Sect. 261The Sacrifice of the New Testament Foretold by the Prophet MalachiasThe Sacrifice of the New Testament Foretold by the Prophet Malachias
I. The last of the Prophets of the Old Covenant announces the abolition of the Mosaic sacrifices, and the introduction of a new order of public worship: “I have no pleasure in you (the priests), saith the Lord of hosts, and I will not receive a gift of your hand. For from the, rising of the sun even to the going down, My Name is great among the Gentiles; and in every place there is a sacrifice, and there is offered to My Name a clean oblation: for My Name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of hosts” (Mal. 1:10, 11).
1. “I will not receive a gift of your hand.” These words clearly imply the abolition of the Mosaic priesthood, and of the public worship whose ministers they were. They have to give place, as appears from ver. 11, to an order of things in which the Name of God is great, not only among His chosen people and in the chosen land, but among all nations and in all places. The Prophets always characterize the coming of the Messias by this universal acknowledgment and glorification of God (supra, p. 52). Hence the idea underlying ver. 11 is that in the New Testament the particular priesthood and the particular sacrifices of the Jews will be abolished and their place taken by something better.
2. “In every place there is a sacrifice, and there is offered to My Name a clean oblation.” From the text itself and from the context (vers. 5–10) we see that the Prophet deals exclusively with external worship. As the sacrifices to be abolished are real and true sacrifices, so the pure oblation to be substituted for them is a real and true sacrifice. The technical terms used in the Hebrew leave no shadow of doubt on this point. The term מֻקְטָר (muctar), a form of catar (“to burn incense”) is used one hundred and forty-six times in the sacrificial sense; מֻגָשׁ (muggas), from nagas (“to offer”), at least twelve times, and מִנְחָה (mincha), an unbloody sacrifice, about one hundred and fifty-four times. Nowhere are they used in connection with internal worship; nowhere are they applied to oblations other than proper sacrifices. Taking, then, the three expressions together, we have a threefold argument in favour of the true sacrificial nature of the promised new worship.
3. Ch. v. 3: the sons of Levi, cleansed and purified, are said to be the priests of the new order. But Isaias (66:21) has told us that God will take men of all nations and tongues to be priests and Levites. Hence the minister of the new sacrifice is a sacrificing priest as of old, only purer and nobler, as he offers a purer and nobler sacrifice.
II. The consent of the Fathers and theologians in this matter is all but unanimous. Bellarmine (1. v. c. 10) and Petavius (De Incarn., 1., xii. n. 12 sqq.) have collected the interpretations of the Fathers. Cornelius à Lapide is so impressed with their unanimity, that he confidently says, “It is of faith that this clean oblation is the sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ in the Holy Eucharist” (Comm. in Mal., i. 11). Such also is the explicit doctrine of the Council of Trent, sess. xxii. chap. 1.
I. The last of the Prophets of the Old Covenant announces the abolition of the Mosaic sacrifices, and the introduction of a new order of public worship: “I have no pleasure in you (the priests), saith the Lord of hosts, and I will not receive a gift of your hand. For from the, rising of the sun even to the going down, My Name is great among the Gentiles; and in every place there is a sacrifice, and there is offered to My Name a clean oblation: for My Name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of hosts” (Mal. 1:10, 11).
1. “I will not receive a gift of your hand.” These words clearly imply the abolition of the Mosaic priesthood, and of the public worship whose ministers they were. They have to give place, as appears from ver. 11, to an order of things in which the Name of God is great, not only among His chosen people and in the chosen land, but among all nations and in all places. The Prophets always characterize the coming of the Messias by this universal acknowledgment and glorification of God (supra, p. 52). Hence the idea underlying ver. 11 is that in the New Testament the particular priesthood and the particular sacrifices of the Jews will be abolished and their place taken by something better.
2. “In every place there is a sacrifice, and there is offered to My Name a clean oblation.” From the text itself and from the context (vers. 5–10) we see that the Prophet deals exclusively with external worship. As the sacrifices to be abolished are real and true sacrifices, so the pure oblation to be substituted for them is a real and true sacrifice. The technical terms used in the Hebrew leave no shadow of doubt on this point. The term מֻקְטָר (muctar), a form of catar (“to burn incense”) is used one hundred and forty-six times in the sacrificial sense; מֻגָשׁ (muggas), from nagas (“to offer”), at least twelve times, and מִנְחָה (mincha), an unbloody sacrifice, about one hundred and fifty-four times. Nowhere are they used in connection with internal worship; nowhere are they applied to oblations other than proper sacrifices. Taking, then, the three expressions together, we have a threefold argument in favour of the true sacrificial nature of the promised new worship.
3. Ch. v. 3: the sons of Levi, cleansed and purified, are said to be the priests of the new order. But Isaias (66:21) has told us that God will take men of all nations and tongues to be priests and Levites. Hence the minister of the new sacrifice is a sacrificing priest as of old, only purer and nobler, as he offers a purer and nobler sacrifice.
II. The consent of the Fathers and theologians in this matter is all but unanimous. Bellarmine (1. v. c. 10) and Petavius (De Incarn., 1., xii. n. 12 sqq.) have collected the interpretations of the Fathers. Cornelius à Lapide is so impressed with their unanimity, that he confidently says, “It is of faith that this clean oblation is the sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ in the Holy Eucharist” (Comm. in Mal., i. 11). Such also is the explicit doctrine of the Council of Trent, sess. xxii. chap. 1.
Seção 91% da obra, de A Manual of Catholic Theology (Wilhelm & Scannell, sobre a Dogmatik de Scheeben). Ver o original.