Summary of “Jesus and the New Priesthood”
Presented by Dr. Brant Pitre
Love & Sacrifice: 2006 Letter & Spirit Conference
Pittsburgh, PA
October 28, 2006

Dr. Pitre's presentation focused primarily on the Jewish hope for a priestly Messiah and this hope's fulfillment in Jesus Christ, who saw Himself as this Messiah. Dr. Pitre discusses this in terms of the types of priesthood as understood by ancient Jews and Israelites. He then speaks of how the future Messiah was described by ancient Jews and Israelites, as well as the new priesthood that would accompany this Messiah. Next, he spoke of Jesus and his disciples and how they paralleled the priesthood of Moses. Further, he spoke of the new temple that was expected and the new priesthood that was expected as well. Dr. Pitre discussed the temple’s cleansing and Jesus as the Mechizedekian Messiah. Finally, he described the Last Supper and the new sacrifice it presented.

For Dr. Pitre, the Old Testament presents both the Mechizedekian priesthood and Levitical priesthood. There would be a new priesthood still to come. This new priest will be royal as well as priestly, will be permanent, will have the wisdom of Solomon, will be over the Gentiles, will be a virgin, and will be tied to the heavenly Temple and not the Temple of Jerusalem (Testament of Levi 18). Sin will cease in the time of this new priest. The hopes for this priestly Messiah are present throughout the ancient Jewish and Israelite writings (in places such as Psalm 110).

In describing the priestly hierarchy present in Jesus and the disciples, Dr. Pitre shows the parallels to the old priesthood ushered in during the days of Moses. While Moses established the Old Covenant priesthood, Jesus established the New Covenant priesthood. Aaron was the High Priest in the Old, while Peter is chief of the apostles in the New. While there was a core three present in Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu in the Old, there was a core three present in Peter, James, and John in the New. For Dr. Pitre, the twelve pillars and the “young men” associated with them (for the twelve tribes of Israel) parallel the twelve apostles who in turn represent the same twelve tribes. Finally, the seventy elders of Israel along with the Sanhedrin in the Old parallel the seventy appointed and sent out in the New.

Dr. Pitre describes the new temple and the new priesthood and associates both with Jesus. Jesus does more than cleanse the Temple in Jerusalem; he is the new Temple. Jesus ushers in the new priesthood, in “the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110:1-6).”

This all leads to Dr. Pitre’s final point, in which he describes the Last Supper and the new sacrifice which Jesus brings in. Jesus both sought to replace the Temple cult and the Temple priesthood in the Last Supper. In addition, Jesus viewed Himself as the priestly Messiah predicted who hosted His Messianic Banquet at the Last Supper. As words used by Jesus, “body and blood” pointed to sacrificial purposes in both Jesus’ death and in the Last Supper itself. Jesus instituted the sacrificial rite of the Last Supper as something that his disciples, as new priests, were to “do...in remembrance" (Luke 22:19). Finally, in his pointing to the wine as the "blood of the covenant" (Matthew 26:28), Jesus showed that a New Covenant was being established, in a manner similar to that of Moses and the Levitical priests.

This is the second in a series of my summaries of various scholastic papers which were presented (and have not been published as of yet) at the "Love & Sacrifice: 2006 Letter & Spirit Conference," which I attended in Pittsburgh, PA. -- Tom Reagan