Ecc514 - Orthodox Ukrainian jurisdictions

Lesson 1: Early Church Jurisdictions - 4

We see from such passages that the Apostles were shepherds of the flock, or overseers. Even prior to Pentecost we see that they recognized this because they elected Matthias to fill the episcopal office left behind by Judas (Acs 1:15-26). After Pentecost they continued to appoint elders (Tit1:5). When mission areas were developed, elders were appointed and bishops were elected to oversee the spread of the faith, thus, becoming bishops over local areas.

"Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood." (Acts 20:28)

Among the elders, overseers and deacons were appointed and elected (Php1:1). The people of the New Covenant were becoming a "royal priesthood."

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood" (1Pt2:9).

The new priesthood was royal because of our inheritance in Christ. It was a priesthood for the entire "race" because there was now access to the holy of holies for all who receive Christ and are washed in his blood. Each Christian had the rights of Aaron to become mediators between God and man, by the authority, inheritance and will of Christ in the glory of God the Father by the grace of the Holy Spirit which made them a new creation, born from above. It was in this that they became "living stones." Peter's profession of Jesus as "Christ, Son of the Living God" was the rock on which the church was built (Mt16:18). Likewise, this inherance was the building material for the entire "spiritual house."

"You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1Pt2:5).

The Greek word for "elders" - (presbuterois) is sometimes translated "presbyters." The word for "priest" does not come from this Greek word, even if it does sound a little bit close. The Greek word for "priest" was "ierous." All Christians were priests in the sense above. Please notice that Peter was not saying that we are a nation of royal elders. Specifically he said priests.

It is important that in seeing these New Testament church titles we understand how the term "priest" came to be applied to a special class of Christians, rather than to all Christians, as we see in Peter's epistle. It came from the gifts of the spirit and the anointing which sets apart leaders and adminstrators. Paul made clear that all members are united and born from above by the one spirit but not all members are the same. We are all one body, but one may be an eye, another an ear, another the hand, yet another the foot (1Cor12). The special priestly "order" was made distinct as part of the order of the church under episcopal oversite which singled out certain members for leadership. There were three essential and primary ingredients.

First, was the love of Jesus. We have already seen how Peter's love for Jesus was the prerequisite for Christ bestowing on him an appointment to oversee and feed his lambs. It was out of this love that Christian leadership sprang forth as an anointing of the Holy Spirit. A person who received Christ was anointed with the Holy Spirit and that anointing led to a cherishing of the mysteries of Christ.

The second ingredient was stewardship. It was required of stewards that they be found trustworthy (1Cor4:2). The trustworthy steward is the one who loves his master. Having been deemed trustworthy, their love for Christ Jesus being evident, stewards were appointed by the overseers of the mysteries before them. These who were appointed were the new elders (presbyters). The mysteries of Christ were the spiritual food that Jesus had at Jacob's well in Samaria (Jn4:32,34), which flowed from his belly eternally (Jn4:14).

"Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy" (1Cor4:1-2).

The third ingredient was leadership. Leadership exists in many forms, one of which is administration. Many Christians, mostly Protestants, reject a classification of Christians as priests and laity, but they don't reject the idea of administration. They understand the need for leadership in the church. They have to in order to accept less controversial New Testament titles such as deacon, elder and overseer. But the controversy is quickly settled once we understand that the term "priest" already belongs to the church, on the one hand, and that it applies in a special way to the leaders of the church, above all. The word "laity" is also misunderstood. It is an English derivative of the Greek word "laos." "Laos" means "people."

That the church somewhat seemlessly equated the priestly office with all three leadership offices given in the New Testament makes good sense when we consider what it was these Christian leaders were administering, what it was they were stewards of. To say that there is no such thing as a New Testament priesthood is to reject the very mystery of Christ in which all things have been and are being fulfilled. It is to reject the very heavenly rebirth that makes us new in Christ Jesus.

It is worthwhile to backstep and cover these fundamentals in any endeavor to describe jurisdictions in today's church because if we lose site of what the church actually is, then there is no point in the discussion to begin with. Paul said that if there is no resurrection then we preach in vane. By the same light, the very newness of life that we know and share is the anointing of the Holy Spirit born in a repentant and contrite heart in the power of grace that brings forth change for a resurrected life, once dead now alive - walking in the Spirit of God as a new creation. That itself is the New Testament priesthood - the very good news we have to share. It is therefore not simply appropriate but essential that those who bear the word of God to the world, especially its leaders, should be understood and known as priests. Anything else is tasteless salt. Anything less is an unlit fire.

In Orthodox Christian teaching the laity also are numbered in this priesthood. As Peter said, we are a chosen race. This refers to all. We are given the power of the priestly role by the Spirit of God, who is accessible to all who are born again from above. These have a special elevation ceremony given to them called baptism and christmation, baptised not just in water, but as John the Baptist proclaimed, "in Spirit and in Fire" (Mt3:11;Mk1:8;Lk3:16;Jn1:33). But because of leadership and administration, in as much as some are leaders and feeders of the flock and others are the lambs in the flock who receive food, we appoint elders, deacons, and bishops. And we rightly call them "priests." Much more, in fact, are they priests than the Old Testament priests.

Because of priestly leadership, consecration, and official appointments, we can add a distinction between two classes of New Testament priests. We can, for the sake of distinction, call one the "holy priesthood" and the other the "royal priesthood." But rest assured both feeders and the fed, leaders and the led are not only royal but holy. The one is a special class within the other which is trustworthy in love, loving in stewardship, appointed to leadership, and therein anointed for specific tasks in the church under the oversite and stewardship of those anointed leaders who preceeded them, being trusted with the office, in a chain of succession which can be traced to the apostles.

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