Both Catholic and Protestant Christians believe that Christ’s sacrifice of Calvary provides atonement for our sins, yet Protestants teach that Jesus “finished” his redemptive work on the cross (John 19:30) and that we can access his related reservoir of grace thereafter through prayer.
In marked contrast, Catholic doctrine teaches that Jesus’ one sacrifice culminated in everlasting glory at his ascension in fulfilling the Day of Atonement/Yom Kippur sacrifices (Heb. 9:11-12; see also Lev. 16), so that Jesus retains his priesthood in always offering his one sacrifice to the Father in the heavenly sanctuary on our behalf (Heb. 7:23-25, 8:1-3; see also 5:1).
In addition, as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29, 35), Jesus also fulfills the Old Covenant Passover sacrifice (John 19:36; 1 Cor. 5:7), enabling his Church to offer anew and partake of his self-offering at every Mass, as heaven and earth unite in carrying out his New Covenant Passover command to do this in remembrance of him (Luke 22:19-20). We receive his body and blood under the appearances of bread and wine—i.e., according to the order of Melchizedek (Gen. 14:18-20).
What’s finished, and what continues?
There is no doubt that Jesus’ suffering to atone for our sins is over, and that he dies only once (Heb. 9:28). But did Jesus complete his one paschal sacrifice when he died? Or even when he rose from the dead?
Consider the exchange between Jesus and Mary Magdalene on the day of his resurrection, when she recognizes him:
Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God” (John 20:16-17).
Thus, as great as Easter is—and indeed, Easter is the high point of the Church’s liturgical year—Jesus conveys to Mary that he has something left to do.
What could that be?
Jesus is referencing the Old Covenant sacrifices of the Day of Atonement and their fulfillment in him. In the Old Covenant, as prescribed in Leviticus 16, there were two phases of these sacrifices:
- First phase—the slaughter of the bull (for priest’s sins) and a goat (for people’s sins) on the Temple’s altar of sacrifice, which was located in the courtyard in front of the tabernacle that housed the holies and the innermost room, the holy of holies or most holy place.
- Second phase—the high priest would take the blood of the bull and one goat through the holies into the holy of holies . . . and sprinkle that blood on and before the mercy seat of God atop the Ark of the Covenant.
God is everywhere, yet he manifested his presence most intimately on earth in the holy of holies, so that only the high priest could enter the most holy place, and only once a year. Entrance by anyone under any other circumstance would result in death (Lev. 16:1-2; Num. 3:10, 18:7), illustrating the rupture in communion between God and man that Jesus would come to remedy (Luke 23:45).
Jesus fulfills the Day of Atonement sacrifices
Jesus’ fulfillment of these sacrifices also has two phases:
- First phase (earthly phase)—passion, death, and resurrection.
- Second phase (heavenly phase)—ascension and culmination in heaven.
However, Jesus takes not the blood of goats and calves into a sanctuary made by hands—i.e., according to the Old Covenant prescriptions at the Temple, but “his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption” in the heavenly sanctuary (Heb. 9:11-12).
What is the prime function of a priest? To offer gifts and sacrifices for sin (Heb. 5:1). Scripture affirms that Jesus holds his priesthood permanently (Heb. 7:23-25) and that as a priest, he must have something that he offers (present tense) in heaven, as Hebrews 8:1-3 attests.
Here our Protestant friends encounter a Catch-22. If Jesus is offering a new sacrifice is heaven, then his sacrifice of Calvary isn’t truly “once for all” (Heb. 7:27). And yet because he is offering a sacrifice, we unmistakably see that he continues to offer his one and only sacrifice in heaven, which is what Hebrews 9:11-12 affirms regarding his ascent to and entrance into the heavenly sanctuary. And so Jesus intercedes for us now with the Father (Heb. 9:23-24), as the Lamb who bears the marks of his passion and death, yet stands in triumph because of his Resurrection and Ascension (Rev. 5:6)!
In short, all this explains why Jesus tells Mary Magdalene not to hold him, because the totality of his sacrifice was not completed with his passion, death, and resurrection, and that his ascension not merely “the heavenly ride home” after finishing his salvific work. Nor was that work finished when Jesus sent the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, when he fully empowered his Church, which continues to offer anew Christ’s one sacrifice in remembrance of him.
But wait, there’s more!
So we see that a sacrifice is not necessarily limited to a victim’s death. Indeed, a self-sacrifice can continue—in this case, when the victim rises from the dead and ascends into heaven! In Jesus’ case, his sacrifice is the ultimate “gift that keeps on giving”—forever! Christ’s enabling us to offer anew his one sacrifice means that the propitiatory character of his sacrifice—its power to remit the sins we daily commit—is applied at each and every offering of the sacrifice of the Mass (CCC 1366-1367).
As noted above, Jesus is the New Covenant Passover Lamb. And as in the Old Covenant, which is a communion sacrifice, we both offer and partake of that one Lamb (John 6:51-58).
But how does Jesus’ one sacrifice become present here on earth at every Mass? We’ll explore that soon, in addressing biblical remembrance and the Mass. And then we’ll examine the importance of Christ’s being “a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (Heb. 5:6), which will tie everything together.
But know this for now: in the sacrifice of the Mass, what culminated in everlasting glory in the heavenly sanctuary becomes present here on earth . . . under the sacramental forms of bread and wine—i.e., according to the order of Melchizedek, in remembrance of Jesus (1 Cor. 11:23-25; see Heb. 5:7-10). So what we can offer anew and partake of at each and every Mass is indeed that one, selfsame sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Recall the words of the Lord’s Prayer: “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Nowhere more profoundly fulfilled are those words of the Lord’s Prayer . . . than in the Mass!