Jesus the Prophet

Todays post, following yesterday's "Jesus the Conservative" and continuing the Jesus Series restarted recently with "Jesus the King", is looking ahead. Literally. And looking back at when Jesus looked ahead.

To get an idea of what it might mean to see Jesus as a Prophet, we need to briefly consider what might be meant by a Prophet, biblically speaking. For this is not the realm of prophecy populated by us Third-Wave Charismatics, or the Spirit-Filled preaching I sat under as a young man, nor even the bizarre rantings about the Rapture we see coming across the pond. A Prophet, biblically speaking, was someone with God's call upon their life who came to speak Gods word to Gods people. 

But there was something else in Biblical prophecy, so often tied to what God had to say. So often, this person called by God (the word 'prophet' occurs over 300 times in the Old Testament, and around 125 in the New, whilst the female 'prophetess' occurs 6 times in the Old and twice in the New), has something to say of God's message of Judgement and/or deliverance to Israel and the nations. Which is exactly what Jesus came to do.

Jesus spoke in a prophetic way in every sense. He upset the contemporary world, he foretold the events around his own death and resurrection in John 2:19; "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days", and spoke of God's coming judgement and deliverance, as we read of him saying in Matthew 3:2; "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near", and also (as another of many examples) Mark 1:15; "The time has come', he said. 'The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!". Jesus knew what was coming. The hope of heaven, the coming of the king, and the need for repentance.

Jesus accurately prophesied (in the future-events sense) the number of days he would be dead, and the fact that he would come back in bodily form. He accurately prophesied Peter's betrayal and the timing therein. Jesus came to speak about a radical message of change and renewal, judgement and deliverance, that is aptly summed up in the phrase 'The Kingdom of God'. Something that hasn't come yet. Jesus was a Prophet with perfect knowledge, a Prophet who prophesied about himself, and a Prophet who spoke as God did. Because he did. Because he is God.

Of course, we couldn't think about Jesus as a Prophet without thinking about Jesus as prophesied about in the Old Testament. By any measure, a vast number and range of the Old Testament prophetic literature foreshadows him - some explicitly  some implicitly. I wrote recently about the way Jesus seems to be throughout Scripture, this "Promise of Jesus". Jesus, his ministry and work, is a result of God working and speaking throughout history. God spoke thousands of years ago - and God came to earth 2000 years ago. This God, this Jesus, is so totally different from any kind of religion you might have encountered. He lives in and empowers his people, the Church, a body made up of people of all sorts and kinds. This Jesus knew from before you were born who you were, and that you need him. He knows how the story ends. And he invites you to join him. To repent, believe the Good News that God has come to earth for the forgiveness of sins, and prepare to be part of the coming of the Kingdom of God. Jesus, the prophesied and prophesying prophet. The very Word of God. For you.