Why would the Church create High Priests again if Jesus Himself made it not needed anymore?

Question

I don't understand, Jesus came and didn't like how these priests were the only one's who could talk to God and how they made it so that all people had to go through them to speak to God.

Well Jesus Himself got rid of that within Christianity, yet not even 400 later, they started to say that to get forgiveness, you had to go through a priest, how??? Didn't Jesus come to destroy that thinking in people?

Answer 1

Because once again, people are following other parts of the Bible instead of what Jesus actually taught.  They also have an interpretation problem with Jesus' own words.  It's not much different then today.

Answer 2

Buddha did not wish for there to be relics and idols for worship, yet his followers seemed to have ignored this.  Obviously we can debate about whether any of this is true, but even if it is, religion itself is about power and power has also perpetuated the flow of religious ideas.  The irony; you might not be Christian today if it hadn't been spread in some of the most un-Christian ways.

Answer 3

1 John 1:9

9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

It does not say that we need someone else to be forgiven. We need only accept Jesus and ask ourselves.

Answer 4

Jesus said to look to the "high priests" for lessons and understanding.  He said to not do as the "high priests" do.

Jesus never "got rid" of "high priests".  In fact, he built the Church upon Peter and the disciples.  And, they passed down the Church to others.

16 Matthew 18:19

So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my community. And the gates of the underworld can never overpower it.  I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven: whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.'  

The early first and second-century Christians (directly taught by Peter and the disciples) that confession to the Church leader was requirement for forgiveness of sins.  It is a little presumptuous to think that the early Christians (for the first 1,600 years) had it all wrong and you have it right.

Answer 5

They didn't get the memo

Answer 6

The Catholic Catechism (#1441) says "Only God can forgive sins" and cites Mark 2:7.  (This also follows from Psalm 51:4, where David confesses to God "Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight").

The Catechism goes on to say  "Further, by virtue of his divine authority, he Jesus gives this power to men to exercise in his name".  And this is quite Biblical: After his resurrection, Jesus passed on his mission to forgive sins to his ministers, telling them "'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven'" (John 20:21-23).  Because it's done in the name of Jesus, it's God who does the forgiving.

The priests have this ministry because Jesus gave it only to the apostles (John 20:19-23), who then have passed it on through apostolic succession.  Similarly, see James 5:14-15, where it is the elders (priests) that are called for and that provide for the forgiveness of sins.

Answer 7

A Catholic does not go through a priest in order to pray to God.  If you go to a Catholic Mass, you will see and hear people praying directly to God.  Additionally, Catholics pray to God individually.  One very famous example of this is the prayer of St. Francis:

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love;

for it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.

If Jesus did not want people to come to a priest to confess sins, why did He give His disciples the power and authority to forgive and retain sins?  

It is very important that Jesus gave His disciples the authority to retain sins.  We all know that unless a person is truly repentant, his or her sins are not forgiven.  A person can easily delude themself in thinking that he or she is repentant enough.  That person may not actually be very repentant, yet he or she is convinced that his or her sins are forgiven.  A person needs to go to some independent, impartial judge to know if he or she is repentant.  

If a person is not repentant, his or her sins are not forgiven.  The priest makes that determination.

Answer 8

That is true. It's wrong for the catholics to go to the priests to ask for forgiveness when all you gotta do is pray to Jesus yourself.

Answer 9

Because the ones you speak of are not of God!

Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father EXCEPT THROUGH ME."

Jesus is our ONLY High Priest! There is no other. God is not about religion. He is about a personal relationship. Man has made God about religion. Jesus warned them, but they did not heed His warning. They put themselves ABOVE God, and make their own rules and regulations. That is religion. And I surely wouldn't want to be in their shoes on Judgement day!  God Bless

Answer 10

That was one of the main reasons I left the Catholic church when I was 17.

Answer 11

Jesus was never a Christian, he had nothing to do with Christianity, it was your buddy Paul (Saul of Tarsus) who marketed that religion in the name of Jesus.

Paul created the middle man, Jesus through whom you were required to go to get to god.

Answer 12

You're correct! Back then only the Levites could be priests and only they could speak to God on behalf of the people. That was God's plan from the Old Testament until the Savior came. Once the Savior (Jesus) died, the veil of the Holy of Holies was torn in two symbolizing that access to God was now open to all people directly. 1 Peter 2:4-10 tell us that we (believers) are now "priests" in that we have direct access to the Father. We no longer have to go through an intermediary.  

Answer 13

myth

Answer 14

You are quite correct.

The New Testament makes this clear.

I guess some people stopped reading the Bible.