Sect. 235Our Lord’s Teaching on the Church During His Risen LifeOur Lord’s Teaching on the Church During His Risen Life
After having completed the work of our Redemption by the Sacrifice of the Cross, having paid the price of the Church, and having risen in triumph from the dead, Our Lord “showed Himself alive,” “to the apostles whom He had chosen,” “for forty days appearing to them and speaking of the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:2, 3). His object in appearing to them so often was not only to strengthen their faith in the fact of His resurrection, but to complete the institution and constitution of His Church. Just as in other periods of His life, so also in this especially, many of His words and deeds are not recorded in Scripture (John 20:30; 21:25); nevertheless, as might be expected, there are striking passages concerning the Church, “the kingdom of God,” clearly proving the mission of the Apostles, and the establishment of the supremacy of Peter.
I. In the first apparition to the Apostolic College recorded by St. John (20:19, 29), our Lord conferred upon them the same authority which He Himself possessed and had exercised: “As the Father sent Me, I also send you.” “As Thou hast sent Me into the world, I also send them into the world” (ibid. 17:18). These words are not a mere statement or promise; they actually constitute the Apostles as Christ’s successors. “Receive ye the Holy Ghost,” He added, for this work to which He appointed them. Hence, in virtue of the powers there and then bestowed upon them, He continued: “Whose sins ye shall forgive, they are forgiven them.” The mission is not, however, restricted to the forgiveness of sins, but is universal, as was His own mission from the Father; and it is confided to the Apostolic College and their successors (cf. “And after that He was seen by the eleven,” 1 Cor. 15:5; cf. “the eleven disciples,” Matt. 28:16). Later on, in Galilee, He renewed this commission, appealing to the supreme authority in virtue of which He sent them, and which was ever to abide with them. “And the eleven disciples went into Galilee unto the mountain where Jesus had appointed them … and Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: All power is given to Me in heaven and in earth. Going, therefore, teach ye all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.” In His last discourse at Jerusalem, before His ascension, He for the third time conferred upon the Apostles the office of continuing His work in His Name and with His authority. “He appeared to the eleven as they were at table (cf. 1 Cor. 15:7) … and He said to them: Go ye into the whole world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth [your preaching] and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be condemned. And these signs shall follow,” etc. (Mark 16:14–20). “You shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you: and you shall be witnesses unto Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8; cf. “and you are witnesses of these things,” Luke 24:48; “one of these must be a witness with us of His resurrection,” Acts 1:22). Thus in St. Mark the mission of the Apostles is endowed with the same evidences of power which accompanied our Lord’s mission (cf. Matt. 11:20, 24; 12:41; Mark 4:40; Luke 4:36; 7:16; John 2:23; 5:36; 10:25, 38; 12:37; 14:12; 15:24).
II. To understand the nature of the mission entrusted to the Apostles and their successors, we must call to mind the nature of our Lord’s own mission.
1. Christ continually declares that His doctrine, His works, His authority and power are derived from His heavenly Father. “I am not come of Myself, but He that sent Me is true … I know Him because I am from Him, and He hath sent Me” (John 7:28, 29). “My doctrine is not Mine, but His Who sent Me” (ibid. 7:16); “He that heareth My word, and believeth Him that sent Me, hath life everlasting.… For as the Father hath life in Himself, so He hath given to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He hath given Him power to do judgment.… I cannot of Myself do anything: as I hear, so I judge; and My judgment is just, because I seek not My own will, but the will of Him that sent Me.… The works which the Father hath given Me to perfect, the works themselves which I do, give testimony of Me, that the Father hath sent Me.… And you have not His word abiding in you, for Whom He hath sent, Him you believe not” (ibid. 5:24–38). The functions or offices of Christ’s mission were threefold: He came to govern, to teach, and to sanctify: to be King, Prophet, and Priest (see Book V., Part II., ch. 2). It was in the exercise of these functions, and to provide for their continuance, that He founded His Church. “I lay down My life for My sheep, My sheep hear My voice, and I give them eternal life;” “I will build My Church;” “to thee will I give the keys of the kingdom of heaven;” “Christ also loved His Church, and delivered Himself up for it, that He might sanctify it … that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church;” “the Church of God which He hath purchased with His own blood.” “Christ is the Head of the Church; He is the Saviour of the body (σῶτηρ τοῦ σωμάτος).” “I have finished the work which Thou hast given Me to do” (John 17:2 sqq., etc.).
2. Hence, in confiding His mission to the Apostles, He expressly refers to His own mission from the Father: “As the Father hath sent Me, I also send you.” And He communicates to them His threefold function of ruling, teaching, and sanctifying. “As the Father hath sent Me, I also send you. By these words our Lord Jesus Christ ordained the rulers of the world, and teachers and dispensers of His Divine mysteries (Κεχειροτονήκε μεν ἐν τουτοίς ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς ὁ Χριστός τοῦς τῆς οἱκουμένης καθηγήτας τε καὶ διδασκάλους καὶ τῶν θειῶν αὐτοῦ μυστηριῶν οἰκονόμους).” (St. Cyril Alex., t. iv. pp. 1093–1095; for the continuation of the passage, see Franzelin, l.c. 119). He had already said to His Apostles, “If he will not hear the Church, let him be to thee as the heathen and the publican.” “Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven, and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth shall be loosed also in heaven.” Now, after His resurrection, He actually confers this power and authority upon them as the rulers of His kingdom. “All power is given to Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore,” etc. Hence, St. Paul declares that his jurisdiction derives its authority from the power of Christ, and that he exercises it in virtue of the mission conferred upon him by our Lord. “In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, you being gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, to deliver such a one to satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved” (1 Cor. 5:4, 5). “If I come again, I will not spare. Do you seek a proof of Christ that speaketh in met?” (2 Cor. 13:2, 3). Our Lord’s office as Teacher is even more expressly imposed upon His Apostles. “Teach [μαθητευσάτε, ‘make to yourselves disciples’] all nations;” “Preach the Gospel to every creature;” “Ye shall be witnesses to me” (cf. Vol. I. § 9). His office of Priest He imparts to them in the general mission which He gives them; for He was sent by His Father to save the world by the oblation of His body and blood once for all (ἔφαπαξ) and He in turn sends them to apply His merits by the unbloody Sacrifice of the Mass and the Sacraments. This sacrifice and these sacraments are not theirs, but Christ’s; and their power to perform and administer is His, not theirs. “Let a man so account of us, as the ministers of Christ, and the dispensers of the mysteries of God” (1 Cor. 4:1). “Was Paul, then, crucified for you? or were you baptized in the name of Paul?… What, then, is Apollo, and what is Paul? The ministers of Him whom you have believed” (ibid. 1:13; 3:4, 5). “All things are of God, Who hath reconciled the world to Himself by Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:18).
Billot, De Ecclesia, p. 72 sqq.; Atzberger, Kath. Dogmatik (continuation of Scheeben’s work), sect. 327.
After having completed the work of our Redemption by the Sacrifice of the Cross, having paid the price of the Church, and having risen in triumph from the dead, Our Lord “showed Himself alive,” “to the apostles whom He had chosen,” “for forty days appearing to them and speaking of the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:2, 3). His object in appearing to them so often was not only to strengthen their faith in the fact of His resurrection, but to complete the institution and constitution of His Church. Just as in other periods of His life, so also in this especially, many of His words and deeds are not recorded in Scripture (John 20:30; 21:25); nevertheless, as might be expected, there are striking passages concerning the Church, “the kingdom of God,” clearly proving the mission of the Apostles, and the establishment of the supremacy of Peter.
I. In the first apparition to the Apostolic College recorded by St. John (20:19, 29), our Lord conferred upon them the same authority which He Himself possessed and had exercised: “As the Father sent Me, I also send you.” “As Thou hast sent Me into the world, I also send them into the world” (ibid. 17:18). These words are not a mere statement or promise; they actually constitute the Apostles as Christ’s successors. “Receive ye the Holy Ghost,” He added, for this work to which He appointed them. Hence, in virtue of the powers there and then bestowed upon them, He continued: “Whose sins ye shall forgive, they are forgiven them.” The mission is not, however, restricted to the forgiveness of sins, but is universal, as was His own mission from the Father; and it is confided to the Apostolic College and their successors (cf. “And after that He was seen by the eleven,” 1 Cor. 15:5; cf. “the eleven disciples,” Matt. 28:16). Later on, in Galilee, He renewed this commission, appealing to the supreme authority in virtue of which He sent them, and which was ever to abide with them. “And the eleven disciples went into Galilee unto the mountain where Jesus had appointed them … and Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: All power is given to Me in heaven and in earth. Going, therefore, teach ye all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.” In His last discourse at Jerusalem, before His ascension, He for the third time conferred upon the Apostles the office of continuing His work in His Name and with His authority. “He appeared to the eleven as they were at table (cf. 1 Cor. 15:7) … and He said to them: Go ye into the whole world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth [your preaching] and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be condemned. And these signs shall follow,” etc. (Mark 16:14–20). “You shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you: and you shall be witnesses unto Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8; cf. “and you are witnesses of these things,” Luke 24:48; “one of these must be a witness with us of His resurrection,” Acts 1:22). Thus in St. Mark the mission of the Apostles is endowed with the same evidences of power which accompanied our Lord’s mission (cf. Matt. 11:20, 24; 12:41; Mark 4:40; Luke 4:36; 7:16; John 2:23; 5:36; 10:25, 38; 12:37; 14:12; 15:24).
II. To understand the nature of the mission entrusted to the Apostles and their successors, we must call to mind the nature of our Lord’s own mission.
1. Christ continually declares that His doctrine, His works, His authority and power are derived from His heavenly Father. “I am not come of Myself, but He that sent Me is true … I know Him because I am from Him, and He hath sent Me” (John 7:28, 29). “My doctrine is not Mine, but His Who sent Me” (ibid. 7:16); “He that heareth My word, and believeth Him that sent Me, hath life everlasting.… For as the Father hath life in Himself, so He hath given to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He hath given Him power to do judgment.… I cannot of Myself do anything: as I hear, so I judge; and My judgment is just, because I seek not My own will, but the will of Him that sent Me.… The works which the Father hath given Me to perfect, the works themselves which I do, give testimony of Me, that the Father hath sent Me.… And you have not His word abiding in you, for Whom He hath sent, Him you believe not” (ibid. 5:24–38). The functions or offices of Christ’s mission were threefold: He came to govern, to teach, and to sanctify: to be King, Prophet, and Priest (see Book V., Part II., ch. 2). It was in the exercise of these functions, and to provide for their continuance, that He founded His Church. “I lay down My life for My sheep, My sheep hear My voice, and I give them eternal life;” “I will build My Church;” “to thee will I give the keys of the kingdom of heaven;” “Christ also loved His Church, and delivered Himself up for it, that He might sanctify it … that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church;” “the Church of God which He hath purchased with His own blood.” “Christ is the Head of the Church; He is the Saviour of the body (σῶτηρ τοῦ σωμάτος).” “I have finished the work which Thou hast given Me to do” (John 17:2 sqq., etc.).
2. Hence, in confiding His mission to the Apostles, He expressly refers to His own mission from the Father: “As the Father hath sent Me, I also send you.” And He communicates to them His threefold function of ruling, teaching, and sanctifying. “As the Father hath sent Me, I also send you. By these words our Lord Jesus Christ ordained the rulers of the world, and teachers and dispensers of His Divine mysteries (Κεχειροτονήκε μεν ἐν τουτοίς ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς ὁ Χριστός τοῦς τῆς οἱκουμένης καθηγήτας τε καὶ διδασκάλους καὶ τῶν θειῶν αὐτοῦ μυστηριῶν οἰκονόμους).” (St. Cyril Alex., t. iv. pp. 1093–1095; for the continuation of the passage, see Franzelin, l.c. 119). He had already said to His Apostles, “If he will not hear the Church, let him be to thee as the heathen and the publican.” “Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven, and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth shall be loosed also in heaven.” Now, after His resurrection, He actually confers this power and authority upon them as the rulers of His kingdom. “All power is given to Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore,” etc. Hence, St. Paul declares that his jurisdiction derives its authority from the power of Christ, and that he exercises it in virtue of the mission conferred upon him by our Lord. “In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, you being gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, to deliver such a one to satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved” (1 Cor. 5:4, 5). “If I come again, I will not spare. Do you seek a proof of Christ that speaketh in met?” (2 Cor. 13:2, 3). Our Lord’s office as Teacher is even more expressly imposed upon His Apostles. “Teach [μαθητευσάτε, ‘make to yourselves disciples’] all nations;” “Preach the Gospel to every creature;” “Ye shall be witnesses to me” (cf. Vol. I. § 9). His office of Priest He imparts to them in the general mission which He gives them; for He was sent by His Father to save the world by the oblation of His body and blood once for all (ἔφαπαξ) and He in turn sends them to apply His merits by the unbloody Sacrifice of the Mass and the Sacraments. This sacrifice and these sacraments are not theirs, but Christ’s; and their power to perform and administer is His, not theirs. “Let a man so account of us, as the ministers of Christ, and the dispensers of the mysteries of God” (1 Cor. 4:1). “Was Paul, then, crucified for you? or were you baptized in the name of Paul?… What, then, is Apollo, and what is Paul? The ministers of Him whom you have believed” (ibid. 1:13; 3:4, 5). “All things are of God, Who hath reconciled the world to Himself by Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:18).
Billot, De Ecclesia, p. 72 sqq.; Atzberger, Kath. Dogmatik (continuation of Scheeben’s work), sect. 327.
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