Jesus: Prophet, Priest and King
Notes
Transcript
I’m here today to talk to the rebels!
When we’re young, we’re tempted to “test the waters” of the extent of our parents’ authority. We test their rules, their limits, and their resolve.
Most of us have had the opportunity to re-think our life choices sitting behind the closed door of our rooms, grounded for a week or two…that is, if we could sit down on our blistered bottoms. (To our younger population, learn from your parents’ mistakes and save yourself some heartache!)
Some, though, retain a solid inner constitution and go on to be life-long professional rebels against all authority. It usually doesn’t go well for them in the end, but why should that stop them…what could possibly go wrong?
The fact is, rebellion – to one degree or another – is human nature. It’s something every single one of us is born with (Romans 3:23) and it stretches all the way back to creation.
The Garden (Genesis 3): Adam and Eve developed the original rebellious streak and shared it with the rest of us!
· Satan/serpant approached Eve at the only point she was vulnerable (ie the one and only thing God said “no” to). He began to sow doubt in…
o God’s instruction: “Did God really say?”
o God’s goodness and love – “He’s withholding the best from you for His own selfish reasons.”
o God’s authority – summary of Satan’s rationale: “If you were like Him, he’d no longer have dominion over you. You could be your own god!”
Rather than hold onto what they knew about the love of God, they decided they wanted to call their own shots...and their rebellion cost them everything: A curse on this life and eternal death…just like God had said. They discovered His resolve was absolute.
…but so was His love!
Even in the midst of speaking the curse they were to fall under, God gave the first hint that He, Himself, would overwhelm the rebellion of man, and redeem a people of His own:
Genesis 3:15 – I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.
15 I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.
This passage has for centuries been called the “protoevangelium” – the first announcement of the gospel.
The statement about the “offspring of the woman” is continued in Genesis 4:25, with the birth of Seth: “Adam was intimate with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, for she said, ‘God has given[i] me another offspring[j]in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.’”
25 Adam was intimate with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, for she said, “God has given me another offspring in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.”
From that point on, all of Scripture traces the lineage of that son leading to the birth of Jesus.
Fast forward to Genesis 12:1-3 where we find another major move towards God’s plan of the redemption of man: (1-3)
1 The Lord said to Abram: Go from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
2 I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
The Lord said to Abram: Go from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed[a] through you.
Another foreshadowing of the coming of the Messiah.
In Genesis 15: 13, “13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know this for certain: Your offspring will be resident aliens for four hundred years in a land that does not belong to them and will be enslaved and oppressed.[d] 14 However, I will judge the nation they serve, and afterward they will go out with many possessions.
13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know this for certain: Your offspring will be resident aliens for four hundred years in a land that does not belong to them and will be enslaved and oppressed.
That takes us to Joseph, who was sold into slavery, but through a series of events over 13 years, God eventually put him as second in command over all of Egypt. Joseph was used by God to deliver all the people of the land from a severe famine, but most importantly, he delivered his own family, including Judah, through whom the Messiah would come.
The Israelites grew large in Egypt and eventually a ruler of Egypt came to power who did not know of Joseph and enslaved them. The length of time that the Israelites spent “in a land that was not theirs” was 400 years (the last 210 years spent in slavery), just as God had said.
That brings us to Moses: A prophet, priest, and king (now, what do I mean by that?)
God raised up Moses to deliver His people out of bondage.
· He would serve as God’s mouthpiece to the Israelites – Prophet
· He would step between the sinful people and God on their behalf asking God to show mercy on them – Priest
· He would act as ruler over them, commanding them where to go, and ruling over their disputes – King, representative for God’s rule over them.
In Deuteronomy 18:18-19 , Moses tells us what God told him: “18 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. 19 I will hold accountable whoever does not listen to my words that he speaks in my name.”
18 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.
19 I will hold accountable whoever does not listen to my words that he speaks in my name.
We’ll see how this points forward to the coming of Jesus.
Before we unpack that, there was another part of God’s redemption plan revealed through the prophet Jeremiah (31:31-34):
The days are coming when I will make a new covenant…not like the covenant I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt—that they broke. Instead, this is the covenant I will make: I will put my teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people…I will forgive their iniquity and never again remember their sin.
For this to happen, something had to change. The old covenant said that only if the people remained faithful to the Law that God gave through Moses would forgive them and remain their God. They were never able to. Now, He says they WILL be able to because of something that happens that brings a change to their heart. So what changed?
In Isaiah 9 and 53, Isaiah prophecies of a child who would be born, called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace who would reign as King forever.
He would be the Messiah who would be rejected and condemned, carrying our sin upon himself, being “pierced for iniquities,” punished for our peace, and healed by his wounds, because we had rebelled against God. He was cut off from the land of the living, but (11) “after his anguish, he will see light and be satisfied (referring to resurrection).
500 years later, Jesus comes as one like Moses, fitting Isaiah’s description to a tee, who served in the roles of Prophet, Priest, and King.
Prophet – One who speaks on behalf of God
Jesus came, lived a sinless life, prophetically proclaiming that the Kingdom of God was at hand. The coming of a New Covenant had arrived – because Jesus, as God, was coming to redeem a people to Himself.
Like Moses, he declared the words given Him by God, but not simply as a prophet, but as the Son of God.
Hebrews 1:1-2 - Long ago God spoke to our ancestors by the prophets at different times and in different ways. 2 In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son.
1 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors by the prophets at different times and in different ways.
2 In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him.
Now, back to Deuteronomy 18, God said through Moses, “. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.
John 12:49 , Jesus said, “I have not spoken on my own, but the Father himself who sent me has given me a command to say everything I have said.”
49 For I have not spoken on my own, but the Father himself who sent me has given me a command to say everything I have said.
Not just to say the Father’s words, but do the Father’s will:
John 6:35-40 – Jesus said “37 Everyone the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. 39 This is the will of him who sent me: that I should lose none of those he has given me but should raise them up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him will have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
35 “I am the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “No one who comes to me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty again.
36 But as I told you, you’ve seen me, and yet you do not believe.
37 Everyone the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never cast out.
38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.
39 This is the will of him who sent me: that I should lose none of those he has given me but should raise them up on the last day.
40 For this is the will of my Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him will have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
This would be accomplished through Jesus’ role of Priest (Mediator).
He would serve as one who would present a sacrifice to satisfy the Holy requirement of God, just like Isaiah had prophesied 500 years earlier.
For us to understand fully how Jesus served as the final and perfect priest, we need to go back to what happened while Jesus was on the cross. In John 19, just before He died, Jesus cried out “It is finished.” What was it that Jesus knew had been fulfilled for him to make that declaration?
When we think back on the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah that we read earlier, we see that Jesus, a perfect substitutionary sacrifice, had to be killed so that He could (Is 9:11) “justify many, and…carry their iniquities.” Then a new covenant would be established under a new Law.
So, what happened at the same time Jesus made that declaration that might lead us to the conclusion that this was being fulfilled?
Mark reported in (Mark 15:37-38 ), “Jesus let out a loud cry and breathed his last. 38 Then the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.“
37 Jesus let out a loud cry and breathed his last.
38 Then the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
The curtain was to separate Holy from the Holy of Holies.
When Jesus died, the union between man and God was represented by the ripping of the literal curtain that kept all but the high priest out of God’s presence.
This was because Jesus’ perfect righteous was now credited to imperfect people by grace through faith, making a way to God.
24 But because he remains forever, he holds his priesthood permanently.
25 Therefore, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, since he always lives to intercede for them.
26 For this is the kind of high priest we need: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.
27 He doesn’t need to offer sacrifices every day, as high priests do—first for their own sins, then for those of the people. He did this once for all time when he offered himself.
…because [Jesus] remains forever, he holds his priesthood permanently. 25 Therefore, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, since he always lives to intercede for them [“priest”].
26 For this is the kind of high priest we need: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 He doesn’t need to offer sacrifices every day, as high priests do—first for their own sins, then for those of the people. He did this once for all time when he offered himself.
15 Therefore, he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance, because a death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
15 … he is the mediator of a new covenant,[c] so that those who are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance, because a death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
(Hebrews 9:24-28 )
24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with hands (only a model of the true one) but into heaven itself, so that he might now appear in the presence of God for us.
25 He did not do this to offer himself many times, as the high priest enters the sanctuary yearly with the blood of another.
26 Otherwise, he would have had to suffer many times since the foundation of the world. But now he has appeared one time, at the end of the ages, for the removal of sin by the sacrifice of himself.
27 And just as it is appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment—
28 so also Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with hands (only a model[f] of the true one) but into heaven itself, so that he might now appear in the presence of God for us. 25 He did not do this to offer himself many times, as the high priest enters the sanctuary yearly with the blood of another. 26 Otherwise, he would have had to suffer many times since the foundation of the world. But now he has appeared one time, at the end of the ages, for the removal of sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment— 28 so also Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but[g] to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
This is when He will come again as King!
7 The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the Lord of Armies will accomplish this.
He will reign on the throne of David
and over his kingdom,
to establish and sustain it
with justice and righteousness from now on and forever.
Because Christ has been raised from the dead, He has conquered and ruled over sin and death, so that sin and death can no longer rule over you.
You no longer have to be bound by sin and continue in rebellion. Jesus has conquered your natural rebellion, providing justice and righteousness in its place and simply says, “Come.”
Now you can! Today, if you believe this, then he’s calling you. Respond to Him by repenting of your rebellion and He will wash you clean!
If you have, celebrate Him! Commit your way to the Lord, keeping your eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith.