06/05/2025
PROTESTANTS: Jesus is the high priest. He is the head of the church.
๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ข๐ก๐ฆ๐:
First of all, Catholics totally agree that Jesus is the Head of the Church. The Scripture is clear: โChrist is the head of the body, the Churchโ (Col 1:18; cf. Eph 5:23). This was also taught in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 792 and 807), which means ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฎ๐๐ต๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ. So the claim that for Catholics the pope is the โheadโ instead of Jesus is a false accusation (cf. Ex 20:16).
The problem is when one thinks that the โheadโ metaphor is exclusive to Christ. In the Bible itself, the title โheadโ (Greek: โkephalฤโ) is not applied to Jesus alone. For example, 1 Corinthians 11:3 says, โthe head (kephalฤ) of a woman is her husband.โ Exodus 18:25 says Moses chose able men in Israel to be the โheadsโ (Hebrew: โroshโ) over the people. And 1 Chronicles 5:24 speaks of โheadsโ (rosh) of families and tribes.
Just like in modern usage, ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ that can be applied to different contexts and meanings without contradicting each other. They are not mutually exclusive. To give an example, Jesus is called the "living stone," yet the disciples are also called "living stones" (cf. 1 Peter 2:4-5). Both metaphors are true, and they don't contradict because they have different senses.
And that is the error of these so-called Bible scholars. They commit what is called โ๐๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐.โ In their attempt to discredit the office of papacy, they pit it against the ultimate and unquestionable authority, Jesus, and force their audience to make only one choice: Is the head of the Church Jesus or the pope? ๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฟ๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฝ, just like what the Pharisees and Sadducees did to Jesus (cf. Jn 8:3-6; Mt 22:17,23-28). The correct answer is bothโeach in its proper sense.
For Catholics, ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐น๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ of the Church. The Bible calls Jesus the โheadโ in relation to the Church, His Body. But when it comes to the pope, Catholics understand his headship in a different context: ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ โ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑโโthe human leaderโof the Church of Jesus on earth. As a Christian, the pope is part of the Body, the Church, but as the appointed leader and minister among the Christian people, the pope is the head. The headship of the pope does not replace or rival the ultimate Headship of Jesus. Indeed, the headship of the pope derives its power from, and is always subordinate to, the Headship of Christ.
Protestants often claim that only Jesus is their Head. Yet in practice, they follow and submit to the authority of their pastors, ministers, or leaders of their church or congregation. Many of them used to call the most senior pastor as โhead pastor.โ Moreover, if we ask them: โIf you lived in the first century, would you reject the headship of Peter, Paul, or any of the apostles because Jesus is the only Head?โโmost would say no. Even the Bible that they read, use, and revere was written by human beings (under God's inspiration). So, even Protestants follow human authority, whether they admit it or not.
Therefore, it is not a question of whether the โheadโ of the Church is Jesus or a human leader (because the correct answer can be both, in different senses). The real question is, ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ต๐๐บ๐ฎ๐ป ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ to govern the Church on His behalf? Because not everyone who claims to be a leader in the Church, no matter how biblically literate he may be, has real authority from Christ.
In the Bible, this authority is given not to random people but ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐๐น๐ฒ๐. In John 20:21, Jesus said to the apostles, โAs the Father has sent me, even so I send you.โ
๐ฆ๐๐ฏ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐๐น๐ฒ๐ is equivalent to ๐๐๐ฏ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ Himself. Jesus said in Luke 10:16, โHe who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.โ
Among the apostles, there is one whom the Lord appointed to be the leaderโPeter. In John 21:15-17, ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐, ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฑ, ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐๐๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฝ ๐๐ผ ๐ฃ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐น๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ, even though the other apostles were present. In other words, Peter was empowered to be the chief shepherd on behalf of Christ.
In Luke 22:31-32, Jesus said that Satan would like to entangle all the apostles, but ๐๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฃ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ถ๐น (a.k.a. infallibility). In turn, Peter will be the source of strength for all his brethren.
In Matthew 16:19, ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐๐๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ธ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ฑ๐ผ๐บ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ผ ๐ฃ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐น๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ. This is an allusion to Isaiah 22:22, where the keys of the kingdom of David were entrusted to Eliakim.
In David's kingdom, David is the king, but he has royal cabinet officers, and chief among them is Eliakim, who functions (1) as ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ (Hebrew: โha albayyitโ, โover the householdโ cf. Is 22:15) and (2) as โ๐ณ๐ฎ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟโ (Latin: โpapaโ cf. Is 22:21) in the land. Thus, by giving the keys, Jesus made Peter the new Prime Minister, the new "papa," who will administer the Kingdom on behalf of the King.
And just like in the kingdom of David, the office of Prime Minister can be passed ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ผ ๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ (cf. Is 22:15-22).
๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐: The holder of the keys of the kingdom of heaven acts like a โfather,โ a โpapa,โ a โpope.โ He is the source of strength of the brethren in the Church. He is the shepherd of the flock on behalf of the Good Shepherd. He is the administrator of the Kingdom on behalf of the King. And his office can be passed down to successors as long as the Kingdom stands. He is the one appointed by Jesus to be the visible leader of the Church. And yes, ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐๐ถ๐๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป since it was established by Jesus Himself.
๐ง๐ผ ๐๐๐บ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฒ: Jesus is the divine Head of the Church. And as Head, He appointed human โheadsโ to lead and govern the Church for Him, and chief among them is the pope, the holder of the keys of the kingdom. It is through Peter and the apostlesโand their successors, the pope and the bishopsโthat Jesus exercises His Headship over His Body, the Church. ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ-๐ข๐ฟ; ๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ต-๐๐ป๐ฑ.
*AI generated image*