Difficult Being Pinchas

The actions of Pinchas were met with a great deal of controversy. The Yerushalmi in Sanhedrin said that there were those who wished to excommunicate Pinchas for his actions. If not for Hashem letting everyone know that he was granted כהונת עולם, priesthood forever, they may have acted incorrectly. Until that point, he was not officially a Kohein. The sons of Aharon were given priesthood when Pinchas was alive and he was not included until he did his heroic act. Despite the fact that Pinchas goes down in history as a great hero, it should be understood that he was on a very high level. One cannot take the law into his hands as Pinchas did, unless he is on that level of sanctity. It is highly unlikely that there exists anyone in this world like that. After all, Pinchas and אליהו הנביא were one and the same.