Sharing in the Ministry of Christ: Prophet, Priest King Deut 18:9-20; Luke 13:31-35; Rev 11: 1-13

Audio: https://www.daleappleby.net/index.php/mp3-sermons/51-recent-sermons/974-1-christ-the-prophet

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI34OR6QDQc

General Introduction

The fulness of all possible ministry is found in Christ himself.[1] It’s from this foundation that this three-part series, “Sharing in the Ministry of Christ: Prophet, Priest King” is being built[2]. The instability of much contemporary Christian spirituality is due to a failure to appreciate the richness and intimacy of these ministries of Jesus.[3] It is a mistake to consider that the true and living God is either easily available or distant and hard to reach.[4] The revelation of the prophetic, priestly and kingly offices of Christ imparts a deep assurance that we have a heavenly Father who is accessible, but only through his Son (John 14:6). This is because Prophet, Priest and King are not roles which Christ takes on in some temporary way to help us, by grace the Son of God is essentially Prophet, Priest and King Whilst it is correct to say that it is as Messiah that Jesus is Prophet, Priest and King (Ps 2; 110), at the most foundational level Jesus possesses these ministries as the Son of God[5]. The whole action of Christ’s life is prophetic, priestly and kingly. Through these ministries he unveils the very being of God from the inside. This means that these are outstanding ministries of glory which should inspire us to share in their dynamism as far as possible with the help of the Spirit. In becoming Prophet, Priest and King as a human being the eternal Son of God positioned himself where he could reveal the wisdom, goodness, mercy, justice etc. of someone, the Father, who he experienced as limitlessly greater than himself[6]. In living out our call in Christ this is exactly how we are to testify to Jesus[7].

To testify about Jesus in this way we must step away[8] from every image of what prophets, priests and kings do in this world which would diminish our vision of Jesus. This is true even of how we must read scripture. For example, Hebrews teaches that the mysterious priest-king Melchizedek “resembles the Son of God” (Heb 7:3), not the other way around. It’s because the world was created for Jesus (Col 1:16) who is “the image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15) as Prophet, Priest and King, that humans can perform these functions and share in the revelation of Jesus Christ[9]. God’s provision for us in these ministries brings extraordinary assurance that he is a speaking God who advocates for us and rules over us entirely for our good. Knowing these things, we are moved to speak on behalf of God, bringing others to the Lord and express the divine rule on their behalf as a part of God’s plan.

Offices and Creation

Creation was constructed/shaped in such a way as to be able to receive the prophetic, priestly and kingly presence of Christ. The two creation accounts in Genesis place humanity in a unique position in the cosmos[10]. In Genesis one, humanity as the image and likeness of God is placed at the apex of the pyramid of creation. Creation only came to its completion with us (Gen 1:26-31). In Genesis two, the order of the world is built around a humankind charged with cultivating and guarding Paradise (Gen 2:15). To be human is to have a calling to operate as a prophet, priest and king in the cosmos[11]. Adam[12]  was given knowledge and understanding by being addressed in God’s Word (Gen 1:28-29; 2:15, 17 cf. Ps 19; Rom 1:19-20) so he could be prophetic in creation. As endowed with righteousness and holiness (Eccl 7:29) he was able to offer up life in all its dimensions as a priest of creation[13]. Charged with dominion over the lower world Adam and Eve were kings (Gen 1:27). If the first couple had been faithful to their prophetic, priestly and kingly vocation as types of Christ, then through these ministries of glory every place in creation would have been filled with the image and glory of sonship (Hab 2:14). This is God’s goal for the 3-fold ministry of the life of Christ.

Sin and the Offices

When however, sin entered the world the form of these ministries altered. Ignorance, blindness, error and untruthfulness corrupted the prophetic calling, unrighteousness, guilt, shame and moral pollution required a cleansing priesthood for a debased humanity, and rebellion, misery, death and destruction called forth a ruling power to restore the broken image of God. Christ our mediator as Prophet represents God to humanity; as Priest represents us in the presence of God, and as King restores our original dominion. This does not mean humanity is taken back to the glories of Eden[14]. The coming of the Son of God in his pre-eminence in all things means the perfection and renewal of the whole cosmos in a “much more” mode than could ever otherwise have existed (Rom 5:9-17; Col 1:18).

Offices and the Person of Christ[15]

Jesus is Prophet in a priestly and royal manner; Priest in a prophetic and kingly way and King as prophet and priest[16].  At every moment he acts in all three capacities in a unified manner[17]. As prophet Jesus demonstrates the love of God, as priest substitutes his obedience for our disobedience, as king defeats the powers that held us captive.  One great limitation of contemporary Christian teaching on leadership and ministry is that it often doesn’t connect to the Head (Col 2:19). For instance, it focuses on the five-fold ministry of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher in a Church-centred way. But scripturally these ministries have their goal in the ascended Christ that “he might fill all things” (Eph 4:10). All Christian ministry[18] is truly cosmic in scope, for the glory of the renewed humanity in Jesus will radiate through the new creation forever (Rev 21:23). By being “in Christ” every Christian has been anointed and baptised (1 Cor 12:13) into an prophetic, priestly and kingly vocation designed to orient every sphere of human existence e.g. politics, society, economics, culture, family to its destiny in the bridal city of God (Rev 21:9-10)[19].

 

 

 

 

The Prophet Office

Introduction

God has always been speaking to humanity by his eternal Word through whom all things were made (John 1:3; 1 Cor 8:6; Col 1:16; Heb 1:2) and by whom all things hold together (Heb 1:3)[20]. The ability of any human being to hear from God and speak on his behalf[21] has always been an expression of the prophetic character of the life of Jesus. It was “the Spirit of Christ” in the Old Testament prophets who inspired them to prophesy about the coming grace of the gospel (1 Pet 1:10-11). The whole of the witness of biblical prophecy (Luke 24:25-27, 44- 47; John 5:45 -47; 1 Peter 1:11), not just a few predictions, concerns Jesus. For example, the wisdom books of the Old Testament draw their reality from Christ as “the wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1:24; Col 2:3)[22].

Attitudes to Prophecy

For humans to know their identity as beings with destiny and direction in the image of God, which is Christ (Col 1:15; 2 Cor 4:4), prophecy is indispensable. When Jesus lists the murdered Abel as the first prophet (Luke 11:50-51) he identifies prophecy as uncompromising witness to the ways of God (Heb 11:4)[23]. The life and ministry of the prophet is designed to arouse repentance. Prophecy is much more profound than foretelling[24], to be a prophet is to be a mouthpiece for God (Ex 6:28-7:2 cf. 1 Pet 4:11). The saving history of God’s people is held together by the prophetic line. Psalm 105:15[25] describes the patriarchs as recipients of prophetic revelation[26], their priestly blessings over their families were prophetic forecasts of the future outworking of covenant blessings and curses in relation to the world (Gen 27:27-29; 49:1-27)[27]. Israel was to be a nation of witnesses i.e. a prophetic people (Isa 43:10, 12; 44:8). Something which could only be perfected in Jesus as the fulness of the nation.

The greatest of the old covenant prophets, Moses, foretold, ““The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen”” (Deut 18:15). There were heightened expectations of the coming of this person in the first century (John 1:21; 6:14; 7:40) and in the New Testament this prophecy is applied to Jesus (Luke 9:35; Acts 3:17–26; 7:37)[28].

Life and Ministry

Jesus is enfleshed as the perfect man of the Spirit (Luke 1:35; Hos 9:7; Mic 3:8) anointed by him at baptism and the launch of his mission (Luke 3:22; 4:18 cf. Isa 61:1-2).  Empowered with the Spirit “without measure” (John 3:34) Christ’s dynamic exorcisms (Matt 12:28) mark him out as a prophet. His miracles are “prophetic dramas”[29] pointing to something hidden but emerging in signs of the inbreaking of kingdom of God (Mark 8:31; 9:1; 14:22ff; Matt 23:37-39; Luke 13:33; 22:35-38). At the feeding of the 5,000, ‘When the people saw the sign which he had done, they said,  “This  is  indeed  the  prophet  that  was  to  come  into  the  world!” (John 6:1-14 cf. Deut 18:15-22). When he raised the son of the widow of Nain from the dead the crowd could not restrain themselves, “A great prophet has risen among us!… “God has visited his people!”” (Luke 7:11-17).

Jesus’ relationships with people were thoroughly prophetic, time and again he knew what his disciples or  opponents were thinking before they spoke (Mark 2:5, 8; 3:4, 16; 9:33; 10:21; 12:15, 43; 14:18; Matt 12:15; Luke 7:39ff; 19:15; John 1:47; 2:24f; 4:17f., 6:64, 70 etc.). This was appropriately recognised by the Samaritan woman, “‘Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet…” (John 4:19, cf. v. 29). Jesus had unlimited prophetic insight into the thoughts and motives of others because “he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.” (John 2:24-25)[30]. He was the witness concerning the state of humanity because he did not so much as bring the word as he was the Word: he did not so much reveal as he was, himself, the revelation.

Thus when the Lord expounded the “mysteries” of the kingdom of God in his parables (Matt 13:11; Mark 4:11) he did so with complete penetration. The whole manner of life of Jesus was a prophetic sign, his identification with and loving treatment of poor, marginalised, forsaken and sick stamped him as the Prophet who had come into the world. When at the commencement of his public ministry Jesus identified himself with the anointed prophet of Isaiah 61 (cf. Luke 4:18ff.) he placed himself resolutely in the prophetic tradition of Spirit filled servants (Isaiah 42:1-4; 49:1-6; 50:4-7; 52:13-53:12; Mic 3:8) who would suffer for the Lord’s sake.

Unsurprisingly therefore it is as Jesus enters Jerusalem for certain death that the crowd is moved to fever pitch, ‘“This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.” (Matt 21:11 cf.  John 7:52). As he had predicted, “it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’” (Luke 13:33)[31]. Right on cue, the Jewish leaders who held that “no prophet arises from Galilee” and that Jesus was “leading the people astray” (John 7:12; 52) rose up against the Lord and treated him as a false prophet-Messiah (Matt 26:67-68). Jesus had predicted this multiple times (Mark 8:34-9:1; 9:33-37; 10:35-45), but even as Prophet and Son of God he could not see into what was coming in the depths of the cross.

Dereliction and Perfection

The aversion of Jesus to the “cup” of suffering expressed in Gethsemane (Mark 14:36) was a holy revulsion towards enduring divine wrath (Ps 75:8; Isa 51:17, 22; Jer 25:15; Rev 14:9-10). For here as he begins his great passion Christ sees that he will not be able to see into the mystery of the plan of God for the ages. The cry of dereliction, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34) means that the Father, the one on whom the Son had always depended for his prophetic powers (John 5:19- 20; 12:49-50), had become totally opaque[32]. The purpose of this immersion (2 Cor 5:21; Gal 3:13; 1 Pet 2:24) in humanity’s sinful darkness to the ways of God (Rom 1:21; Eph 4:18) was that through trustful obedience and submission, even when cloaked in spiritual blindness, Christ’s prophetic office might be perfected through suffering (cf. Heb 2:10; 5:9; 7:28; 12:2) and a new phase of his prophethood begin.

Resurrected and exalted as the completer of the fulness of the mystery of God, which is himself[33], Christ is our ascended Prophet whose great delight is to expound the mystery of the saving will of God (Eph 1:9). He does this as the End-time agent who shares his prophetic Spirit with “all flesh” (Acts 2:17)[34]. Through the proclamation of the gospel of the kingdom he testifies concerning himself and through the Church establishes his rule over the nations.

Prophetic Presence in the Church

The Church is essentially a last days prophetic community indwelt by the Spirit of the Lord (Acts 2:17-21) to continue Christ’s own testimony (Acts 1:1). Our commission is to witness to the glory of Christ in the world, not merely by word but through a prophetic form of life. We are the salt, light and leaven of the world and cannot be ashamed of the prophetic message (Matt 5:13-16). The mystery of the kingdom is present in us (Col 1:26-27). Prophets are foundational to the Church as an exalted ministry gift of the ascended Lord (1 Cor 12:28; Eph 2:20; 3:4-6; 4:11) and the congregational gift of prophesying is to be zealously sought after (1 Cor 14:1). However, the measure of the share of the Bride of Jesus in his prophetic office is far more profound than episodic displays of supernatural knowledge, insight and gifts of power. This comes out most forcefully in the image of the Church’s prophetic identity in Revelation 11:1-13.

Here the believing community[35] appears symbolised as two witnesses with prophetic powers like Moses and Elijah[36]. After a time of proclamation and signs Satanic opposition leads to the violent death of the witnesses as martyrs, then they are raised from the dead and ascend into heaven in a cloud. The passage ends with the terrified survivors of a divinely sent earthquake giving “glory to the God of heaven”. This course of events clearly parallels that of the life of Jesus, but more than that, the powerful, suffering and triumphant witnesses share in and express the prophetic life of the one “faithful and true witness”, Christ himself (Rev 3:14).

We are the witnesses who must prophesy before many peoples, nations, languages, and kings (Rev 10:11). We are the ones who must carry through to completion the world-commission given our Prophet to make disciples of the nations (Matt 24:14; 28:19). The works of power accompanying suffering, judgement and vindication conform us to the image of Christ as Prophet. All this is essential to the destiny of the Church. We are all constrained within the prophetic call of God in Christ to voice the word of God by lip and by life individually and as communities.

Conclusion

The Spirit is always willing to dynamically unite us with the prophetic, priestly and kingly life of Christ[37] in his Incarnate power. To be such a people is our true identity[38]. We dare not limit the prophetic ministry of Jesus to his own time on earth and the inspiration of the scriptures[39]. Human beings always desperately need a Revealer, so in Christ we are obligated by grace to exercise the prophetic ministry of witness in the Church and to the world. By teaching, edifying, exhorting and encouraging (1 Cor 14:3) prophets must keep alive in the minds and hearts of their community the movement of all things towards the End summed up in Christ (Eph 1:9-10). This is the character of the “last days” in which we live (Acts 2:17; 2 Tim 3:1; Heb 1:2; James 5:3; 2 Pet 3:3). Perhaps the greatest obstacle to the existence of the Church as a prophetic people is the knowledge that as Jesus himself was hated by his own people we fear to suffer with him (John 1:11; 15:18-20).

The opaqueness of the present Church to the things of God, its dullness of vision concerning the mysteries of God’s kingdom, must be attributed to a general failure to persevere in obedience in those times when the Lord does not manifest himself clearly. If we would testify to Jesus, we must share Christ’s commitment to the cross. To be deeply prophetic we must be willing to witness to Christ’s glory through the realm of suffering (cf. Luke 24:26; 2 Cor 4:8-12 etc.). Do we really want God to speak to us at this level?