THREEFOLD OFFICE OF CHRIST
Many notable people have commented on Jesus’ place as the most famous, important, and significant person in history:
• “I am an historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history.”—H. G. Wells
• “I know men and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between Him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creation of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded His empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him.”—Napoleon Bonaparte
• “Man’s ultimate destiny depends not on whether he can learn new lessons or make new discoveries and conquests, but on the acceptance of the lesson taught him close upon two thousand years ago.”—Inscription at the entrance of the Rockefeller Center, New York City
It’s Christmas time. We are celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Why did the Son of God come to earth?
In the OT, there were three major offices in Israel: (1) prophet, (2) priest, and (3) king. The prophet spoke for God; the priest served for God; the king ruled for God. When a person was chosen for one of these offices, he was anointed with oil (e.g. David, 1 Samuel 16:13).
The NT presents Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ. “Christ” means “the anointed one.” Jesus once claimed that He was the fulfillment of Isaiah 61:1: “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners” (cf. Luke 4:16-21). Jesus was not anointed with oil; He was anointed with the Holy Spirit. Oil is actually a biblical symbol of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus was baptized, “the Spirit descended on him like a dove” (Mark 1:10). He was chosen by the Father to be the ultimate prophet, priest, and king.
The question “Why did Jesus come to earth?” can be answered this way: Jesus came to earth to be our:
• PROPHET
• PRIEST
• KING
JESUS THE PROPHET
The OT prophets spoke God’s words to the people. Moses was the first major prophet, and he wrote the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch. After Moses there was a succession of other prophets who spoke and wrote of God’s words. But Moses predicted that another prophet like himself would come. “The LORD said to me: ‘...I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him’” (Deuteronomy 18:18).
However, when we look at the Gospels we see that Jesus is not primarily viewed as a prophet or as the prophet like Moses. Often those who call Jesus a “prophet” know very little about Him.
• Jesus once asked His disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” And they replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets” (Matthew 16:13-14; cf. Luke 9:8).
• When Jesus raised the son of the widow of Nain from the dead, the people were afraid and said, “A great prophet has appeared among us” (Luke 7:16).
• When Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well information about her past, she immediately responded, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet” (John 4:19). But she didn’t then know very much at all about Him.
• The blind man who was healed by Jesus declared: “He is a prophet” (John 9:17). It wasn’t until later that the man understood who Jesus really was (v. 37).
Therefore, “prophet” is not a primary designation of Jesus or one used frequently by Him or about Him.
But there was still an expectation that the prophet like Moses would come (Deuteronomy 18:5, 18). For instance, after Jesus had multiplied the loaves and fish, some people exclaimed, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world” (John 6:14; cf. 7:40). Peter also identified Jesus as the prophet predict ted by Moses (Acts 3:22-24, quoting Deuteronomy 18:15; cf. Acts 7:37). So Jesus is indeed the prophet predicted by Moses.
But the NT epistles never call Jesus a prophet. Why? Apparently because, although Jesus is the prophet whom Moses predicted, He is also far greater than any of the OT prophets in two ways:
(1) He is the one about whom the prophecies of the OT were made. When Jesus spoke with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, He took them through the entire OT, showing them how the prophecies pointed to Him: “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). The OT prophets looked forward to Christ in what they wrote, and the NT apostles looked back to Christ and interpreted His life for the benefit of the church.
(2) Jesus was not merely a messenger of revelation from God (like all the other prophets), but was Himself the source of revelation from God. Rather than saying, as all the OT prophets did, “Thus says the LORD,” Jesus could begin His teaching with the amazing statement, “But I say to you” (Matthew 5:22 NKJV). The world of the Lord came to the OT prophets, but Jesus spoke on His own authority. “The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law (Mark 1:22). (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, pp. 624-626)
1. Jesus revealed God’s WORD to us.
Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come” (Mark 1:38).
2. Jesus revealed GOD to us.
Jesus not only proclaimed the Word of God, but was literally the living Word of God. In the first chapter of John’s Gospel, Jesus is called “the Word.”
No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known (John 1:18).
JESUS THE PRIEST
As prophet, Jesus brings God to us; as priest, He brings us to God. “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).
1. Jesus offered a SACRIFICE for our sin.
He had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people (Hebrews 2:17).
Jesus was both the sacrifice and the priest who offered the sacrifice.
So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people (Hebrews 9:28a).
This was a completed and final sacrifice, never to be repeated, a theme frequently emphasized in the book of Hebrews (7:27; 9:12, 24-28; 10:1-2, 10, 12, 14; 13:12).
In the OT, the high priest could go into the inner room of the temple, the holy of holies, only once a year (Hebrews 9:1-7). But when Jesus offered a perfect sacrifice for sins, the veil of the temple that closed off the holy of holies was torn in two from top to bottom (Luke 23:45), indicating in a symbolic way that the way of access to God in heaven was opened by Jesus’ death.
Jesus came to be our saving priest:
• But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11).
• “[Mary] will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
• “The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10).
• “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).
• “Jesus answered them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance’” (Luke 5:31-32).
2. Jesus INTERCEDES for us.
Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them (Hebrews 7:25; cf. Romans 8:34).
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:15-16).
JESUS THE KING
1. Jesus was BORN as a king.
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him” (Matthew 2:1-2).
Before the birth of Jesus, it was prophesied that He would be a king:
• “You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end” (Luke 1:31-33).
• “But you, Bethlehem, Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times” (Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:6).
• For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be one his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever (Isaiah 9:6-7a).
When Jesus was arrested and brought before Pilate, He was asked, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Yes, it is as you say” (Matthew 27:11). He was the rightful king, but He was a rejected king.
2. Jesus DIED as a king.
[The soldiers] stripped [Jesus] and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews” they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again (Matthew 27:28-30).
Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS (Matthew 27:37).
3. Jesus ROSE as a king.
[God] raised [Christ] from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion (Ephesians 1:20-21a).
4. Jesus will RETURN as a king.
On his robe and on his thigh he had this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS (Revelation 19:16).
PROPHET+PRIEST+KING=THE REAL JESUS
1. As prophet, Jesus CONFRONTS us.
“In the Old Testament, the prophet revealed God by speaking God’s Word. The prophet was courageously bold and willing to stand up against an entire nation, if needed, to confront sin, command repentance, and cry out the truth of God. Subsequently, the prophet received strong reactions from people who either loved or hated him. This was because the prophet’s words would bring the repentant to brokenness and the unrepentant to hard-heartedness. As the Puritans used to say, ‘The same sun that melts the ice hardens the clay.’” (Mark Driscoll, Vintage Jesus, p. 74).
2. As priest, Jesus COMFORTS us.
3. As king, Jesus COMMANDS us.
Many times we view Jesus as occupying one or two of these offices, but not all three.
RESOURCES USED
Mark Driscoll, Vintage Jesus
Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology
