Kapłańska misja ochrzczonych w świecie (Hbr 13,16; 10,22-25)

Henryk Witczyk

Abstract

The author of the Letter to the Hebrews does not stop on presenting the priesthood of Christ. He also speaks of the participation of Christians in uniting people with God in the mission of the crucified and resurrected Jesus. First he pays attention to the "sacrifice" which all ought to give, more precisely, with those sacrifices God is content with in a new phase of salvation history, opened by the only sacrifice of Christ of the New Covenant (Heb 13, 16). Next, he explains that the typical for the baptized three attitudes - faith, hope and love - are the fullest form of uniting with the Highest Priest of our confession and from His sacrificial message in the world (Heb l0, 22-25). The three confinned essential dynamics of Christian existence (faith, hope and love) form the spiritual basis of a Christian towards Christ, the Archpriest, who offers a Sacrifice of expiation and the New Covenant and His Paschal Sacrifice. They cause that Christians live united with Him, and thanks to this uniting, they place their existence in the process of transformation, "perfected", "transfiguration", which was done first in the crucified and resurrected Jesus (Archpriest), and now is done in them - the participants in His priestly mission. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews does not cease, however, to show spiritual attitudes.  He also points out the concrete, visible situation and means, thanks to which a Christian participates in priestly mediation of Christ, in His Sacrifice, and receives salvation flowing from it. At the same time he shows what the essence o f the "sacrifice" of those dear to God is (obedience and love ), which they ought to give.