Is Jesus the Only Mediator?

 

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Last time, I answered a Protestant reader’s question about whether the Blessed Mother can appear and speak to us through apparitions, etc. (see Can Mary Speak to Us?). He responded with another gracious letter and more points of discussion. Here is part of his letter:

Dear brother Mark,

Thank you for taking the time to give a thought-provoking presentation of a history of the Catholic Church’s position on the appearing of Mary, mother of Jesus, to persons on earth. This information and perspective is almost never heard or seen by non-Catholics such as I. Knowledgeable dialogue between Catholics and Protestants would no doubt be very helpful to break down the walls of misunderstanding between us.

I believe that “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself”. I believe that when on the cross, Jesus said “It is finished”, that the curtain of the temple was torn from top to bottom. I believe that that signified that we humans no longer need an intermediary between us and God, because Jesus, the perfect and sinless sacrifice, was offered once for all time for all sin.

In John chapter 14, we see that it is written that Jesus AND the Father will come and abide with those who confess and obey Jesus’ teachings. So we see the beautiful picture of the Trinity coming to live in us once we, by the grace which He provides, believe in Him from the heart. He has made The Way simple for us by giving us his Word and providing a sacrifice so that we may come back to Him and become spiritually alive again.

However, I believe that man is tempted to again have “priests”, as in the Old Testament, and other mediators to approach God because of our sense of guilt, our disbelief that His sacrifice is enough, our sense of unworthiness, and our human desire for control as well as claiming that what we do may be part of our salvation, which satisfies our pride. “Priests” and other idols may satisfy us, but keep us from depending solely upon Christ’s sacrifice, and not coming “through the veil” directly to the Lord Jesus in humble repentance.

While on a trip to Israel, at Bethlehem, I saw a woman kissing the glass of an enclosed icon, weeping as she did so. I just hoped that her faith was in Jesus rather than in the icon. I am concerned in the same way about real or supposed relics of the saints.

So let’s break this down into essentially 2 objections or claims my reader makes:

• There can be no other mediation between God and man.
• Because the Trinity dwells within a believer, we do not need anything or (apparently) anyone else to administer grace. The priesthood, therefore, is an unnecessary human invention, as are relics, icons, statues, or devotion to the Saints. 

 

Mediator of Mediators

The question of Jesus Christ’s unique mediation between the Father and the rest of humanity is unambiguous:

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 2:5; see also 1 Cor 8:6; Heb 8:6; 9:15; 12:24, and Rom 5:15)

Thus, the Catholic Church has taught from the very beginning, and recently affirmed again in a new document,^[1]Mater Populis Fidelis, n. 24 that Jesus is the sole Mediator between us and the Father. There is no salvation except through Him. But does this mean that no one else can mediate the graces that He merited for us by His Passion, Death, and Resurrection?

St. Paul writes:

We, though many, are one body in Christ and individually parts of one another… we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us… (Romans 12:5-6)

If we are the mystical “body of Christ,” how could we not, as St. Peter says, “share in the divine nature”?^[2]2 Peter 1:4 We certainly do, in part, according to the “gifts” and “grace given to us”: 

There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. To each individual, the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit. To one is given through the Spirit the expression of wisdom; to another the expression of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit; to another mighty deeds; to another prophecy; to another discernment of spirits; to another varieties of tongues; to another interpretation of tongues. (1 Corinthians 12:4-10)

The word “gifts” here is translated: charismata, which is theologically and linguistically related to the term “grace” (charis) in Greek. So even though it is God who “produces” all of the charisms “in everyone,” each Christian can, to one degree or another, dispense of these graces as the Holy Spirit manifests. Who can argue this? If someone speaks a word of knowledge, if someone gives a prophecy, if another lays his hands upon the sick and they are healed, or filled with the Spirit, or raised from the dead; if one speaks in tongues, or casts out demons as Jesus said believers would do…^[3]Mark 16:17-18 in all this, Catholic teaching affirms that, just as with the Blessed Mother and her spiritual motherhood, this…

…influence on men… flows forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rests on His mediation, depends entirely on it, and draws all its power from it.—Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 970

It is foretold in Genesis 3:15 that the offspring of the “woman” would strike at the head of Satan. This refers not only to Jesus, but to His disciples as the Lord Himself proclaimed:

Behold, I have given you the power ‘to tread upon serpents’ and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy. (Luke 10:19)

Put plainly, each Christian is a mediator of the Mediator. Christ actually proves His omnipotence by allowing us, mere creatures, to participate in the fulfillment of His plan. We do so through His gifts and through the power of our intercessory prayer:

The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful. (James 5:16)

 

Relics, Icons, and Statues

Though not the same as charisms, relics, icons, and statues can be instruments of God’s grace too.

 

Sacred Images

Scripture is clear:

You shall not make for yourself an idol or a likeness of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; you shall not bow down before them or serve them. (Deuteronomy 5:8-9)

The context is clear: the Israelites were warned not to imitate the surrounding pagan nations, who created literal idols to which their people bowed down. This warning pertains to idolatry. But did this command from God mean that His People could not create any images at all? On the contrary, it was God Himself who instructed that the Ark of the Covenant was to include the likeness of angels:

Make two cherubim of beaten gold for the two ends of the cover; make one cherub at one end, and the other at the other end… (Exodus 25:18-19)

Moreover, the holy temple itself was to include engraved cherubim, trees, flowers, oxen, lions, and so on — that is, the likeness of things in both heaven above and the earth below. And recall that Moses was instructed to make a bronze serpent that prefigured the Cross, so that any Israelite bitten by a snake would look upon it “and live.”^[4]Numbers 21:9 Therefore, the replication of the likeness of these things from both heaven and earth was not the problem, but the idolatry that could potentially accompany them.

Catholics do not worship statues or icons, which would violate the first Commandment to have no other gods before the Lord God. Rather, in the same way we keep photographs of family members whom we want to remember, Catholics venerate ^[5]ie. regard with respect, honor the images of Mary and the Saints to remind us of their witness, and to implore their intercession. Remember, the fervent prayer of a righteous person is powerful, and last time, I pointed out how the elders in Heaven were offering the prayers of the faithful on earth to God (Rev 5:8).  Moreover, St. Peter says: 

Since you have purified yourselves by obedience to the truth for sincere mutual love, love one another intensely from a pure heart. (1 Peter 1:22)

Whether still on earth or in eternal life, we are all part of one body in Christ. That doesn’t cease once a Christian dies! If anything, they are closer to us than ever because, in Heaven, they are perfectly purified and perfectly united to Jesus, who dwells in us here on earth, in those who keep His Word (cf. John 14:23). Therefore, says St. Paul:

…since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith. (Hebrews 12:1-2)

We fix our eyes on Jesus, but we love our brothers and sisters, wherever they are. 

 

Relics

The clothing many Saints wore, and even fragments of their bones, can be found throughout Christendom, particularly embedded in every Catholic Church’s altar. Catholics call these relics. I am blessed to have many of these myself, including a bone fragment of St. John the Baptist and St. Paul, among others. Is this biblical?

Consider these texts as the nascent Church began to spread after Pentecost:

…they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and mats so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on one or another of them… and they were all cured. (Acts 5:15-16)

So extraordinary were the mighty deeds God accomplished at the hands of Paul that when face cloths or aprons that touched his skin were applied to the sick, their diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them. (Acts 19:11-12)

This would not have surprised the early Church as much as you may think. Most Jewish converts would have been familiar with the story of a man who was buried next to the prophet Elisha’s bones centuries before:

…when the man came in contact with the bones of Elisha, he came back to life and got to his feet. (2 Kings 13:21)

Hence, the reason that Catholics venerate, that is, honor the relics of the Saints. They are not only reminders of the heroic witness of these individuals, but even conduits of God’s grace, as He sees fit.

It’s entirely biblical. 

 

Don’t Need Priests?

Returning again to John 14:23, which my Protestant reader cites, Jesus says:

Whoever loves Me will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.

My reader is essentially saying that, because the Trinity dwells within each believer, we have no need of a priesthood — just a “personal relationship” with God. Well, we certainly do need a personal relationship with the Lord. As Pope John Paul II said of spreading our Christian faith:

As you well know, it is not a matter of merely passing on a doctrine, but rather of a personal and profound meeting with the Saviour.  —POPE JOHN PAUL II, Commissioning Families, Neo-Catechumenal Way, 1991

That is truly the heart of Catholicism. But if we are to keep God’s “word” as Jesus said we must, what does His Word actually say then about priests?

…like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:5)

Peter makes two things clear: we are called to a “holy priesthood” to “offer spiritual sacrifices”; and the second is that this is done through Jesus Christ, the one Mediator between the Father and us.

In the introduction to the Book of Revelation, St. John writes:

To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood, who has made us into a kingdom, priests for His God and Father, to Him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen. (Revelation 1:5-6; cf. Rev 5:10) 

The Catholic Church has always taught that there is a spiritual priesthood and a sacramental priesthood. It is by baptism that every single believer shares “in the priesthood of Christ, in his prophetic and royal mission.”^[6]CCC, n. 1268 We carry out this spiritual priesthood by the operation of the Holy Spirit through His gifts and charisms and by our sacrifices of obedience,^[7]Rom 1:5, 12:1 praise,^[8]Heb 13:15 fasting,^[9]Matt 9:15 and so on. 

But there are certain aspects of Christ’s mission that Jesus gave to the Twelve Apostles alone — authority that they alone possess to assist Christ in building His Church. Recall again what Jesus said to Simon:

And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church. (Matthew 16:18)

To Peter alone did Jesus give the “keys of the kingdom.”^[10]Matt 16:19 And with Peter, the Apostles were given the authority to “bind and loose,”^[11]Matt 18:18 that is, to administrate His Church^[12]eg. Matt 17:18 and especially to forgive sins:

…He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” (John 20:22-23)

Again, it was to the Twelve Apostles alone whom Jesus, at the Last Supper, commanded to “do this in memory of Me”^[13]Luke 22:19 — that is, to offer the one Sacrifice of Calvary over and over again until the end of time^[14]see Luke 24:35, Acts 2:42, 46. It is also of note that, when Jesus fed the multitudes, He did so through the disciples — a foreshadowing of the future sacramental priesthood; cf. Matt 14:19. so that every Christian believer could literally eat His Body and drink His Blood:^[15]cf. 1 Cor 11:23-29

Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. (John 6:54-55)

Jesus only commissioned the Twelve Apostles to oversee certain aspects of Church life. So what happened when Judas betrayed Jesus and apostasized leaving only eleven Apostles? First, let’s zoom ahead to St. John’s vision in the Book of Revelation:

The wall of the city had twelve courses of stones as its foundation, on which were inscribed the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. (Revelation 21:14)

Judas was obviously not one of those twelve names, and here’s how we know. After Judas committed suicide, it says in Acts 1:20 that Peter declared: ‘May another take his office.’ So clearly, there were twelve “offices” that Jesus created, foreshadowed by the twelve tribes of Israel. And so they chose Matthias to replace Judas,^[16]Acts 1:26 and thus began what we call “apostolic succession,” from which every Catholic pope and bishop has come down through the centuries. One of the first things the Apostles did after Pentecost was to appoint presbyters, that is, new bishops. 

...appoint presbyters in every town, as I directed you… a bishop as God’s steward must be blameless, [etc….] (Titus 1:5,7)

They appointed presbyters for them in each church… (Acts 14:23; cf. 13:3, 1 Tim 4:14)

The apostle James further instructed them:

Is anyone among you sick? He should summon the presbyters of the church, and they should pray over him and anoint [him] with oil in the name of the Lord… (James 5:14)

We read that these presbyters, including Paul, not only ordained new bishops by the laying on of hands, but administered the Holy Spirit in the same way:

Now, when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who went down and prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for it had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. (Acts 8:14-17)

So now, I have just described for you what Catholics call the “sacraments” of the Church — there are seven in total: Baptism, Confirmation (sealing with the Holy Spirit), Holy Communion, Reconciliation (Confession), Holy Orders, Matrimony, and Anointing of the Sick. They are administered through the authority of the Apostles’ successors and the sacramental priesthood.^[17]Note: Baptism can be performed by anyone in cases of emergency following the proper prescriptions and intent [Canon 861], while the Sacrament of Matrimony can also, in rare cases of necessity, be performed validly before witnesses [see Canon 1116.1-2].

So, dear Protestant reader, I hope you can see that the Christian faith is not just about “Jesus and me.” It’s about a body, Christ’s body, which He uses to mediate His grace. It’s why we say that the Church is the “universal sacrament of salvation”^[18]CCC, n. 849; “The saving work of his holy and sanctifying humanity is the sacrament of salvation, which is revealed and active in the Church’s sacraments [which the Eastern Churches also call “the holy mysteries”]. The seven sacraments are the signs and instruments by which the Holy Spirit spreads the grace of Christ the head throughout the Church which is his Body. The Church, then, both contains and communicates the invisible grace she signifies. It is in this analogical sense, that the Church is called a “sacrament.” —CCC, n. 774 because Jesus accomplishes His salvific plan through, not in spite of, His Church. 

In closing, perhaps we could summarize everything said above with this passage from the Catechism:

“Great is the mystery of the faith!” The Church professes this mystery in the Apostles’ Creed and celebrates it in the sacramental liturgy, so that the life of the faithful may be conformed to Christ in the Holy Spirit to the glory of God the Father. This mystery, then, requires that the faithful believe in it, that they celebrate it, and that they live from it in a vital and personal relationship with the living and true God. —Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), 2558

 

Related Reading

How do we interpret Scripture? Read The Fundamental Problem

On Scripture and Oral Tradition: The Unfolding Splendor of Truth

A Personal Testimony

Two Reasons to Become Catholic

Personal Relationship with Jesus

Charismatic?  A seven part series on the Charismatic Renewal, what the popes and Catholic teaching say about it, and the coming New Pentecost. Use the search engine from the Daily Journal page for Parts II – VII.

Dynasty, Not Democracy

 

So grateful for your prayers and support.
Thank you!

 

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