Authority of the Church
Matthew 10:40 : He that receiveth you, receiveth me: and he that receiveth me, receiveth him that sent me.
Jesus sent His apostles and gave them His authority.
Matthew 16:18-19 : And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.
Notice that Jesus didn't tell Peter or anyone else to build His Church. Jesus said that He Himself will build His Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Then Jesus told Peter that He "will give to thee the keys ...". The keys of the kingdom of heaven were given ONLY to Peter. The word thee is the personal pronoun of the second person singular, so thee was addressed to Peter alone, not to all twelve apostles.
Matthew 18:15-18 : But if thy brother shall offend against thee, go, and rebuke him between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou shalt gain thy brother. And if he will not hear thee, take with thee one or two more: that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may stand. And if he will not hear them: tell the church. And if he will not hear the church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican. Amen I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven.
The Lord Jesus instructed us to settle differences, offenses, disagreements in private between ourselves first. If we can't then we'll need the help of a few witnesses. If things are still not resolved then we should bring it to the Church, which according to the words of Jesus Christ, has the final authority.
Matthew 23:1-3 : Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples, Saying: The scribes and the Pharisees have sitten on the chair of Moses. All things therefore whatsoever they shall say to you, observe and do: but according to their works do ye not. For they say, and do not.
Despite the scribes' and the Pharisees' hypocrisy, Jesus still commanded his disciples to obey their authority. Again, Jesus has never promised us to give us perfect leaders, they are in the position of authority nonetheless.
Matthew 28:16-20 : And the eleven disciples went into Galilee, unto the mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And seeing him they adored: but some doubted. And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Going therefore, teach ye all nations: baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world
Observe that after His resurrection, Jesus commanded his eleven disciples and gave them authority to teach. Followers of Christ should obey their teaching.
Luke 9:1 : Then calling together the twelve apostles, he gave them power and authority over all devils and to cure diseases.
Jesus gave His power and authority to the Twelve, not to all.
Luke 10:16 : He that heareth you heareth me: and he that despiseth you despiseth me: and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.
We are to listen to those that Jesus appointed in His Church to teach us in spiritual matters. Notice that Jesus never promised us that people who teach us would be perfect people.
Luke 10:19 : Behold, I have given you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions and upon all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall hurt you.
Divine protection is given to them.
John 20:21-23 : He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent me, I also send you. When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them: and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.
The apostles were sent by Jesus, they didn't send themselves. The Lord Jesus gave them the authority to forgive sins.
Acts 2:42 : And they were persevering in the doctrine of the apostles and in the communication of the breaking of bread and in prayers.
If the apostles had no authority then why were people persevering in the doctrines of the apostles ?
Acts 9:7-19 : And the Lord said to him: Arise and go into the city; and there it shall be told thee what thou must do. Now the men who went in company with him stood amazed, hearing indeed a voice but seeing no man. 8 And Saul arose from the ground: and when his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. But they, leading him by the hands, brought him to Damascus. 9 And he was there three days without sight: and he did neither eat nor drink. 10 Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias. And the Lord said to him in a vision: Ananias, And he said: Behold I am here, Lord. 11 And the Lord said to him: Arise and go into the street that is called Strait and seek in the house of Judas, one named Saul of Tarsus. For behold he prayeth. 12 (And he saw a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hands upon him, that he might receive his sight.) 13 But Ananias answered: Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints in Jerusalem. 14 And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that invoke thy name. 15 And the Lord said to him: Go thy way: for this man is to me a vessel of election, to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 16 For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. 17 And Ananias went his way and entered into the house. And laying his hands upon him, he said: Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus hath sent me, he that appeared to thee in the way as thou camest, that thou mayest receive thy sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost. 18 And immediately there fell from his eyes as it were scales: and he received his sight. And rising up, he was baptized. 19 And when he had taken meat, he was strengthened. And he was with the disciples that were at Damascus, for some days.
Even though St Paul has received his authority and ministry directly from Jesus Christ, we see in verse 12 that St Paul still had to submit himself to the authority of the Church that Christ established. Verse 7 tells us that the Lord Jesus Himself ordered St Paul to go meet Ananias, who imposed his hands upon St Paul and baptized him.
Acts 16:4 : And as they passed through the cities, they delivered unto them the decrees for to keep, that were decreed by the apostles and ancients who were at Jerusalem.
If the apostles issued decrees to be kept, weren't they the authority of the early Church ?
1 Corinthians 11:2 : Now I praise you, brethren, that in all things you are mindful of me and keep my ordinances as I have delivered them to you.
St. Paul praised those who obeyed his authority.
2 Thessalonians 2:15 : Therefore, brethren, stand fast: and hold the traditions, which you have learned, whether by word or by our epistle.
St Paul used his authority to command Thessalonians to obey the teachings of the infant Church whether by words of mouth or by written words.
1 Timothy 3:15 : But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
The Church is called the pillar and the foundation of the truth.
Philemon 1:8-9 Wherefore, though I have much confidence in Christ Jesus to command thee that which is to the purpose: For charity sake I rather beseech, whereas thou art such a one, as Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also of Jesus Christ.
St Paul knew he had the authority to give orders to the faithful.
Hebrews 13:7-8 : Remember your prelates who have spoken the word of God to you: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation, Jesus Christ, yesterday, and today: and the same for ever.
We are reminded to remember our leaders who teach us the word of God.
Hebrews 13:17 : Obey your prelates and be subject to them. For they watch as being to render an account of your souls: that they may do this with joy and not with grief. For this is not expedient for you.
If we are to obey those who are responsible for our souls, aren't these leaders representing the authority of the Church ?
1 John 4:6 : We are of God. He that knoweth God heareth us. He that is not of God heareth us not. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
He who obeys the authority of the Church, obeys God.
The above list of quotes of the Sacred Scripture is by no means exhaustive. I have selected only the texts that I believe are so obvious.
Unless otherwise indicated, all biblical texts are quoted from the Douay-Rheims Bible.
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