| office or role | III. Priest | IV. King | V. Prophet |
| Each office plays a role in Old Testament Israel. | Israel's tribe of Levi's 'worship leaders' sacrifice at their meeting place, and are themselves God's and Israel's sacrifice (Num 8:5-22). They intercede, teach Torah, and discern and conserve Israel's holiness. |
Kings come to lead Israel's political order, even though Jewish monarchy is (mostly) a failure to trust God as king (1 Sam 8:1-22). However, King David, despite sinning, went "fully after God" (1 Kings 11:4-5, 2 Sam 6:14-23). God promised David an eternal restored 'house' or line of succession (Ps 89:4, 132:11, 1 Chron 17:11-14). |
Moses calls Israel to 'listen' (shema) and take YHWH to heart (Deut 6:4–9). Jewish prophecy centers in revolutionary 'speech-acts' (Jer 1:4-10, Hos 1, Jer 19:1-12, John 2:1-11)—shema statements, actions, and lifestyles that accounce loving promises, harsh accountability, and lavish restoration—often rejected (Jer 18:1-12). (Prophets' personal intentions are not decisive: Jonah 4:1-3, Caiaphas in John 11:45-53.) |
| Each faces a dilemma under the Torah's old covenant. | The blood required for cleansing (Ex 12:12, 24:8) cannot work (1 Sam 2, Isa 1:10-17, Mic 6:6-8, Heb 10:3-4). | How can the kingdom of Israel be reconciled to the Kingdom of God? | From Joshua onward, Israel awaits a "prophet like Moses" (Deut 18:15-19), but he does not arrive (Deut 34:10-12, cf. Acts 3:18-26). |
| Christ's mission fulfills each role. | Offer the necessary resources to reconcile the world to God (Col 1:19-20, Heb 9:14). | Restore the Kingdom of David as the Kingdom of God. | Announce and usher in the Kingdom (Isa 61:1-2 in Luke 4:18-22, Matt 25:31ff). |
| Each role features in Jesus' youth. | Luke casts Jesus' childhood in terms of righteous priesthood (as well as other offices; 1 Sam 2 in Luke 2). | This "son of David" (Matt 1:1-17) is born king (Matt 2:2). | The young Jesus is already a sign of God's favor and our rejection of it (Luke 2:12, 34-35) and resembles the prophet Samuel (1 Sam 2:1-10 in Luke 1:46-55, 1 Sam 2:26 in Luke 2:52). |
| Jesus' baptism inaugurates each role. | His baptism declares his Sonship (Ps 2:7 in Heb 5:5). | His baptism declares the Son God's heir (Ps 2). | The Spirit descends upon him, anointing him to proclaim (Isa 61:1-2 in Luke 4:16-21). |
| The devil pursues a counterstrategy in the wilderness temptations and later opponents. | Putting God to the test would make him just another faithless priest (Luke 4:9-12, Ps 91, Deut 6:16, Ex 17:2-7). | Rejecting God as King would make Jesus just another king like the Gentiles have (Luke 4:5-8/Ps 2:7-11, Deut 6:10-15). | 'Seeking a sign' with an opportunistic act like turning stones into bread would make Jesus just another false prophet (Luke 4:3-4, Deut 8:3; Matt 12:38-39). |
| In his ministry Jesus takes on each role ... | He teaches, cleanses, exorcises, heals, and even forgiving sins (Mark 1:21-2:12), all with unsurpassed authority. | Jesus' new covenant (arrangement, vow) heralds a new politics or order of right relationships (Matt 12:28/Luke 11:20, Luke 17:21). Jesus enacts it in calling twelve disciples, associating with outcasts (Mark 2:16), breaking tradition on his own prerogative (Mark 2:23-28, 7:1-13, Matt 11:19), inviting sinners to enter through his word rather than ritual repentance, and entering Jerusalem as its "king coming" (Mark 11:10, cf. Ps 118:26; Matt 21:5/John 12:15, cf. Zech 9:9). | Jesus' signs, wonders, and mighty deeds proclaim God's Reign, reveal the Father, and are misunderstood. |
| ... and reshapes it around him. | Jesus takes 'the Temple' with him, practicing 'offensive holiness' and then offering himself once for all. | Serving is how Jesus rules, especially in death (Mark 10:42-45). | Jesus is prophecy itself, God's very Word, God's definitive self-revelation (John 1:18, 1 John 1:1-4). |
| Each climaxes in Jesus' passion, especially his crucifixion. | The cross is a representative atonement (cf. Heb 10:12-13, Phil 2:5-11, 1 Cor 11:23-26) on behalf of both the righteous and gracious God and sinful and destitute humanity. | Jesus' parable of the vineyard (Mark 12:1-12), resurrection, and exaltation (John 12:27-36) interpret Rome's execution of "the king of the Jews" (Matt 27:11, 27:29, 27:37, 27:42) as deposing and conquering Israel's unrighteous rulers and glorifying its true Ruler. | Clearing the Temple (Isa 56:7 and Jer 7:11 in Luke 19:41-48) (and in John 11:38-53, raising Lazarus) lead to the cross as Israel's rejected prophet (1 John 4:9-12) |
| I see each one echoed in a family of later atonement theories: | Sacrifice or Reparation Jesus is the sacrifice that repairs the divine-human relationship. |
Victory (Christus Victor) Jesus conquered sin and death (Col 2:14-15, Rev 5:5, Luke 19:11-27, Gustav Aulén's Christus Victor). |
Moral Influence or Example Encountering Jesus' redemptive love changes our disposition and character (Rom 5:5-8, Acts 2:36-38, Heb 12:1-12) (Peter Abelard). |
| Each images sin and grace in particular ways. | Sin manifests as guilt, grace as forgiveness. | Sin manifests as rebellion and oppression, grace as amnesty and liberation. | Sin manifests as ignorance and concupiscence (disordered desire/craving), grace as revelation and inspiration (John 1:18, Rom 12:2, Phil 2:5). |
| Stories illustrate each: | The Passion of the Christ, The Iron Giant. | Prince of Egypt, Gran Torino—and Job (see 2:1-6, 42:7-10, John 12:27-33, Rev 12:7-11). | Spitfire Grill. |
| Specific Christian traditions favor each. | Catholicism and evangelical and Reformed Protestantism | the early church, Lutheranism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Pentecostalism, and liberation theology | broadly influential, especially in the early church, liberal Protestantism, and revivalism |
| NT writings develop themes in each. | A key term: Hilastêrion (Heb 9:5, Rom 3:25), meaning expiation (repayment; for guilt?) or propitiation (appeasement: for honor?). | Luke develops a detailed narrative theology of Jesus the victorious Son/heir of his Father's Kingdom. |
"The Son of Man must be lifted up" (John 3:14-15, after Numbers 21:4-9): Facing the cross saves us. |
| Each family includes variations. | Satisfaction (Anselm) (Heb 2:14-17); penal/vicarious substitution (Calvin; The Fundamentals). | Christ the healer; Christ the liberator; ransom theory (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe) where goodness' intolerable presence provokes futile opposition. | Jesus encounters us with saving revelation (dialectical theology in Barth, Bultmann). |
| Objections critique each theory of atonement, provoking some common answers. | Is Jesus qualified for priesthood? He isn't a Levite. So his priesthood is like Melchizedek's (Heb 7:14, Gen 14:17-20). Is the cross a lawful sin offering when he is killed by 'lawless' Romans, outside the city rather than in the Holy place? His offering happens in the heavens after his ascension (Heb 9:11-12). What is just about requiring or accepting Jesus' suffering? Athanasius and Anselm: It addresses the greater injustice of a creation lost to sin and unable to give its Creator he glory God deserves. Is this 'God' violent or cruel, rather than the God whom Jesus reveals? Jesus' warns of God's just judgment with sometimes violent imagery (Matt 21:41); and he, creation's judge, suffers it himself for his Father and for sinners (Isa 52:13-53:12 in Luke 22:37). Are all redeemed, or is atonement limited? It is limited regardless; even Arminians limit atonement, to sins besides unbelief and rejection, and God's offer of amnesty in Christ is limited in duration (2 Pet 3:9-10). Doesn't his resurrection accomplish a lot too? (Rom 4:25, 5:10, 8:34). Hebrews does see the risen Christ offering his blood in heaven (9:11-12), but sacrificial theory does seem to restrict his saving work to his death. Other compatible theories more fully respect his resurrection's saving work. |
Does it pay too much 'respect' or even deference to Satan? "The kingdom suffers violence" (Matt 11:12): It respects the centrality of opposition and conflict and the power of Jesus' and his followers' response. If Christ defeated opponents, isn't all of humanity defeated? (cf. Luke 20:36) Atonement seems to involve more than just that victory; other aspects of atonement would explain how opponents such as Saul can become beneficiaries and agents of salvation. If Christ defeated 'the power' of sin, aren't all humans saved from our slavery to sin? (cf. Luke 19:26-27). Jesus repeatedly describes mortal consequences for stubborn rebels, so the objection misunderstands the nature of the victory. Does liberation really solve our problem? Israel's later history shows that being freed from Pharaoh's oppression wasn't its only, or deepest, need (cf. Ex 15:21-17:7). Other aspects of atonement address those needs more clearly than victory alone. |
The following objections all suggest that the theory is inadequate on its own, though it may strengthen a more complex picture. Why do the cross's witnesses miss its significance and revile him? (Mark 15:29-32). Is salvation merely psychological? Is crucifixion truly required for this change, or just some display of love? Can human attitudinal change reverse all of sin's effects? What 'love' would crucifixion express if it is primarily symbolic? |
| The ascended Christ continues to work in each role ... | The risen Jesus ratified the new covenant (Heb 9:11-28) that removes our sin (9:26-10:25), and he lives to intercede for God's people (7:22-25) forever as high priest (2:18). | Pentecost shows (Acts 2:33-36) the ascended Christ reigning at the Father's right hand (Ps 110). His disciples' evangelism continues to proclaim, prove, and exercise Christ's rule over every nation and kingdom. | Jesus is the living Word (John 1:1-18, Rev 19:13), who still acts and teaches (Acts 1:1). |
| ... through his Spirit-gifted church ... | His 'royal priesthood' (Isa 61:6 in Rev 1:5-6, 5:10, 1 Pet 2:5-9) shares his "power of the keys" (Rev 1:18, Matt 16:18-19, John 20:23, Vatican seal) and teaches from within his living temple (Eph 4:11-12). | Jesus grants the things that happen through his disciples in his name (Acts 1:1, 4:29, 14:3), shares his rule with us (Luke 22:28-30, Rev 3:21, 5:10) as fellow servant-heirs (Rom 8:15-17) doing his royal business (Luke 20:11-27) as apostles and shepherds (Eph 4:11-12). | Christ's poured-out Spirit inspires his prophets (Acts 2:18, 1 Cor 11:5, John 16:12-15, Eph 4:11-12) with whom Jesus speaks clearly (Num 12:6-8; Mark 4:11-12, John 16:29). Their speech-acts include proclamation, prophecies, words of knowledge, symbolic actions, and 'shema' lifestyles that multiply his impact (John 14:12). |
| ... aided by APEST roles(s) from Eph 4:11-16: | teachers | apostles, evangelists, shepherds | prophets |
| Christ's completes each role in his future return (parousia, 'appearing'). | Jesus is the temple of the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:22, 27). | Jesus will come again to judge all things (and we judge with him, 1 Cor 6:3), and to grant us to reign with him forever (Rev 22:1-5). |
Jesus' words open the final act (Rev 5:1-5) that defeats sin forever (Rev 19:15). |