“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— … I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. – Deuteronomy 18:15,18-19
At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” 32 And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. 33 Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ 34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 35 Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’” – Luke 13:31-35
And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes. – Matthew 7:28-29
And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet. – Matthew 21:10-11, 46
So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. 14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” – John 6:13-14
On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. 40 When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.” – John 7:37-40
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth… For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. – John 1:1,14,16-18
Under the old covenant, there were three recognized anointed offices, that of Prophet, Priest, and King. Each of these offices was typical of Christ, and he comes to us as all three, Christ the Prophet, Christ the Priest, and Christ the King. Over the next few weeks, we will look at these three offices of Christ to understand him and his work better and what it means to us today. Today, we look at Christ as The Prophet.
Christ, as The Prophet, was prophesied by Moses. He would be “like Moses.”
Moses was the most significant prophet of the Old Testament era. He was used to perform the most and greatest miracles in Old Testament history, from the plagues of Egypt to the deliverance of Israel through the Red Sea and the judgment of Egypt’s army; from the water from the Rock for Israel to his face shining with the glory of God, from the giving of God’s law to eventually shepherding the people through the desert and into the promised land, even though Moses wasn’t allowed to go in himself because of his sin.
Jesus Christ, as the prophet like Moses, was the greatest miracle worker of all time, delivering people from disease, demons, and death. He not only spoke the word of God, he is the Word of God. He was tested in the desert for forty days like Israel for forty years and overcame the adversary. He has overcome the last enemy, death, and is the firstfruits to enter into the final promised land through the resurrection. As God promised Moses, “I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. 7 I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians” (Exodus 6:6-7), so Jesus says, “I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me…All mine are yours, and yours are mine…I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me…Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world (John 17:8,10,20-21,24).
He is our God, and we are His people. Israel saw the glory of God in the face of Moses; we get to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ through the Scriptures. We, in turn, are changed from one stage of glory to another stage of glory by the Spirit of the Lord, ultimately being conformed to the image of The Prophet, Jesus Christ.
