OFFICES OF CHRIST.— As the specific offices of Clirisl are handled in this work under their several heads, the treatment in the present article will be general.
Etymologically the word ' office' is from officium, the shorter form of opifi'jum, the root meaning of which is 'a doing of a work' (Gr. 9r/)ajisi. The meaning of officium l»eing wide enough to incltide any service or kindness, a more precise connota- tion is supplied by miaiui. the technical term em- ployed by writers like Calvin to describe the capital functions dis<hargeil by Christ. In the Bible the word is nowliere used of Christ's work, though it occurs in other connexions in OT (^"^1 and in NT {diaKovia, Ro IT^ [RV ' ministry""],
* The most frequent application of the t«rm was not to com- missioners in the army or navy, but to petty officers of justice, as in 'sheriffs officer,' 'peace officer.' It is this usage that is reflected in the NT.
a-pifts, Ro 12^;. The id-cj, liowever, abounds in connexion with the Jewish Messiah and the Christ of the Gospel. Under the OT dispensation the three principal offices were those of prophet, priest, and king ; and " the innermost pulse, so to speak, of the history of prophecy is to be found in the eti'ort to interweave these three offices together, and to contemplate them in the Messianic image instead of in their distribution among several persons' (Dorner, System of Chris f. Docf. iii. 388 1. Jesus, being the ilessiau, fulfilled these three offices, as the supreme prophet, arch-priest, and Divine king. So repeatedly does He appear in these capacities in the NT, tdat it would be super- fluous to enumerate foci.
Passing to theologj-, we may find beginnings of the official conception of Christ in the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, Eusebius, Gregory of Nyssa, etc. Thomas Aquinas dei>arts from the triple division of the offices, and makes them coincide with the two states of humiliation and exaltation ; the high-priestly office, to which the prophetic is merely introductory, coinciding with the state of humiliation, while the kingly Ls to be reserved for the state of exaltation (Dorner, op. cif. iii. 391). Discussions as to the relations of Christ's two natures ( Eutychians and Nestoriansi involved difierent views as to the way in which He per- formed official functions. But it was the Reforma- tion, magnifj"ing the sufficiency of Christ in everj" capacity, that was most fruitful in the exposition of His offices.
* The theologians of the Lutheran Church,' writes Hagenhach, 'further developed the loctu de pertona Otrieti hr distingiiish- ing between three different srenera of the eommunieatio idio- matum, which were brought into connexion with the two states of Christ's exaltation and hunuliatiou (gtatui fjcaitationit et exinanitionuy. To this they added the theory of the three offices of Christ, viz. the prophetical, priestly, and kingly offices. These definitions owed their origin in part to temporary con- troversies within the Lutheran Church, such as the controversy between the theologians of Giesen and those of Tubingen, at the commencement of the 17th cent., concerning the 2£>im-<; and xfy:,j; of the Divine attributes, and the controversy carried on by JE^inus in a previous century respecting the deteensu* Chri'iti ad uijeroi' (Compend. of Hift. of iM-ctrinet, Buch's tr. p. 317). Those of Tiibingen said that Christ in His humiliation pos9^sed omnipotence, omnipresence, etc., but that these attributes were concealed ; whereas those of Giessen said that Christ laid these prer<«ratives aside. j;pinus said that Christ's soil] suffered the punishments of hell while His body lay in the grave, whereas Cal\-in said that the only heU suffered by Christ was anguish of soul. Tbe Lutherans, again, held that Christ's visit to hen was a part of His exaltation. Such controversies had a reflex influence upon ways of stating how Christ exer- cised His offices. Our subject is admirably treated by Calvin in the second book of his Itutitut^i, Christ's priesthood being maarnified as against Romish usurpations (ch. xv.). Aiminius is especially full and interesting in the present connexion. • Two thinas,' he w-rites, ' were necessary on Christ's part : that He shouldundertake some offices for the sake of men to obtain eternal salvation for them, and that God should bestow upon Him dominion or lordship over aD things' (Primte Digputa- li/nu, Nichols's tr. iL p. SSCt). Both these things were compre- hended under the titie of Savioiir and Mediator. In respect of Christ's priesthood, the preparation consisted ip impoation of office, sanclification by the Spirit, obedience, sifferings and death, and resurrectio'n : and the discharge of the office con- sisted in His offering His body and Mood. Re Christ's prophetic office, .\rminius raise<i the question as to whether He received knowledge from the Logos as well as from the Holy Spirit. The functions of Christ's Ungly offic-e were legislation, giving of remission of sins and of grace, and judgment- The results of Christ's official work are the gathering of the Church, the obedience of His people, the actual remission of sins, resurrec- tion from the dead, and life etemaL The means of Christ's rule are His Church, Word, and Holy Spirit. To all this the corollar>- is that no one is admitted even subordinately to participation in Christ's proper offices ; therefore no pope can be tolerated.
The ir^.,«f»u"»M**r Con/etHon of Faith contains a chapter (viiL) 'Of Christ the Mediator,' from which we give the third section. ' The Lord Jesus, in His human nature thus united to the Divine, was sanoTifi«l and anointed with the Holy Spirit above measure ; having in Him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge: in whom it pleased the Father that all fulness should dwell : to the end that being holy, harmless, undefiled, and full of grace and truth. He migit be' thoroughly furnished to execute the office of a Mediator and Surety. Which office He took not unto Himself, but was thereunto caDed by Hia