A Prophet, Among Other Things
Who is Jesus? • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 2 viewsThis message deals with the idea that Jesus was a prophet.
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Saying goodbye is common in the English language. Have you ever considered where the word came from?
The origin of the word “goodbye,” is from a contraction of God be with ye (late 14c.), influenced by good-day or good evening.
Saying goodbye is a way in which we are blessing another: “May God be with you.”
Recently I ran across a blessing with which some of you are familiar. It is known as both a traditional Irish blessing and an ancient Celtic prayer:
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.
In our passage this morning, Jesus was saying goodbye to His disciples. Although I’m sure He knew that He would rise from the dead, nevertheless, His disciples had not fully embraced that idea. He was preparing them for His departure.
As part of the Upper Room Discourse, that monologue that Jesus shared before going to the cross, Jesus is encouraging the twelve.
And in these words, we find that...
Jesus reveals His role as God’s prophet.
Jesus reveals His role as God’s prophet.
What’s interesting is that He is the one doing the encouraging. He tells them to trust God. And that He would return for them. And He makes an assumption in John 14:4
4 And you know the way to where I am going.”
But at this, Thomas objects and says in John 14:5
5 “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”
At this, Jesus answers the question in a most incredible way in verse six. John 14:6-7
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
Here, Christ is speaking in an illustrative way. He essentially says: “Whatever you’ve seen me doing and heard from Me, you’ve seen the Father doing, and have heard from Him.” In other words, the members of the Trinity are always united; always on the same page and working together.
Philip then asks what appears to be a “no brainer.” John 14:8
8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”
To this, Jesus puts Philip on the spot and questions his intelligence. John 14:9-10
9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.
And so here, Christ defines Himself as a prophet, a spokesperson for God.
In the Old Testament, prophets were leaders of the people, and those who would speak God’s message.
In the Old Testament, prophets were leaders of the people, and those who would speak God’s message.
Moses being the first; John the Baptist being the last. In some cases, they foretold the future. In all cases, their lives were living messages and demonstrations of God calling His people back to covenantal faithfulness. Their primary message was “repent and return to God.”
Christ is the ultimate prophet. Jesus has often been referred to as prophet, priest and king.
He is our prophet in that He has spoken the words of God.
He is our priest in that He made the ultimate sacrifice in offering His life for us.
He is our king in that He is Lord of our lives and we owe Him the utmost allegiance.
The Heidelberg Catechism, published in Germany in 1563, written to unite Protestant churches in Europe, asks “Why is he called Christ, that is, the anointed one?” Its answer:
“Because he is ordained by God the Father and anointed with the Holy Spirit to be our chief Prophet and Teacher, fully revealing to us the secret purpose and will of God concerning our redemption.”
To this, G.I. Williamson states:
“When Christ finally did come, he saw himself- and was seen by his inspired apostles- as the one who fulfilled all that was seen only to a limited degree in the best among the Old Testament prophets, priests and kings. In the ultimate sense, the Lord Jesus Christ is the final Prophet, the final Priest, and the eternal King. In him (the offices) reach their fulfillment.” (G.I. Williamson, The Heidelberg Catechism: A Study Guide, 57-58).
Deuteronomy 18 refers to God raising a prophet like Moses from among God’s people.
15 “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— 16 just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ 17 And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. 18 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.
So a prophet was a spokesperson for God, given by God, because the people were too afraid to dialogue with God themselves.
In this way, Jesus is the Father’s effort to communicate and minister to us.
Jesus is referred to in Acts 3, as the fulfillment of that prophet that God would raise up after Moses, spoken of in Deuteronomy 18. The writer of Acts interprets this prophet as none other than Jesus Christ. Acts 3:26
26 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”
Jesus, in addition to being your Redeemer, is the One who speaks into your life.
Jesus, in addition to being your Redeemer, is the One who speaks into your life.
God is under no obligation to communicate with us. But in His grace and mercy, is happy to reveal His will to us.
And so to understand Jesus as the prophet par excellence, we must consider His preaching ministry. And in His preaching ministry, the main focus was announcing the Kingdom of God. As one commentator stated:
“The entire ministry of Jesus is understood in relation to this important declaration of the presence of the kingdom. His ethical teachings cannot be understood apart from the announcement of the kingdom. Participation in the new reality of the kingdom involves a follower of Jesus in a call to the highest righteousness.” (Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 730).
So He is NOT just a prophet, but THE prophet, the One who explains God and is His mouthpiece. John 1:18
18 No one has ever seen God; God the only Son, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
The early disciples knew this and responded. Notice what Peter said of Jesus’ messages in John 6:67-68
67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life… .”
I’ve always felt that those words of Peter are some of the most inspiring in the Bible. It reminds me what I am called to do; to present Christ’s words of life to all who will listen.
Jesus speaks into your life when you study the Bible.
Jesus speaks into your life when you study the Bible.
In what ways does Jesus speak prophetically into your life? How does Jesus and His word still function as a prophet to you? Remember from last week Revelation 19:10: “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
The following are just a few ways that Scripture, and thus, Christ speaks into your life. I use Psalm 119 as an example. First, we see that the word...
It convicts you. Psalm 119:59
59 When I think on my ways,
I turn my feet to your testimonies;
It teaches you. Psalm 119:18
18 Open my eyes, that I may behold
wondrous things out of your law.
It encourages you: Psalm 119:24
24 Your testimonies are my delight;
they are my counselors.
I recall as a teenager, a pastor told me to “Go home and read the Psalms.”
It guides you. Psalm 119:10
10 With my whole heart I seek you;
let me not wander from your commandments!
It brings comfort to you. I remember as a teenager, going through a difficult time. My pastor, knowing this, said to me: “David, go home and read the Psalms. They will minister to you.” He was right. Psalm 119:28
28 My soul melts away for sorrow;
strengthen me according to your word!
It sanctifies you. In other words it purifies you and sets you apart for God’s service. Psalm 119:11
11 I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
There are stories of people that have checked into a motel, planning to take their life, only to receive salvation and trusting Christ, having read from a Gideon’s Bible.
I used to be a tough, hard-nosed businessman happy to tread on anyone to get where I was going. Right from the beginning, I was programmed for success.
As a partner in a successful IT firm, I travelled all over the world – especially in Australia – so I stayed in many, many hotels over the years. Hundreds. But something was always missing in my life. All that I had – my career, my financial success – never satisfied me.
And every now and then, when there was nothing on TV in my hotel room, I’d pull a Gideon’s Bible out of the top drawer of the bedside table wherever I was staying. That’s how God started speaking to me – it’s how He grabbed my attention.
I remember one time in a Brisbane hotel, standing on the 8th floor balcony looking down at the concrete driveway below.
I was being pulled in two directions. My loss and grief and desperation were calling me over the edge. And somehow, through what I’d read in that Gideon’s Bible the night before, God was calling me back inside to pray.
I went inside, knelt down at my bed – just as I had done as a child – and said “Lord if you’re out there, now would be a really good time.” Those were my exact words. That’s all I had. And that’s all it took for God to wrap His loving arms around me.
The man’s name is Berni Dymet, an Australian minister who has a radio ministry reaching over 1,000 stations and 160 countries with the good news of Christ.
John Flavel was a English Puritan Presbyterian minister (d. 1691) in 17th century England. He would preach messages that were not afraid to make people uncomfortable. One day, an elderly farmer by the name of Luke Short, recalled a sermon that he heard Flavel preach. Mr. Short was nearing 100 years old. But so overcome with conviction and being afraid of dying under the curse of God, that he committed His life to Christ.
On another occasion there was a young man who entered a bookstore in England asking for something worthwhile to read. The shop owner gave him a copy of Flavel’s treatise “On Keeping the Heart.” At first, the young customer scoffed, but eventually took it, only to return in a months’ time saying that God used it to save his soul!
Conclusion: God speaks to you through Jesus and through His word.
Conclusion: God speaks to you through Jesus and through His word.
What will you do with that message?
Will you read, listen and apply?
Will you answer His invitation to come and follow?
Or will you be offended and turn aside, disregarding His care and love for you?
Will you pay attention to other voices, other messages, that are not from God.
How you respond to Jesus says something about your love; your worship and what/who you consider to be of utmost importance.
There’s an old Anglican prayer that I came across about a month ago, that should belong to each of us as we seek to follow Jesus.
“Father, what we know not, teach us;
what we have not, give us;
what we are not, make us;
for the sake of your Son our Savior. Amen.”
