2026/08/03
259. The Gospel of John and the Priesthood of the New Covenant: To the Table of God
At the Last Supper, Jesus conferred upon the Apostles
the priesthood of the New Covenant at the very moment He instituted the
Eucharist, saying to them, "Do this in remembrance of me" (Lk
22:19). Then, He entrusted His kingship to the Apostles with the words, "I
assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and
drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes
of Israel" (22:29–30). This kingship was the very one of which the
angel had told Jesus' mother: "The Lord God will give to him the throne
of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever"
(1:32–33), by which it was guaranteed that, through the Apostles to whom it was
entrusted, the priesthood of the New Covenant would be perpetuated for ever.
The Holy Spirit required tacit knowledge which
unconsciously directs the believers' senses towards the Mass prepared by Jesus,
so that they might receive the priesthood of the New Covenant. Thus, the Book
of Revelation was given. Its training is structured so that, by entering a
daily loop that repeatedly passes through the seven prophecies (cf. diagram
below), believers learn to thoroughly distinguish "human
information"—which constitutes the greatest obstacle to reaching the Mass.
Furthermore, the Seven Beatitudes guide the faithful so that they may place the
Mass at the centre of their daily lives and recognise the path leading to it as
the concrete "Way of Jesus." As the First Beatitude (cf. Rev 1:3)
proclaims, the training of the Book of Revelation can become tacit knowledge
that, through sensory stimulation, unconsciously triggers signals or commands
to prompt them to walk along the "Way of Jesus." This is because the
Book of Revelation alludes to the contents of each book of the New Testament
and prophesies the completion of the New Testament as canonical scripture as
well as the completion of the liturgy of the Mass.
The people of the Old Covenant were entrusted with the
priesthood, which involved repeatedly offering sacrifices and interceding on
behalf of the people, so that they might continue to live in communion with the
holy God. However, the people, anxious about the reliability of those entrusted
with the priesthood, asked God for a king and placed all their hopes in the
king who was given to them. Eventually, both the king and the people raised
their voices in longing for a Saviour. The Psalms served as a foundation for
maintaining communion with God by unconsciously uniting the voices of the king
and the people, and by enabling them to continue directing their hope towards
the future Saviour. Therefore, there is absolutely no point in using it as a
textbook for the formation of modern believers, who have already been entrusted
with the priesthood of the New Covenant and are striving to perfect the liturgy
of the Mass in preparation for the Kingdom of God. Whilst it is necessary to
make the Old Testament known to believers as part of their education, as
required, we must not engage in a form of formation that seeks to engrave it
upon the believers' memories (cf. Lk 5:36-39).
The priesthood of the New Covenant, which Jesus
conferred upon the Apostles at the same time as He instituted the Eucharist
through the words, "Do this in remembrance of me," makes the
scene of the Last Supper, at which Jesus was present, present, in union with
the Holy Spirit sent in Jesus' name. That is so that we may continue the work
by which Jesus, having atoned for all the sins of humanity through His single
death, descended into Hades and saved the spirits of those who were suffering
even after death, as a consequence of sin (cf. Matt 27:51–53). The Epistle of
Peter conveys this as follows:
"For Christ also died for sins once for all,
the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to
death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit; in which he went and preached
to the spirits in prison, who formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited
in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is,
eight persons, were saved through water" (1 Pet 3:18-20).
There are still many people today who are dying as
those "who formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited."
As Peter says, "that he might bring us to God," we believers
are by no means an exception. The Mass is, in nature, an act of gathering
around a banquet table, just as Jesus said: "that you may eat and drink
at my table in my kingdom..." However, until that day comes, we
believers, whilst gathering at the Lord's table, continue to stand at the foot
of the Lord's Cross, so that through receiving the Eucharist, we may offer
Christ the opportunity to go and preach to the spirits in prison.
The San Damiano cross, with which St Francis of Assisi
encountered and which we have discussed in the previous issues, speaks volumes
about this. The pattern painted surrounding the Cross of Jesus, like white lace
edging, breaks off beneath his feet, signifying that it continues beyond that
point. This suggests that the Mass is offered not only for the congregation
gathered in the Church, but towards the tables surrounded by people throughout
the world. There will be also those who, because of our lack of zeal in
proclaiming the Gospel, must wait even after death. In the gaze of Jesus,
looking into the distance from the Cross, the following words of Jesus are
hidden:
"I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my
own know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my
life for the sheep. And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must
bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one
shepherd" (Jn 10:14–16).
Maria K. M.
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