The Prophet – The Holy One of God – Sermon 1 February, 2015

The Prophet – The Holy One of God
In Luke 24:19 we read: “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people”. He is the Prophet who speaks God’s Word.
In the book of Deuteronomy, God reveals to Moses how He will save a fallen humanity from sin. It will be through a Prophet yet to come. As we look at the words of God’s promise to Moses, we see how Jesus of Nazareth fits the description of each and every phrase.
God says, ‘I will raise up for them a prophet’. If we turn over to Luke 7:16, we will read there how Jesus brought the dead son of a widow back to life and how, when ‘Jesus gave him back to his mother,’ the people ‘were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people”’.
God tells Moses, ‘I will raise up for them a prophet like you…’. Was Jesus a prophet like Moses? Listen to what the New Testament says. In John 1:17, we read, ‘The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.’
In Hebrews, chapter 3, we read how Jesus ‘was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. Jesus,’ it goes on to say, ‘has been found worthy of greater honour than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honour than the house itself’ (vv. 2f.).
God said to Moses, ‘I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers…’. That’s Jesus. He was the Son of Abraham; He was the Son of David; He was of the tribe of Judah; and He was born in Bethlehem. He was of the Israelites, according to the flesh.
We read how God told Moses: ‘I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him’. Does that match up with what we know of Jesus? The Gospel of John will confirm that it does. John 7:16 records Jesus saying: ‘My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me.’ And John 12:49-50, also quote Jesus. ‘I did not speak of my own accord,’ said Jesus, ‘but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.’
One more thing to notice in Deut. 18:15 God says of this Prophet who is to come, ‘You must listen to him.’ And in verse 19, he says, ‘If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account.’ When we turn to the New Testament, we hear God saying the same thing. In Matthew 17:5, we find him saying of Jesus, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!’
So, we see that Jesus Christ is the Prophet that God raised up in fulfilment of his promise to Moses. Let’s ask now how it is that Christ implements the office of Prophet.
He does it both outwardly and inwardly.
Outwardly, He does it by His Word. Isaiah 8:20 sends us ‘to the law and to the testimony [that is, to the Word of God]! Isaiah says: “If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.” And Jesus himself was the One in whom ‘was life, and that life was the light of men’ (John 1:4). When we read the Bible, when we are taught its truth, when we hear it preached, it is Christ our Prophet speaking to us through his Word.
But the external witness of the Word will never be enough. Many read it and hear it but are never changed by it. Paul says, ‘The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned’ (1 Cor. 2:14).
So, Christ our Prophet teaches us not only outwardly by his Word but also inwardly by his Spirit. Remember how he said, ‘When he, the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears…. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you’ (John 16:13f.). Unless the Spirit of Christ enlightens our heart, we cannot receive the Word of Christ. But if we are Christ’s, then we have our Lord’s own promise: he will teach us not only outwardly but inwardly as well.
So then, how are we to be taught of Christ? How are we to listen to him? Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light for my path.”
We may urge ourselves to embrace our Lord’s teaching in five ways.
First, listen to Christ as He speaks through his Word. Our Lord once said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free’ (John 8:31f). Repeatedly in the Scriptures the Father instructs us with regard to Jesus, ‘Listen to him’.
Next, invite Him to expose our needs. As sinners, we are inclined to confusion and distortion in our thinking. We look at temporal things, things that will pass away, and we treat them as though they had enduring permanence. We put off eternal things to consider another day. In Rev. 3:18, the Lord says to the first century church in Laodicea, ‘I counsel you to buy from me…salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.’ In 2 Cor. 4, Paul says, ‘We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal’ (v. 18).
Third, grant Him access to our hearts. This is inner light of the mind and in opening the heart. We read of Lydia that ‘the Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message’ (Acts 16:14). We, too, want Christ to open our hearts. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, ‘We know, brothers [and sisters] loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction’ (1 Thes. 1:4f).
Fourth, hear Him with the desire to obey. To truly hear Christ is to obey him; not to hear and obey is the way of absurdity in living.
Finally, treasure what we learn from Christ. Psalm 19:10 says of his words, ‘They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.’ Psalm 119:103 concurs: ‘How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.’
Jesus Christ, the One anointed to speak to us the Word of God, is to us a Prophet without parallel. If only we would see how it is to our profit to listen to his words!

Krikor Youmshajekian