2026/03/16
239. The Gospel of John and the Priesthood of the New Covenant: Affinity
As we discussed in the previous issue, Paul welcomed Peter into the Christian community in Rome and fulfilled his mission. Thus, the Church moved its capital to Rome and received as its head Apostle Peter, who had been trained by Jesus as an apostle, had received the priesthood of the New Covenant consisting of the institution of the Eucharist, and had been entrusted with the kingship, that is, the "staff of the Good Shepherd." The Church, by continuing to inherit these offices, fulfils the words spoken by the angel to Mary, the mother of Jesus: "Of his kingdom there will be no end" (Lk 1:33).
Up to this point, the Church, established by the descent of the Holy Spirit, had pressed forward whilst being buffeted by various events. The beginning of these events was when the twelve Apostles, with the addition of Matthias, declared, "We will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word" (Acts 6:4), and turned towards the episcopate as we know it today. The origin of this lay in a complaint lodged by Greek-speaking Jews against the Hebrew-speaking Jews. The issue was that "their widows were neglected in the daily distribution" (6:1). Therefore, the Church first resolved the matter of "the daily distribution" by choosing seven mediators. The Church after Pentecost was growing rapidly, as it is written that "the number of the men came to about five thousand" (4:4) through the preaching of Peter and John. The formation of believers was an urgent priority.
The approximately 120 believers waiting for the Holy Spirit to descend after Jesus' ascension (cf. Acts 1:14–15) were the disciples who had seen Jesus, in whom the Holy Spirit always dwelt, and had heard His words directly. As Jesus had said, "You know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you" (Jn 14:17), these were believers who had already experienced the Holy Spirit through Jesus and retained that memory. Consequently, they possessed a deep affinity with the Holy Spirit who was to come in Jesus' name (cf. 14:26). The Acts of the Apostles records that when the Holy Spirit descended, "there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:3–4). Here were male and female believers whose humanity had been reconstituted upon the foundation of the apostolate and prophetic office.
These believers, trained by Jesus, were among the approximately three thousand people who joined them after Pentecost, and they exerted a powerful centripetal force. However, as the number of believers increased whilst they were still only able to convey the experience of the formation received by Jesus orally, it became difficult to maintain the quality of the community, which had a high affinity with the Holy Spirit. It was in this context that the problem arose whereby "their widows were neglected in the daily distribution." Although this incident manifested itself in the issue of "the daily distribution," its cause lay in the complex interplay of various issues faced by each individual believer gathered there: desires hidden in the depths of memory, often unrecognised by the person themselves, and everyday dissatisfactions related to self-realisation and self-satisfaction. This situation is clearly illustrated in the dialogue between Jesus and the Samaritan woman in John 4 (cf. Jn 4:7–26).
In a manner possible only to God, who knew the Samaritan woman’s entire memory intimately, Jesus revealed the desires hidden deep within her and the burdens she carried in her daily life. However, this experience was the first time for her, and she could not fully receive the meanings of His words. Should she later have seized the opportunity to follow Jesus, she must surely have experienced being filled with the Holy Spirit, demonstrating a high affinity with the Spirit who subsequently descended. The reality of God, as Jesus said, "You know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you," is received not only consciously but also unconsciously through seeing Jesus and hearing His voice; it is absorbed by the person and serves to solidify the foundation of their memory of faith.
When the Holy Spirit descended, a completely new reality dawned. When the members of the community, who possessed a high affinity with the Holy Spirit, began to speak of Jesus, this became the proclamation of the Gospel. This affinity with the Holy Spirit is an affinity with all the gifts bestowed by the Holy Spirit, particularly the gift of prophecy, and is a crucial quality enabling believers to discern the voice of the Holy Spirit throughout their lives. In the Church, various writings were gradually produced for the transmission of Jesus' teachings and for the formation of believers. However, they did not yet conceive of any form of formation that would foster the high affinity with the Holy Spirit possessed by those believers who had seen Jesus and heard his voice. Given the limited conceptual framework of the time — with its lack of ideas regarding the unconscious or tacit knowledge — it was impossible to recognise the critical need for this, or to consider how believers might be equipped with a deep affinity with the Holy Spirit. Yet, it was not as though the thought had never crossed anyone’s mind.
Maria K. M.
(Notice)
A new article has been posted on the blog, TheWind of Patmos. It is a translation of an article I submitted to and was published in the Japanese internet magazine, Catholic Ai.
