threefold office can be found in the work of Thomas Aquinas. John Calvin made the munus triplex a prominent feature of the Reformed catechisms and theology. John Wesley was committed to preaching Christ in all three of His offices and was instrumental in drawing out the social implications of Christ's three offices. Weaving the strands of these older traditions with more recent studies may help us better understand God's gift of salvation and healing, Jesus' prophetic critique of church and society, and our need to adore and obey Jesus as King. Christ as Prophet, Priest and King in the Church Fathers Justin Martyr's Dialogue With Trypho the Jew (ca. 150) may be the earliest statement of the munus triplex: "Jesus received from the Father the titles of King and Christ and Priest and Messenger" among other hon- — 88 — JESUS AS PROPHET, PRIEST, KING: RENEWAL OF AN ANCIENT TRADITION ors.1 What was Trypho's response to this claim? We are not privileged to know the answer, for Justin seems to be "talking af Trypho rather than entering into dialogue with him. Judging by some other remarks made by Justin, however, we can see that this would have been a contested claim.2 Justin believes that the Christians have supplanted the Jewish people in God's plan, and "the seed of Jacob now referred to is something else, and not, as may be supposed, spoken of your people ... there are two seeds of Judah, and two races, as there are two houses of Jacob: the one begotten by blood and flesh, the other by faith and the Spirit."3 We can surmise that Trypho and his fellow Jews would have been perplexed by Justin's words, for God nowhere disowns His Chosen People. The prophet Jere miah, who spoke of the New Covenant, also says: "Israel shall not cease from being a nation before God (Jeremiah 31.35-37)." A century later, when the rivalry we see in Justin's Dialogue has become more routinized, church historian Eusebius of Caesarea notes that there are three kinds of anointing found in the Hebrew Scriptures. He says: And we have been told also that certain of the prophets them selves 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. And a proof of this is that no one of those who were of old symbolically anointed, whether priests, or kings, or prophets, possessed so great a power of inspired virtue as was exhibited by our Saviour and Lord Jesus, the true and only Christ.4 Eusebius proceeds confidently, not having to anticipate the objections of any flesh and blood representative of Judaism. He now has the backing of Constantine the Emperor, so that martyrdom at the hands of the Romans is 1Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho the Jew chapter 86: http://www.ccel. org/fathers2/ANF-01/anf01-48.htm#P4816 1046146 2Tessa Rajak, "Talking at Trypho: Christian Apologetic as Anti-Judaism in Justin's Dialogue with Trypho the Jew" in Apologetics in the Roman Empire ed. Mark Edwards, Martin Goodman, and Simon Price (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), 59-80. 3Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho the Jew chapter 135: http://www.ccel. org/fathers/ANF-01/just/justintrypho.html#Sectionl23 4Eusebius, Church History Book I, chapter 3: http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ NPNF2-01/Npnf2-01-06.htm#P522 306670 — 89 — GUYETTE no longer an issue for Christians. Moreover, the words "we have been told" indicate that several generations had provided time to rehearse these claims, and no serious shadow of contention or controversy appears on his horizon. The tradition of Christ as prophet, priest, and king is further elabo rated and intensified by Peter Chrysologus in his Sermon 59 from the fifth century. Peter refers to Jesus as "King of kings, Priest of priests, Prophet of prophets."5 Who could fail to be moved by Peter's description of Jesus, even to be convinced by it all these centuries later? It seems to gather up the different traditions of both the Hebrew scriptures and the New Testa ment, and to express the Christian's devotion to God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And yet, there is still the matter of Trypho and his descen dants, with their faith in God, their unique identity, and their beloved tra ditions. If the proclamation nevertheless proceeds as a truthful affirmation concerning Jesus Christ, it must still face squarely the moral meaning of this encounter, so as not to re-inscribe meanings that might lead to the horrors of another Holocaust. St. Thomas: Christ is the Fulfillment of AH Three Offices Many years later, Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) is still very much interested in Christians learning about the threefold office of Christ and understanding it rightly. In his lectures on Romans 1:1, he says that Jesus is holy and therefore designated as Priest. Jesus is rightly called the Royal King, owing to his power. And in his knowledge, Jesus is truly a Prophet.6 Commenting on Matthew's Gospel, Thomas notes that there were three offices in Israel which required anointing: priest (Aaron), king (David), and prophet (Elisha).7 In the Summa Theologica, Thomas brings these observations to fruition Christologically. He grants that others may have certain graces distributed among them, but Christ, as being the Head of all, has the perfection of all graces. Wherefore, as to others, one is a lawgiver, another is a priest, another is a king; but all these concur in Christ, as the fount of all grace. Hence it is written (Is. 33:22): "The Lord is 5Peter Chrysologous, Sermon 59 (Migne, Patrologia Latina 52: 363). See also Geoffrey Wainwright, For Our Salvation: Two Approaches to the Work of Christ (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 111. 6See Peter J. Drilling, "The Priest, Prophet and King Trilogy" Eglise et The ologie 19(1988): 179-206, especially p. 189. 7B. D. Soujeole, "Les tria muñera Christi (The Threefold Office of Christ)," Revue Thomiste 99 (1999): 59-74, especially p. 6. — 90 — JESUS AS PROPHET, PRIEST, KING: RENEWAL OF AN ANCIENT TRADITION our Judge, the Lord is our law-giver, the Lord is our King: He will come and save us.8 A key question is whether Christ took flesh of the seed of David. Part of Thomas' answer to this question is rooted in Romans 1:3 where it says that Jesus was born of "the seed of David according to the flesh" (III q. 31, article 2). Thomas also holds that Matthew 21:9 is significant for this question, because it says that the Jewish people received Him with kingly honor, and said, "Hosanna to the Son of David" during his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. There are still other passages in which Thomas designates Christ as "prophet" by virtue of his ministry of proclamation, as "priest" by his sac rifice on the Cross, and as "king" because of the homage given by the Magi and again because of his Ascension into heaven.9 So the threefold office of Christ is known to Aquinas, although we might wish that he had worked through the implications of these teachings for critiquing and renewing social life. Jesus as Prophet, Priest and King in John Calvin and Karl Barth John Calvin develops the theme of Christ as prophet, priest, and king in his Geneva Catechism of 1542, the Institutes of the Christian Reli gion, and in his many commentaries on scripture. He first brought these three offices together as a way of teaching the faith to children, using the question and answer format of the Geneva Catechism. M.—What, next, is the force of the name Christ? S.—By this epithet, his office is still better expressed—for it signifies that he was anointed by the Father to be a King, Priest, and Prophet. M.—How do you know that? S.—First, Because Scripture applies anointing to these three uses; secondly, Because it often attributes the three things which we have mentioned to Christ.10 8Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica ΙΠ, question 22, article 1: http:// www.ccel.org/a/aquinas/summa/TP/TP022.html#rPO22AlTHEPl 9 B. D. Soujeole, "Les tria muñera Christi (The Threefold Office of Christ)" Revue Thomiste 99 (1999): 59-74, especially p. 63. 10See "Catechism of the Church of Geneva," Center for Reformed Theology and Apologetics, available online: http://www.refoimed.org/documents/ Also, Phillip Butin, 'Two Early Reformed Catechisms, the Threefold Office, and the Shape of Karl Barth's Christology," Scottish Journal of Theology 44 (1991): 195-214. — 91 — GUYETTE Calvin deems it especially significant that Jesus was anointed "not with vis ible oil as was used in consecrating ancient kings, priests, and prophets," but by the Holy Spirit. As for his kingdom, it is a spiritual kingdom.