Question 28:
How does Christ perform the office of a prophet?
Christ performs the office of a prophet, in revealing
to us, by his Word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation.
DAY 1: JOHN 1:18
This week we will be in the gospel of John. John’s purpose in writing his gospel is to present to us Jesus as the Son of God. In the opening chapter he begins with Jesus being referred to as the logos, or the Word. Here he appeals to the Greek thinking mind about God. He said that the Word was God and that the Word put on flesh and made His dwelling among men.
John also introduces us to the Word’s herald, John the Baptist. John gave witness to the people about who Jesus Christ was. He was the one who would prepare the people for receiving the Son of God.
John then tells us that no one has seen God. The phrase “has seen” is horao in the Greek. Horao has to do with the perception of the mind. This is not a reference to just mere physical sight, although it can mean to see with the eyes. We know this is not true because there are many instances when men saw the Lord previous to the incarnation (ie. Abraham, Jacob, Manoah). Theirs was a physical perception. The understanding God the way that He truly is was given to us by Jesus Christ. For the Scripture goes on to say that it is the only begotten Son who has declared Him. The phrase “has declared” is exegeomai in the Greek. We get our term exegesis from this word. The meaning of the word is used as a metaphor of a narrative used to communicate something. There is the sense in which Jesus is unfolding the enigma of who God is and what His desires are and how He accomplishes them.
John has already told us that grace and truth came from through Jesus Christ. Our question this week deals primarily with that particular grace and truth that came from the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse eighteen also carries the phrase, “the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father”. While Jesus Christ did appear to possess a body prior to the incarnation (See references of men who saw the Lord above), the Son of God was not a created being for He has existed from all eternity. He has been in the bosom of the Father for all time. This phrase is used to denote the intimate affection between the Father and the Son. They love each other and know one another well. They are, as we have seen before, of the same essence, equal in power and glory. Yet, they are two distinct persons. This is the key to understanding where Jesus gets His information from regarding God. He has been with Him from all eternity and indeed He is God. Therefore, He is qualified to present to us the truth of the person, nature, and ways of God.
His purpose in fulfilling the office of prophet was to guide men into the truth of God. He wanted to make sure that men understood clearly who God was and how He wanted to be worshipped. This passage seems to indicate that of the forth telling of the truth of God, though in communicating that truth Jesus would also be foretelling future events because they were in the plan and purpose of His Father, such as His death and resurrection.
DAY 2: JOHN 14:26
The context of this passage is Jesus’ final meal with his disciples. The room has been prepared and the meal is being partaken of. There are several things on Christ’s mind which He is communicating with His disciples. We don’t know exactly at what point of the meal or the institution of the Lord’s Supper this particular conversation came up, but we do know that it was important because of the imminent death of the Lord. He knew that the disciples would be stressed over His death, even though He had told them on numerous occasions what would be happening. But, He emphasized the need for His death and also for His leaving them. The need was so that the Holy Spirit might come, a gift from the Father to His own and lead these disciples into all truth.
The phrase “will teach you all things” does not directly speak to all believers. Primarily, in the context, Jesus is saying that the Holy Spirit will indeed teach them, but what will He teach? Verse twenty-five says that Jesus is speaking things while He is with them. However, they will soon forget those things because of the events which are about to take place. Yet, the Holy Spirit will (26b) “bring to remembrance all things that I (Jesus) said to you”. The Holy Spirit is referred to in this verse as the Helper, or in the KJV as the Comforter. The Greek word here is parakletos. It means “summoned, one called to one’s side, an aid, and intercessor, an assistant.” Jesus also referred to the Holy Spirit in verse sixteen as “another Helper”. The Greek meaning of the word another is that one of the same kind. In other words the Holy Spirit would be someone like Jesus who would come alongside the disciples and help them by teaching them and strengthening them. Thus the Holy Spirit would be an extension of the prophetic office of Jesus Christ. He would take the things that Jesus had spoken previously and giving understanding to the disciples about what was meant.
There is an important point to keep in mind in looking at this verse and that is that this is specifically spoken to the disciples. Though the Holy Spirit does lead one into all truth, for He can do nothing else, we do want to distinguish between the Holy Spirit’s inspiration and His illumination. His inspiration was given to the writers of Scripture, whereby they were able to write the words of God. His illumination is given to all believers to rightly understand and interpret the words of God. With that in mind, the New Testament is nothing less than the account of the life and teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of the Old Testament writings. While the Gospels give the account of His life, work, and teachings and the Acts tells us how those teaching went from Jerusalem to the utter most parts of the earth, the epistles simply expound upon those teachings to give greater clarity to their meaning. Thus Christ’s prophetic office is fulfilled in His life, in the writings of the New Testament and in the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
DAY 3: JOHN 15:15
Jesus
and His disciples have left from their final meal together before His
death. It appears that they are either
walking along the road or are meeting in a special place other than the upper
room. Jesus begins to talk with them
using a metaphor about the vine and the branches so that He may communicate
with them the importance of bearing fruit that will glorify God. In doing so, in verse fourteen, He refers to
His disciples as friends. In verse 15,
He tells them that they are no longer servants.
They are his friends. Why? Jesus says that a servant doesn’t know what
his master is doing. The word for
servant is doulos. This is spoken of as a bondslave, and
attendant who is devoted to another’s interest to the disregard of his
own. The disciples have verified that
this is what they are (See Matt
Their status has been changed. For three and a half years they have learned from Jesus, but have failed to comprehend the things He has taught them. I must confess that is encouraging to those of us who teach! However, even at this time they are still not aware of the things about to take place. The context says they are His friends IF they do whatever He commands (vs. 14). One of His commands is that they love one another (vs. 17). And they should be able to love one another because it was granted by Christ, not they to be His friends (vs. 16).
Now to our question of how Christ performs the office of a prophet, look at what Jesus says that He did. He made know to them all the things He had heard from His Father. In other words, He gave them the very words of God. He showed them the Father. Remember Philip asking Jesus, “Show us the Father”? What did Jesus say? “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father. Jesus uses the same word here horao, that we saw in lesson one this week. Again, Jesus was prophesied about God Himself. He communicated clearly who God was, what He was like, and most importantly, how He accomplished His will.