Jesus: PROPHET, Priest, King
Pastor Jefferson M. Williams
Chenoa Baptist Church
11-02-2025
Rapture-Tok
South African pastor Joshua Mhlakela claimed that Jesus appeared to him in a divine vision and told him that the rapture would happen September 23-24. When asked if he was sure, he said he was 1,000% sure.
This prediction went viral world-wide and became known as ‘rapture-tok.” People quit their jobs, gave away possessions, and Instagram influencers made videos about what to wear for the rapture.
When the rapture did not occur on September 24, Pastor Joshua revealed that he had used the wrong calendar and that the rapture would happen the next week. And…it didn’t.
In the Old Testament, the way a prophet was proved to be of God is their prophecies came true. If not, the consequence was being stoned to death as a false prophet.
Our world is full of people who claim they are prophets. They twist the Scriptures, emphasize prosperity over faithfulness, and have false revelations.
People like Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, who will be our first billionaire preacher, Joyce Myers, and Joel Osteen draw thousands each week with a message of your best life now and God always wants you to be rich, happy, and healthy. Of course, it helps if you make a large donation to their ministry.
People like Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, and Charles Taze Russell, founder of the Jehovah’s Witnesses both claimed to be prophets and have led millions astray with their bizarre theology.
Sociopaths like Jim Jones and David Koresh both claimed to be prophets and groups willingly drank the Kool-ade and went to their deaths for them.
This shouldn’t surprise us. Jesus told His disciples:
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them.” (Matthew 7:15)
And Peter warns his readers:
“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.” (2 Peter 2:1-3)
Theology Lesson Time
For the past seven years, we have gone through books of the Bible, alternating Old Testament and New Testament. Every now and then, we stop for a question or for some theology that is important for you to know.
These next three weeks, we will wade into a little deeper theological water than usual. But it will help us to know Jesus better.
In the Institutes of the Christian Religion, which Calvin wrote when he was 26 years old, he introduced the concept of Jesus’s three-fold office of prophet, priest, and king, to provide a comprehensive understanding of Christ’s Person and saving work. Jesus has performed all necessary actions to ensure our salvation.
This morning, we will look at what a prophet is, what they do, and how Jesus is the Ultimate Prophet, one greater than Moses.
Please, turn with me to Hebrews 1.
“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” (Hebrews 1:1-3)
Prayer.
The Prophets of Old
In the Old Testament, after the fall, God instituted three offices or patterns.
Prophets - revealed God’s will to the people
Priests - mediated between a sinful people and a holy God
Kings - led the people as a representative of God
The prophets would be foretellers - they would reveal what would happen in the future, and forth-tellers, revealing the messages from God, most often a message of judgement and a call to return to the Lord.
The prophets were agents of revelation, facing the people, speaking for God (thus says the Lord) and making God know to them.
The first person identified as a prophet in the Old Testament is Abraham and we have multiple books in our Bible written by prophets.
Some we call major prophets, like Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Isaiah and Daniel, not because they are more important but because they are longer bodies of writing.
Some we call the minor prophets, like Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.
Some of the prophets didn’t write books but that doesn’t mean they weren’t important. Elijah and Elisha are two very important prophetic ministries that are chronicled in I Kings.
From Moses to Malachi, God called and used these prophets to proclaim His Word to His people.
They used sermons, word pictures, and even props to make their point.
They were used to call out the Israelites and their constant running after false gods and to call them to repent and return to the Lord.
But, if you read the whole Old Testament, you see another pattern emerging. These prophets were pointing to something, or better yet, SomeOne, out in the distant future. They couldn’t see the whole picture but God would give them glimpses of future glory.
They all looked back to the promise of Genesis 3:15 when God curses the serpent:
“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Gen 3:15)
The word “offspring” is literally “seed” and it is singular. Already, we see the Gospel taking shape. Satan would strike at this seed’s heel but, in the end, the seed, the Promised One, would crush satan’s head once and for all.
Throughout the Old Testament, we see the prophets giving us hints of Who that seed would be.
Micah tells us that He would be born in the city of Bethlehem. (5:2), Hosea (11:1) tells us that He would come out of Egypt and Isaiah says He would live in the city of Nazareth (11:1).
Isaiah predicted that He would be born of a virgin (7:14), be of the line of David (9:7), and along with Malachi writes that he would be preceeded by a forerunner/messenger (Isaiah 40:3; Malachi 3:1).
Isaiah also tells us that He will heal the blind and the lame. (Isaiah 35:5-6)
Zechariah 9:9 tells us that He would come into Jerusalem riding on a donkey.
David tells us in Psalm 55:12-14, that the Seed would be betrayed by a friend and Zechariah (11:12) wrote that He would be sold out for thirty pieces of silver.
Exodus 12:46 and Psalms 34:20 tell us that none of His bones would be broken.
Isaiah and David both say that this promised One would be crucified with His hands and feet pierced. (Psalm 22:16; Isaiah 53) He also wrote that He would bear our sins and suffer in our place. (Isaiah 52-53)
Isaiah wrote that He would be buried with the rich (53:9)
David writes in Psalm 16:8-11 that this Seed would be resurrected from the dead!
And Jeremiah writes that He would establish a New Covenant. (31:31–34)
Moses writes of this Promised One:
"The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.”
The Lord said to me: “What they say is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name.” (Duet 18:15-19)
Does all of this remind you of Someone?
After Malachi, which ends with this promise and curse, there were 400 years of prophetic silence.
Then, lightning across the sky, the book of Matthew begins with a genealogy that ends with “Jesus, who is called Messiah.” (Matthew 1:16-18)
The angels in Luke 2 tell the quaking shepherds that “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.” (Luke 2:11)
Mark’s Gospel begins with “The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God…” (Mark 1:1)
He is called the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One, the Son of God, and the Word.
His name was Jesus (God’s salvation), His nature was Lord (Divine), and His Title was Christ (the Anointed Seed).
The writer of Hebrews begins:
“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” (Hebrews 1:1-3)
Jesus is the last and greatest prophet. He is the fulfillment of all the Old Testament Messianic prophecies.
He is the perfect communicator of God’s will and words to us. He is far superior to any of the other prophets because He is God’s own self-revelation, not just another messenger.
John begins with these cosmic words:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:-4)
Christ's prophetic role involved teaching God's truth, explaining the requirements of a holy life, and proclaiming the Gospel of salvation, thereby establishing God's word in the Church.
During His earthly ministry, the people recognized Him as a great prophet and Jesus himself describes Himself as a prophet.
At the very beginning of His ministry, He was in the synagogue in His home town and identified Himself as the promised Messiah that Isaiah wrote about:
“He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:16-21)
In other words, “you’ve been waiting a long time for the Messiah. Your wait is over. I’m here!”
Just like the prophets of old, Jesus would be rejected and, ultimately, killed.
Jesus would be the greater Moses:
"Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself.” (Hebrews 3:1-2)
Jesus is the promised Prophet, and like Moses, He was
Mighty in Word
Jesus didn’t say, “Thus says the Lord” but “Truly, truly (Amen) I say unto you.”
“When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.” (Matthew 7:28-29)
In the desert temptations, He fought off satan with the Scriptures. His words brought light and life to a dark and dying world.
Mighty in Prayer
In the three years that the disciples were with Jesus, we never read of them asking Him to teach them to evangelize or to heal people. But there was something so powerful about the way Jesus prayed, that they asked Him to teach them how to pray like that.
Jesus prayed to God as Father. It was intimate. It was real.
Just as Moses talked with God “face to face,” Jesus prayed for His disciples, for His followers, for the lost sheep and even for those who opposed Him.
“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.” (Hebrews 5:7)
Mighty in Deed
The two disciples on the road to Emmaus described Jesus as “a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.” (Luke 24:19)
Jesus made the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, the sick well, and the dead, well, dance!
He turned water into wine, walked on a raging sea, fed large groups of people with five loaves and two fish, and casted out demons.
Moses stood before the most powerful man in the world and said, “Let my people go,” and then led the people out of ?Egyptian bondage.
Moses lifted up the staff and the Red Sea parted, allowing the Israelites to escape.
Jesus brought an even greater deliverance than Moses with the complete destruction of the forces of evil (Col 2:15) on the cross to secure our exodus from sin and shame.
Mighty in Suffering (Communion)
There was a reason why many people thought Jesus could be Jeremiah come back to life.
Jeremiah was willing to suffer for the messages that he delivered to the people from God. He declared judgement against the people, confronted the leaders, was rejected by his family and friends, and was ultimately stoned to death in Egypt.
Jesus proclaimed judgment, confronted the religious leaders, was rejected by his family and friends.
He ultimately suffered and died in our place for our sins. And He did that willingly.
"No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again” (John 10:18)
"And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross”. (Philippians 2:8)
"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God". (1 Peter 3:18)
Applications
Jesus is on every page of the Old Testament.
In the Old Testament, Jesus is concealed and in the New He is revealed. God revealed the details about the Promised Messiah progressively, over time.
That’s why it is so important for us to be in the Scriptures each day. There is no way to truly understand Jesus without the background of the prophets pointing to the Lamb that takes the sins of the world away.
Jesus is The Prophet of Deut 18.
Moses wrote that “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him.” (Duet 18:15)
When Jesus was transfigured into light on Mt Hermon, a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love, listen to Him.” (Matthew 17:5)
I think it’s pretty clear. We should listen to Jesus! He speaks through His Word to us. And when we hear His Words, the next step is to obey.
“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.” (Luke 6:46-49)
God the Father is saying the only prophet you need is Jesus. It’s not Joseph Smith or Brigham Young or Mohammed or Buddha or the Dalai Lama or Confucius or L. Ron Hubbard or Mary Baker Eddy or the Pope or anyone else.
