Jesus the Prophet: Advent 1
Acts 3: 17-26 Deuteronomy 18:15-19
Robert Warren
December 2nd, 2001
When most people hear the word prophet, they think of someone who tells the future, usually in a mystical sense. We tend to think of someone like Nostradamus, one of the most famous so-called prophets, who is claimed to have predicted many world events and is assumed to have made prophecies about things which have yet to happen. Thus, we think of prophets who speak of things that only pertain to the future; things which have yet to happen. These kinds of prophecy are exciting, because they promise to reveal to us things that have yet to come. Look at the popularity of horoscopes, which claim to be able through their vague wordings to tell you what your day will be like. People like the idea that they will have power over their day by reading their horoscope and anticipating what will happen. Perhaps the most annoying commercial on television today, besides the loud guy with all the question marks on his jacket, is the commercial from Mrs. Clio. This woman with the Jamaican accent claims to be able to tell you what will happen with your love life with astonishing accuracy, for only a small fortune in phone costs. So, when folks think of a prophet, they think of someone who tells the future, and their appeal goes back to the beginning of time as people have sought to look into what will happen by casting lots, cutting open chickens, or consulting the Lucky Eight Ball.
In a biblical sense, there are indeed prophets who fit this mold in the sense that they tell about things that are going to happen. Much of Isaiah is prophecy which looked forward to the coming of Christ, especially Isaiah 53. Verse 5 of the 53rd chapter is clearly a prophecy about Jesus: "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." These verses are clearly about the life and horrible death of Jesus which would bring about salvation to those who believe. The prophet Micah also spoke of the future coming of Christ: he says in Micah 5:2, "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," speaking of Christ’s birth in the little town of Bethlehem. Even King David played the role of prophet at times. He wrote Psalm 22 which foretells Jesus’ crucifixion in chilling detail, telling about Jesus’ feelings of being forsaken, the insults that were hurled at him, the wounds in his hands and feet, and even the fact that the Roman guards divided his garments between them. Although it was hard for those who study scripture to accurately read the prophecies concerning Jesus, we can look back in hindsight and see that his birth, life, death, and resurrection were all foretold in prophecy. In fact, I remember when I was not even a Christian I heard about a Christian rock group called Stryper. Naturally I was curious about their strange name so I looked into it and found that they were referring to the scripture in Isaiah which foretold that we would be healed by the stripes on Jesus back, a result of his crucifixion. It simply knocked me over that so many of the details of Jesus’ life were foretold in advance. I realized that the testimony of Jesus was true, since it was foretold from long ago. The prophecies concerning Jesus are clear enough that it is obvious that God wanted us to know that this was what he had in mind when it came to saving us.
So, yes, the bible is full of prophecy which looks forward to the future, and not just about the life of Jesus. Many other things were told in advance, like the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of the Jews. The coming of Gentiles to salvation was foretold. And many of the prophecies have yet to be fulfilled as they tell about what will happen at the end of this earth. The last chapters of the Book of Daniel and the last chapters of the Book of Revelation fall into this mold, telling about the end of time and the coming of the Lord. The popularity of the fictional series "Left Behind" are proof of how badly people want to know about what God will do in the future.
But believe it or not, telling the future is not the most important function of the biblical prophet. No, the prophet had a much higher and much more important calling than telling about what would happen down the road. Now, what could be more exciting or important than telling God’s people about God’s future plans. How about telling people what God was thinking here and now and what He wants His people to know? The real function of the prophet was to speak the very words of God, often a message of warning or a call to right living. Think about what a bold claim the prophet made. He or she was making the assertion that the words they spoke were not just a clever message or good advice, they were not just wise words to be heeded; no, they were the words straight from God that He wanted spoken. That’s a pretty bold claim, to say the least, for it implies that God has chosen the prophet to be His mouthpiece and that the words spoken were to be taken with the same authority as Scripture. No wonder the punishment for being a false prophet was death... the false prophet was making false claims about God. You’ll notice that in the bible we see that most of the times that God calls a prophet the prophet would do everything possible to get out of the job; it’s no small thing to claim to speak for God. The best known example of this is Moses. God told him to go to the Hebrew people and to Pharaoh to speak for Him. Moses flat out refused to do so, giving in only when God continued to insist. And no wonder. Moses was called to go and stand in front of the most powerful and dangerous man in the country and tell him that God wanted him to let His people go free. Not only did Moses feel unworthy of such a task, he was probably also afraid for his life.
But, all throughout the bible, that’s exactly what God called the prophets to do. It’s as if the prophets were God’s early warning system. When God wanted to break into the world with an urgent message He would first call a prophet to go do the talking. They would usually try to get out of the task, but God would win over and the prophet would go forth speaking for God. Sadly, God’s people usually did not listen, and the warnings predicted would come to pass. God used prophets to warn the people that if they did not remember and obey the promises they made that He would punish them. When they refused to obey, the punishment would come, just like God had promised through the prophet. So, prophecy is not just about telling the future, it is more often speaking the very words of God. Actually, if you think about it, telling the future is speaking the words of God too, since only God can know what will happen in the future. In a similar way, a biblical preacher is a prophet of sorts, since the faithful preacher speaks not his or her own words but the words of God as revealed in the Holy Scriptures. By God’s grace and through His Spirit, I stand before you not giving you my opinion on how you should live, but I try as best as I can to tell you what God would have you do as I pass on to you what has been revealed in the bible. There are times when it is hard to say what God says, as it often is for prophets. When somebody is living in sin and comes to me so that I can tell them that they are not wrong, it would be a lot easier and agreeable to just go along with them. But, if I am faithful to my calling as a preacher, I must not tell them what I think, but what God thinks. Now, imagine a prophet who must stand before a nation and tell them that if they do not change their ways and obey God that they will be carried off into captivity and see their nation destroyed. Welcome to the life of the prophet!
Moses is perhaps the greatest prophet in the entire bible. Deuteronomy 34:10-11 says, "Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, who did all those miraculous signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do in Egypt- to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land." He is not known best for telling about the future, but he certainly spoke for God, more than any before him or after. When he revealed the Law to the Israelites and didn’t claim that this was the best Law that he could come up with; he claimed to be only passing on the Law that God had given him. But he did make one prediction about the future which stands as one of the most important prediction ever made. Listen to this prophecy, for it is exciting and astounding.
Moses prophesied that another prophet was coming. He said in Deuteronomy 18:15, "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him." Verse 17 continues, "The Lord said to me: "What they say is good. 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. If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account."
Why is this exciting? Because this prophecy was fulfilled through Jesus Christ, whose birth and life and resurrection we celebrate this Advent Season. Moses predicted that God would send a prophet to His people, to speak God’s Word, to save God’s people. Jesus was sent by God to tell the world God’s message of salvation. John 6:14 says this clearly: "After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world." John 7:40 says, "On hearing his words, some of the people said, "Surely this man is the Prophet." Peter, speaking through the power of the Holy Spirit, makes it clear that Jesus is the Prophet foretold by Moses and sent to the world to speak for God in Acts 3:17-23, "Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer. Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he mend the Christ, who had been appointed for you— even Jesus. He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago though his holy prophets. For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people.’
Jesus is many things to many people. He is a martyr, a philosopher, a moral example. To some he is a stumbling block, a myth, a challenge. He is a priest, a king, a lamb. He is a mystery to some, but to those who are seeking God’s Word and His will, Jesus is the Prophet. Not a prophet, but The Prophet, the most perfect and complete manifestation of God’s Word. Is it any wonder that in the book of John Jesus is called the Word! If you want to know what God wants you to know and to do, you need only look at His Prophet, Jesus Christ, the very Word of God.
Now, like I said earlier, it is a dangerous and humbling thing to be a prophet. If you were called to be a prophet you were claiming to speak the very words of the Most High God; this is not something you want to be mistaken about, for imagine what wrath would come upon one who willfully and wrongly claimed to speak for God to the detriment of His people. But think about it from the other angle too. Consider the implications of ignoring a prophet of God. If a person came to your town and spoke the very words of God to you and you ignored him or her, you were effectively ignoring the clear words of God. To deny and persecute a true prophet of God was to bring direct insult to God. This is not a small thing. On the other, to listen to and obey a prophet is to heed the direct revelation of God.
We light the first candle of the Advent wreath in recognition of the fact that Jesus is the Prophet of God. Yes, he was foretold by the prophets, but more than that, he IS the prophet of God. The words that Jesus spoke while he was on earth were not his own, they were the very words of God. Jesus said in John 14:23-24, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me." John 17:8 says, "For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me." Jesus clearly states that he did not come with human wisdom, but with the very words of God. The words you hear from Jesus belong to the Father who sent me. All that Jesus taught was from God Himself; Jesus IS God’s message to the world.
Thus, Jesus gives us a challenge. We can accept his words or reject them. We can live by his words or ignore him. We can follow Jesus or we can bow to any of the many gods of the world. But know this: Jesus is speaking for the one true God in heaven. If we reject his teachings, we reject God. If we ignore Jesus, we ignore God who sent him. We can bow to some other idol, but we will be giving our worship to something other than the God who made us. The penalty for being a false prophet was death. The consequences for ignoring the one true Prophet of God in Jesus Christ is no less but eternal death.
But praise be to God, the Word that he gives us through Jesus is nothing than joy and life and salvation. The message that Jesus brings us from God is not judgement and punishment but grace and salvation. The Law that Jesus gives us from God is not burdensome and arbitrary but perfect and beautiful. The Word that Jesus proclaims from God is that God loves us and desires to reconcile us to Him so that we can live forever with Him in joyous worship. We might expect many things from the God who we have rejected. We might expect punishment, wrath, rejection, or even eternal destruction. Instead, through Christ, we hear of forgiveness, mercy, adoption, and eternal life.
We rejoice in the lighting of the Prophet candle on the Advent wreath because God has sent His messenger with a message of love. We have heard from God through Christ, and we hear that all is well for those who would hear this message and receive the grace of God by obeying His Prophet. How then should we respond? The same way we should respond to any true prophet: with obedience. Peter tells us in the scripture passage for this morning how we should respond.
First, we can no longer claim to be in ignorance about God’s will. Many people in the world today claim that we can not know the mind of God. They say that religion is no more than a constant seeking for truth. They say that all religious expression is a valid path to God. They say that we can decide for ourselves what to believe in because every person’s opinion is equally valid. But, since we have God’s final Word through the Prophet Jesus Christ, we know that this is not true. Peter declares, "I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders." We might have been in the dark about God’s plan for salvation before Jesus came, but now we know God’s plan of salvation. God declares His will and plan fully and plainly through Jesus Christ: there is no other way to the Father except through the Son. You have heard the Gospel, that Jesus saves, and now you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God loves you and wants you to have eternal life through Jesus Christ.
Second, we are called to respond to God’s will through repentance. The Advent season is a time of preparation and response. Now that we know God’s will clearly and completely, you are called upon to make a decision. Will you obey God or reject Him? Peter commands us, "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you— even Jesus." Through Jesus you now know what you must do, now you must respond. Will you repent of your sins so that you can be forgiven? Will you allow God to wipe out your sins through the death of Jesus on the cross? Will you receive the times of refreshing and allow the Christ to enter your life? The decision is yours, God has spoken. You know what God expects of you and now the ball is in your court; if you turn from your wicked ways and accept the grace of the Christ you will receive the Holy Spirit and live eternally.
Finally, we can rest and rejoice in the knowledge that God has revealed Himself to us and has promised without a doubt to restore us to the glory we were created for. Advent is a time of rejoicing. Not because of the gifts we will receive, the food we will eat, or the celebrating we will participate in. No, we rejoice because Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise that all things will be restored to the perfection that existed in God’s perfect plan for Creation. Peter says, "He (Jesus) must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets." We can rejoice in the Advent season because we know that God’s promises are true, His Word is complete, and His redemption is coming. A prophet can not speak that which is not true, and our Prophet Jesus Christ has promised to return to bring those who have believed his word into eternal life.
The prophet has come and he has declared the saving Word of God. How will you respond. Will you declare that Jesus is God’s true Prophet, accept his testimony as God’s testimony, and respond through repentance and obedience? Or, will you declare him a false prophet by rejecting his claim to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Jesus has come, the Prophet has come, we celebrate that God’s Word had taken and flesh and declared God’s promises to us. How will you respond today?
