Jesus the Prophet, OT Prophecies of Jesus, 11/30/25

This, the first sermon in the Advent season of

2025, we're going to look today at Jesus the

prophet, Old Testament prophecies of Jesus and

how they were fulfilled. Our texts are from Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 18:15–18

chapter 18, verse 15 through 18, and then Malachi

Malachi 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3 and verse 1. Hear the word of the Lord

from the book of Deuteronomy in chapter 18 and

verse 15. The Lord your God will raise up for

you a prophet like me from your midst, from the

brethren, from your brethren. Him you shall hear

according to all you desired of the Lord your

God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying,

Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my

God, nor let me see this great fire any more,

lest I die. And the Lord said to me, What they

have spoken is good. I will raise up for them

a prophet like you from among their brethren,

and will put my words in his mouth, and he shall

speak to them all that I command them. And then

over in the book of Malachi, in chapter 3, verse

1. We have here this prophecy first of John the

Baptist, who is a messenger, and then of Jesus,

who is the messenger of the covenant. Behold,

I send my messenger and he will prepare the way

before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly

come to his temple. Even the messenger of the

covenant in whom you delight. Behold, he is coming,

says the Lord. Let's ask the Lord's blessing

on this time together. Father, we praise you

and we give you thanks. It is a blessing to gather

together, Lord, and to open up your word. And

I pray, Father, that as it is preached today,

you would give me the power of the Holy Spirit

that I might speak words that are approved by

you. And we pray that you would open our ears,

Lord, that we might hear and understand again

by the power of the Holy Spirit. We ask this

in Jesus' name. Amen. It is with great joy and

anticipation that we have come to the time of

Advent and Christmas. It's a time of remembering

the longing for the Messiah and of rejoicing

in the good news that Christ has come anew and

afresh and of looking forward to the second coming

of Christ. Now this is the beginning of the church

calendar that revolves around the life of Christ.

It rehearses salvation history and it shows the

sacredness of time. And this has been done for

most of church history. We're not making up things

as we go along, but we are partakers of the church

Catholic. That is, the church universal has set

this in order for many, many generations. And

if you want more information on this and how

the dates were set, let me know. I have some

good articles that explain this, and I can give

them to you. Glenn Sunshine explains it in this

way. He says, Advent is the beginning of the

church year. As we look at its structure, we

discover that it tells the story of salvation

history. Advent is the time prior to Christ,

when God's people were waiting for his coming.

And then we celebrate his birth, and with Epiphany,

his baptism, and the beginning of his ministry.

The focus on Christ's ministry continues through

the events of Holy Week and Easter. And we then

celebrate Ascension and Pentecost, the birth

of the church and the coming of the Holy Spirit.

And the rest of the year up until the final Sunday

before Advent reminds us of the history of Christ's

church. And this today calls for both longing

and rejoicing. of feasting, of songs or plays,

of Advent readings and Advent calendars, lots

of chocolate and fancy desserts, but also repentance

from sin and glad hearts filled with the Holy

Spirit, amazement that God would become flesh

and would dwell among us and that he would create

a new heaven and a new earth wherein righteousness

dwells, a place where wrongs are made right.

And where we experience peace and goodwill. And

yet we long for a greater expansion of that peace

and goodwill. Therein comes the longing in that

we do not yet see all in submission to Christ.

We see around us such conflict. such hatred and

animosity, the despising of kith and kin, even

some working for the destruction of their own

communities or cities and country. Sometimes

we, like Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, look around

us and say, there is no peace on earth, I said,

for hate is strong and mocks the song of peace

on earth, goodwill to men. Advent and Christmas

remind us that God is not dead, nor does he sleep.

The wrong shall fail, the right prevail. With

peace on earth, goodwill to men. And so in confidence,

and yes, with great rejoicing, we rejoice and

celebrate that. Jesus has come. The world is

being made new. For Christ was not only born,

but he has accomplished salvation through his

suffering, his burial, or his death and burial,

and then the resurrection and the ascension.

And he is now seated at the right hand of God

the Father. And there he will remain and he will

reign until his enemies submit to him. That is,

that they are put under his footstool. And at

that right hand, Christ is now making intercession

for you and me. For every believer, Christ at

the right hand of the Father is making intercession

for us. The good news of the gospel is going

out throughout all the world. And the promise

will be fulfilled that the kingdom of Christ

will cover the earth as the waters cover the

sea. and that the earth will be filled with worshipers

of him, the worshipers of the triune God. This

great work of redemption begins with an angel

appearing to a humble girl named Mary, who became

pregnant through the overshadowing of the Holy

Spirit. This was followed by his birth in a lowly

manger in Bethlehem. In this time of Advent,

all of this is why we both on one hand look for

a great manifestation of his kingdom and we long

for it. And at the same time, we greatly rejoice

and celebrate with singing, with feasting and

giving gifts to one another. For the Sundays

of Advent this year, I plan to look at Old Testament

prophecies of Jesus and then show their fulfillment

in him. Now, there are three offices of Christ.

That is of Jesus as prophet, Jesus as priest,

and Jesus as king. And I'll focus on these three

offices today and in the next two Sundays. And

in these prophecies, I want you all to be gripped,

not only with the fact of Christ's kingship,

not only with the fact of him being prophet and

being priest and being king, but I want you to

be gripped. with the glory of Christ, with his

beauty and with his majesty. I desire that out

of these sermons would come to you a greater

love, more and more of him with all that is in

you. So today, we want to consider the prophecies

of Jesus as a prophet and look at their fulfillment

and what that means for his body, the church.

So first of all, let me define my terms. Point

number one, what is a prophet? A prophet is a

spokesman for God who speaks on behalf of God

to the people. He reveals the words, the nature,

the character, and the desires of the Almighty

to his creation. A prophet was one who moved

by the Spirit of God and thus... his organ or

his spokesman, he solemnly declares to men what

he has received by inspiration, especially concerning

future events and in particular such as relate

to the cause and kingdom of God and to human

salvation. This person was chosen, empowered

by God. He was commissioned by God to deliver

the word, the word of God to individuals, to

kings and to nations. Prophets both foretold,

And they foretold. That is, they revealed God's

word in the form of commandments or instruction

or exhortations. In a way of proclamation. But

they also foretold. In foretelling, they proclaimed

God's will. And they called people to repentance,

to justice, and to covenant faithfulness. This

took place both in preaching. to a multitude

like Ezra, but it also took place individually,

going directly to a person to tell that person

what God thought or said about their deeds. For

example, think of Nathan the prophet coming to

David after David's sin of adultery with Bathsheba

and the murder of Uriah, and he speaks to him

directly, first telling him a story. And then

when David responds to that story, he drives

the point home and says, you're the man of this

story. And David is convicted of his sin and

he repents before the Lord. And we can read his

repentance in Psalm 51. That is forth telling.

But in foretelling, the prophet or the prophetess

would go to someone and tell them what would

happen in the future. So, for example, we think

of Daniel. He goes to Nebuchadnezzar and tells

him the interpretation of his dream and what

would happen to the king. We think of Elijah

who came to King Ahab and he told him there would

be no dew or rain for three years, 1 Kings 17.

Or Agabus in the New Testament who prophesied

about a great famine that would take place in

Acts 11 verse 28. And later he warned Paul that

Acts 11:28

on his return to Jerusalem, he would be bound

and be delivered into the hands of the Gentiles.

It's in Acts 21. For examples of prophets, there

are many in the scriptures. There's Abraham,

was called a prophet. Moses, Samuel, Nathan,

Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and

many others. There were also female prophetesses

like Miriam, the sister of Moses. She's called

a prophetess in Exodus 15, verse 20 and 21. There's

Exodus 15:20

Deborah in the book of Judges who revealed the

word of God to Barak. There's Huldah who spoke

of the future to aides of King Josiah. And there's

Anna who gave thanks and spoke of Christ at the

temple at the time of the circumcision of Christ.

Now, some of the prophets wrote books of the

Bible, which we see in the books from Daniel

through Malachi in the Old Testament, quite a

number of books. There's some that are called

major prophets, like Isaiah and Jeremiah and

Ezekiel, and then some called minor prophets,

and that does not have to do anything with their

importance, but it has to do with the length

of the book. Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel are

quite lengthy, and the rest of them, like Micah

and Nahum and Amos and Zechariah and Zechariah,

and a whole number of others, their books are

much shorter. All prophets. But now the prophets

had to be 100 % accurate. They could not lead

the people to worship other gods, even if signs

occurred, Deuteronomy chapter 13. In fact, so...

Deuteronomy 13 · chapter mention

Important was this, that if a prophet led to

other gods, to the worship of other gods, they

were to be put to death, God says in his law.

And which Elijah did that, if you recall the

story of over 400 prophets of Baal who gathered

together around the altar on Mount Carmel and

after... Elijah clearly won that battle there

and the Lord entered by fire to his prayer. He

had all of the prophets of Baal slaughtered.

They were to be put to death. This was very important.

Now also, God speaks that if there was a false

prophet who would presume to speak a word in

God's name, but prophesied falsely, in other

words, it didn't come to pass, they were to be

disregarded and God said that they would die.

And from that, we gather that he probably meant

an early death because we don't necessarily read

of a civil penalty in the Old Testament about

it. Now that is subject to some interpretation.

Now the prophets also studied and searched carefully.

We read of companies of the prophets in 1 Samuel

19 and the sons of the prophet who had a place

where they studied in 2 Kings 2 verse 3. There's

2 Kings 2:3

also Jericho in 2 Kings 2. These were the ones

who knew about Elijah's departure and acknowledged

Elijah as his successor. But 1 Peter also says

that these prophets as that they had the spirit

of Christ as they searched diligently. He says,

of which salvation the prophets have inquired

and searched diligently, who prophesied of the

grace that should come unto you, searching what

or what manner of time the spirit of Christ,

which was in them, did signify, when it testified

beforehand the sufferings of Christ. and the

glory that should follow. 1 Peter 1, verse 10

1 Peter 1:10

and 11. So just summing this up, a biblical prophet

is God's authorized spokesperson who confronts

people with God's word, calls them to repentance

and obedience, warns of judgment, offers hope

of restoration, and also, at a number of times,

reveals future events. So with his background

and foundation, I now want to turn to see how

Jesus was predicted to be a prophet and how he

fulfilled that office. Again, our desire today

is to magnify Christ, to show his offices, to

show his glory and his beauty. So we'll begin

with the prophecy from Moses. Number two, the

prophecy from Moses about Jesus as prophet. Now,

Moses is the most illustrious and renowned prophet

in the Old Testament. It is recorded of him in

Deuteronomy chapter 34 that Joshua the son of

Deuteronomy 34 · chapter mention

Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom because

Moses laid his hands on him. But since Moses,

there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like

Moses whom the Lord knew face to face. in all

the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him

to do in the land of Egypt, before Pharaoh, before

all his servants, and in all his land, and by

all that mighty power and all the great terror

which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.

Through the leadership and the prophetic gifts

of Moses, he confronted one of the greatest powers

on earth at that time, the Pharaoh of Egypt.

Moses was the instrument of God to bring great

signs and wonders. And he stretched out his staff

at the command of God to bring down 10 horrific

plagues that not only devastated the land of

Egypt, but it also showed them the futility of

their gods. I don't have time to get it in today,

to go through it today. But each one of those

plagues attacked a false god of Egypt, a separate

one. Every one of them. George Grant has an excellent

lecture on that if you want to hear it. Moses

led the great exodus out of Egypt and for 40

years he led and he shepherded the children of

Israel through the wilderness to the Jordan River,

which they would then cross after his death and

conquer the land of Canaan for 40 years. And

he began when he was 80 years old. He started

when he was 80. 40 years he lived in Egypt as

a son of Pharaoh. 40 years he lived in the wilderness.

And 40 years he led the children of Israel through

the wilderness. This man. who was a faithful

leader and prophet, he gave this prophecy in

Deuteronomy 18. So this is Moses writing by the

inspiration of the God, which we already read

this verse, but again, he says, the Lord your

God will raise up for you a prophet like me.

Moses saying, like me, from your midst, from

your brethren, him you shall hear according to

all you desire to the Lord your God in Horeb

in the day of the assembly. And God confirms

this because God then responds to Moses. When

Moses says this, the Lord says, probably in an

audible voice, he says, what they have spoken

is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like

you from among their brethren. And I will put

my words in his mouth and he shall speak to them

all that I command him. And it shall be. That

whoever will not hear my words, which he speaks

in my name, I will require it of him. This is

the first and the clearest prophecy of Jesus

as a prophet in the Old Testament. Like Moses,

the prophet to come would be a prophet, a king,

a mediator, and the head or chief of the people

of God. Moses reveals that Almighty God says,

I will put my words in his mouth. and he shall

speak to them all that I command him. And Jesus

says over and over again in his ministry, all

that the Father tells me, that do I speak, that

do I do. I do what the Father says. He communicates

it to me. Now in the New Testament, this passage,

this prophecy of the coming prophet is affirmed

several times. In speaking of Jesus as a prophet.

It is first of all quoted in Acts chapter 3 and

Acts 3 · chapter mention

verse 22. That is in Peter's sermon at Pentecost.

And Peter quotes from it directly. Saying this

Jesus is that prophet. Again in another sermon.

Stephen's sermon. Which was to his Jewish accusers.

Just before he was put to death. Recorded in

Acts chapter 7. Stephen also quotes this verse

Acts 7 · chapter mention

directly, that Jesus is that prophet of whom

Moses prophesied. There are not many others in

the Old Testament that speak in quite that direct

way about Jesus being a prophet. But, number

three, we're going to also consider prophecies

that speak of certain prophetic gifts that Jesus

would have. There are quite, there are a number

of these. I'm not going to be able to get through

them all. And these are prophecies about Jesus

gifts, the gifts that he would have. And they

fall into that of the office of a prophet. Remember

that a prophet both proclaims. I mean, again,

some of their gifts were different. Some of them

mostly foretold, but many of the prophets also

proclaimed the word of God or preached it in

that way. And so in Isaiah chapter 61, we look

Isaiah 61 · chapter mention

at how Jesus is the anointed one who will both

preach and proclaim the good news. Isaiah 61

is a very key phrase. Why is, or verses, why

is this? Well, it's because, as we'll see in

a moment, Jesus actually speaks these words in

the midst of a synagogue and says, today this

is fulfilled in your ears. So it's a very important

prophecy. We'll turn to this in Isaiah chapter

Isaiah 61 · chapter mention

61, beginning in verse one. The spirit of the

Lord Jehovah, the Lord God Jehovah is upon me

because the Lord has anointed me to preach good

tidings to the poor. He has sent me to heal the

brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives,

and the opening of the prison to those who are

bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the

Lord. Now Jesus stopped there, but the prophecy

continues. And the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn, to console those who

mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes,

the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise

for the spirit of heaviness, that they may be

called trees of righteousness, the planting of

the Lord, that he may be glorified. Now I want

to especially point out here that the office

of a prophet, that of preaching and proclamation,

is very much in this passage, along with the

other blessings that flow from it. It speaks

of him who would be anointed, and this anointing

came upon Jesus at his baptism, By John the Baptist.

John the baptizer was out baptizing. And he had

a number of followers. He prophesied. He was

the forerunner of Jesus. And he prophesied that

there would be one coming. Of whom he. That is

John the Baptist. Would not be worthy to even

tie his shoes. Or to fasten the latchet of his

sandal. And during that time Dennis. He was baptizing

one day. Jesus comes. And Jesus tells him. that

he is to baptize him, that John is to baptize

him, Jesus. And so John the Baptist at first

objects, but then he does so, and then picking

up in Matthew chapter 3, when he had been baptized,

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

Jesus came up immediately from the water, and

behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he

saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove

and alighting on him. And then suddenly a voice

came from heaven saying, this is my beloved son

in whom I am well pleased. By this, Jesus received

the supernatural anointing and imprimatur in

a very visible and an audible way as John saw

the descending of the spirit in the form of a

dove. It descended out of the open heavens. He

says, I saw this heaven open and the spirit comes

down like a dove and it alights on Jesus. And

then right at this time, a voice comes from the

heaven. Can you imagine the incredible sound

that that must have been as God speaks out of

heavens, out of the heavens? And he says. This

is my beloved son. He identifies Jesus as the

beloved son and that the father is well pleased

with him. What an anointing. This is incredible.

This came on Jesus at his baptism. Now after

the baptism and the temptation in the wilderness,

Luke tells us that Jesus returned in the power

of the spirit to Galilee and then to Nazareth.

where he was brought up. He went into the synagogue

and he stood publicly to read the scriptures.

Many times they would allow visitors to stand

and to read the scriptures. And this time Jesus,

returning there to his old hometown, he stood

and he read the scripture. And he turns to this

passage in Isaiah and he reads it. And all the

eyes of the congregation are fixed on him. What

is he going to say about this? And then he begins.

Today, the scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.

In other words, he's saying, I am the one who

speaks. I am the one this passage is speaking

of. This scripture is now fulfilled. This prophecy

has been answered. And he continues. to speak

gracious words to them. Now, we are not given

all of the contents of this speech until they

begin to question, how can this be? How can he

speak in such a way? How can he make these confident

assertions? Don't we know him? He's the son of

Joseph. This can't be. And they begin to question

him. But they even get so mad because Jesus tells

him that this good news would also include the

Gentiles. And so all those in the synagogue were

filled with anger and wrath. They rise up and

they thrust him out of the city. They lead him

to the brow of a hill and they're getting ready

to throw him over the hill and crush him to death.

But Jesus... The scripture says this in such

a calm way. You can see the mad mob. They're

rushing up to the top of the hill, ready to grab

him and throw him over. And the scripture just

says, he passed through the midst of them and

went his way. It's just such an incredible passage

there. Very calmly, he passes through and is

gone. In Luke 7, we then have the record that

Jesus continues to go throughout the land. And

what does he do? He fulfills the gift of a prophet.

He preaches the word and he gives them the good

news. And then he comes to a place where there's

a dead son, the son of the widow Nain, the widow

from Nain. And he raises this son from the dead.

What happens again? Fear come upon all. has risen

up among us. God has visited his people. This

report about him went throughout all Judea and

the surrounding region. The fame just spread

abroad about this great prophet. Everywhere he

goes, this preaching continues and the other

things that Isaiah prophesied happened. John

the Baptist even goes through a time of doubt

and he sends two of his disciples to Jesus saying,

Are you the coming one or do we look for another?

The servants arrived at a time when, the scripture

says in Luke 7, at that very hour, he cured many

of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits.

To many, he gave sight. And so Jesus answered

and said to them, that is to John's service,

go and tell John the things you have seen and

heard. What? What things? That the blind see,

the lame walk. the lepers are cleansed the deaf

hear the dead are raised and the poor have the

gospel preached to them and blessed is he who

is not offended of me again what an incredible

testimony of Jesus as prophet and seeing all

of these deeds truly Jesus fulfilled this prophecy

from Isaiah 61 in a very distinct and clear way

the second one the second gift that we see is

that Jesus is the spirit -filled one who will

bring justice. We see this in Isaiah chapter

Isaiah 42 · chapter mention

42, one through four. This is again a prophecy.

Behold, my servant whom I uphold, my elect one

in whom my soul delights. I'm just going to say

here, Isaiah is prophesying the words of God

personified. This is God speaking through the

prophet Isaiah. My servant, It's referring to

God's servant. I have put my spirit upon him,

God says. He will bring forth justice to the

Gentiles. He will not cry out nor raise his voice

nor cause his voice to be heard in the market.

A bruised reed he will not break and smoking

flax he will not quench. He will bring forth

justice for truth. He will not fail nor be discouraged

till he has established justice in the earth

and the coastlands shall wait for his law. One

of the chief duties of prophets in the Old Testament

was a call for justice. It was where they would

expose wrongdoing. They would expose abuse of

power and they would call for justice. They would

see oppression and they would cry out against

it, whether to the king or to the prince or even

to the people. They prophesied God's word, commanding

princes and kings to do justice. We see this

in Amos chapter 5, 14 and 15. Seek good and not

Amos 5 · chapter mention

evil that you may live. So the Lord God of hosts

will be with you as you have spoken. Hate evil,

love good, establish justice in the gate. It

may be that the Lord of hosts will be gracious

to the remnant of Joseph. And again, then a little

bit later in the passage in verse 24, Amos cries

out this wonderful saying, but let justice run

down like water and righteousness like a mighty

stream. Micah, in Micah chapter six in verse

eight, he cries out to the people to whom he

is preaching. And he says, who has shown you,

oh man, what is good? And what does the Lord

require of you? but to do justly, to do justly,

to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Prophets called out for justice. Amos did it.

Micah did it. Many others did it. And so Jesus

also is going to call out for justice. Now, as

a prophet, Jesus had the son of God without measure,

and he brought justice to the Gentiles. Matthew

testifies that this was fulfilled. quoting this

passage in Isaiah 42 in Matthew 12, verse 15

Matthew 12:15–18

through 18. It says, but when Jesus knew it,

he withdrew from there and great multitudes followed

him and he healed them all. Yet he warned them

not to make him known that it might be fulfilled,

which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet saying,

behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved

in whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my

spirit in him. He will declare justice. to the

Gentiles. He will not quarrel nor cry out nor

will anyone hear his voice in the streets. A

bruised reed he will not break and smoking flax

he will not quench till he sends forth justice

to victory and in his name Gentiles will trust.

Jesus quotes this very passage regarding himself.

Now in bringing justice to the Gentiles, Jesus

brings truth and reconciliation. Truth and reconciliation

before a holy God. He brings salvation from sin

and he makes a clear and a new heart. This is

what Jesus does. But the justice that he brings

does not just stop with salvation. We get hung

up on that so many times where we just focus

on the salvation. Now salvation is glorious.

The work of God by the Spirit in our hearts making

us new people, washing us from sin and cleansing

us. This is wonderful. It is glorious. But it's

not the only thing that God is about. It is not

the only thing that Jesus proclaims in bringing

justice to the Gentiles. He brings truth and

reconciliation, but He also brings a reordering

and a renewing of life. He brings justice to

a people and to a society. brings and he proclaims

good law that does not punish the innocent nor

reward the guilty he even establishes according

to Romans 13 his civil ministers as servants

who will know the difference between good and

evil and they will praise the good and use the

sword appropriately This is why Isaiah prophesies

of Jesus that he will not fail nor be discouraged.

What does he say? Till he has established justice

in the earth and the coastlands or the isles,

if you use the King James, they shall wait for

his law. This prophet not only proclaims peace,

but he brings it and he brings us his law and

he brings justice to the world through. his administration.

This is our prophet who is also a king, which

we'll get to a little later in Advent season.

Number three, how this is also a description

of Jesus. He is the prophet who will bring light

to the darkness and also to the Gentiles. Isaiah,

again, Isaiah is one of our favorite books here.

We keep quoting from it. Isaiah has so much to

say about the coming of the Messiah. So this

is the voice of the Redeemer. Isaiah here is

prophetically speaking. This is what Jesus is

going to say. Listen, O coastlands, to me and

take heed, you peoples from afar. The Lord has

called me from the womb, from the matrix of my

mother. He has made mention of my name. He has

made my mouth like a sharp sword. In the shadow

of his hand, he has hidden me and made me a polished

shaft. In his quiver, he has hidden me. And he

said to me, you are my servant, O Israel, in

whom I will be glorified. Then I said, I've labored

in vain. I've spent my strength for nothing and

in vain. Yet surely my just reward is with the

Lord and my work is my God. But now the Lord

says. who formed me from the womb to be his servant,

to bring Jacob back to him so that Israel is

gathered to him. For I shall be glorious in the

eyes of the Lord and my God shall be my strength.

So the father says to Jesus, it is too small

a thing that you should be my servant to raise

up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved

ones of Israel. I will also give you as a light

to the Gentiles that you should be my salvation

to the ends of the earth. From this passage in

Isaiah, we get to hear a conversation between

God and Jesus that is not found in the New Testament.

It's a conversation between God the Father and

Jesus and how God the Father tells him, I am

going to give you as a light to the world. I

am sending you not just for the tribes of Jacob

and not just to restore the preserved ones of

Israel. I will give you a light to the Gentiles

that you should be my salvation to the ends of

the earth. Now one of the roles of a prophet.

Is to enlighten. Remember the foretelling that

happens. That enlightens people about what things

are going to happen. But also the foretelling.

It's the revealing of the mind in the will of

God. And so in both of these. Both the foretelling

and the foretelling. The prophet is bringing

light. He's enlightening the mind. And Jesus

is no exception to this. He brings great light.

In fact he is even called the light. And the

light to the Gentiles. So in bringing the word

of God and declaring it to the people or in foretelling

something in the future, he brings light. And

Jesus does this in a most excellent and a blessed

way, even as prophesied by Isaiah in this passage.

Not only did Jesus minister to Gentiles and outcasts

himself. But he gives Peter instructions to go

to Cornelius' house so that the Gentiles would

believe and be baptized and thus added to the

church. And then on the road to Damascus, when

Paul was traveling to imprison Christian believers,

he is knocked to the ground by a great light

that shines around him. And Jesus speaks to Paul,

audibly saying, Saul, Saul. Whom are you persecuting?

Why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you

to kick against the goats. Paul recounts in Acts

26, he says, I said, who are you, Lord? And he

says, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But,

and then he gives Paul commission. This isn't

found in all of the accounts of the Damascus

Road experience, but Paul's recounting this here.

I believe it's to Agrippa in Acts 26. He says,

I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but rise

and stand in your feet, for I have appeared to

you for this purpose, to make you a minister

and a witness both of the things which you have

seen and of the things which I will yet reveal

to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people

as well as from the Gentiles to whom I now send

you. to open their eyes in order to turn them

from darkness to light and from the power of

Satan to God, that they may receive the forgiveness

of sins and an inheritance among those who are

sanctified by faith in me. Those are Jesus' words

to Paul. So Jesus not only is a prophet, Not

only is he a light to the Gentiles, but he also

commissions his apostles to be lights to the

Gentiles. And we've just read the account, the

very clear account of how Jesus personally spoke

to Paul, giving him this commission to bring

light to the Gentiles. And so we say again, Jesus

is a true prophet and he brings light to those

who live in darkness. Well, we could look at

a number of others, but we don't have time. The

testimony, number four, that Jesus was this prophet

is found in a whole number of places in the scriptures.

And I put a number of them on the outline sheet.

Matthew 21, verse 11, and 21, verse 46, Luke

Matthew 21:11 Luke 7:16

7, verse 16, John 4, verse 19, John 6, verse

John 4:19 John 6:14

14, John 7, verse 40, and John 9, verse 17. I'm

John 7:40 John 9:17

only going to read two. Matthew 21, 10 and 11.

And when he was coming to Jerusalem, all the

city was moved, saying, Who is this? So the multitude

said, This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth

of Galilee. And then in John chapter 6 and verse

John 6 · chapter mention

14. Then those men, when they had seen the sign

that Jesus did, they said, This is truly the

prophet who is to come. into the world he was

recognized as the prophet he was a prophet mighty

indeed and word before god and all the people

luke 24 brings this out as this is the account

of the disciples this is not the apostles i think

it was a couple others cleopas was one i forget

the name of the other but they were on the road

to emmaus and as they were walking along this

was after jesus death jesus appears to them And

he starts walking together with them, but they

don't recognize him as Jesus. And so he sees

that they're sad. And so he asks them, why are

you sad? Well, haven't you heard all the things

that happened? And Jesus is very wise. He just

says, what things? And so then they start telling

him about how that... that this, they start telling

him the things concerning Jesus of Nazareth,

that he was a prophet. He was mighty in deed

and word before God and all the people. And this

happened to him, that he was put to death. And

so then Jesus opens up the word of God. Of course,

that was the Old Testament at that time. And

he just goes through and he expounds all the

passages as they're walking along of the prophecies

concerning him. But they still don't know it's

Jesus. Until they come to the house where they

were headed. They sit around the table. They

break bread together. And in the breaking of

bread, Jesus becomes manifest to them. And then

poof, he disappears. Just like that. And they

looked at one another and said, didn't our hearts

burn when he was talking? We knew there was something

really special about this, but they didn't know

it was Jesus. He was a prophet, mighty in deed

and word before God. This prophet, says Adam

Clark, is the Lord Jesus who was in the bosom

of the Father and who came to declare him to

mankind. Every word spoken by him is a living

and infallible oracle from God himself and must

be received and obeyed as such on pain of the

eternal displeasure of the Almighty. This is

the prophet Jesus. When Jesus ascended into heaven,

he gave the Holy Spirit to his people. They go

everywhere preaching the word of God. He gave

them the great commission to take it to the ends

of the earth and to disciple the nations. But

Jesus still executes the office of a prophet.

The Westminster Larger Catechism asked this question.

How does Jesus now execute the office of a prophet?

The answer is this. He executes the office of

a prophet in his revealing to the church in all

ages by his spirit and word in various ways of

administration. He reveals the whole will of

God in all things concerning their edification

and salvation. Christ continues to be in the

office of a prophet because he is the one who

is. John chapter 1. He revealed his word to holy

John 1 · chapter mention

men who spoke and wrote as they were moved by

the Holy Spirit. And we have that word with us

in the Holy Scriptures. And as we read them,

Jesus speaks to us. He proclaims the truth to

us as we read his word. And the Holy Spirit illuminates

us. So Jesus speaks to us in the word. The Holy

Spirit enables to understand it. That's how it

works. He is the word of God. We can know the

whole will of God for us in everything, for our

edification and for our salvation. Alexander

Hodge put it this way. Christ was the personal

word of God incarnate. He who had eternally been

in the bosom of the father and known the father.

And consequently, he is the mediatorial prophet.

In that original foundation or fountain of revelation

of which all other prophets are the streams.

He is the prophet of all prophets. He is the

teacher of all teachers. He, Simon Peter said,

has the words of eternal life. Now I leave you

with this question. And it's something that is

worthy of a much greater study. And that is this

question. How might we, as imitators of Christ,

fulfill this role? Is there any kind of a place

for us to fulfill this role, the role of a prophet?

Votie Bauckham put in his book, What He Must

Be If You Were to Marry My Daughter. He speaks

about the role of being Christ followers, how

that we also have a role, especially the father

in the home, of being a prophet, a priest, and

a king. He puts it this way. He stresses family

worship, catechizing children, arguing that fathers

bear primary responsibility for their spiritual

formation of their children, which is true. And

so in that way, in a small way, we take the prophetic

gift that Jesus had and we also look to us as

well as we seek. What do we do to our children?

We enlighten them. We bring the truth of them.

We explain the scriptures to them. The father's

life must align with his teaching, avoiding hypocrisy

that exasperates children. Ephesians 6 and verse

4. Fathers, point back to the one who made you,

embodying God's purposes in relationships. And

indeed, in that way, we also see our own prophetic

role as fathers. But in that, I would also include

mothers where you teach your children as well.

Proverbs speaks about both the law of the father

and the law of the mother. You mothers also have

a wonderful way to communicate the truths of

God to your children and also from older women

to younger women and other opportunities. Though

you do not stand in the pulpit and proclaim in

the way that we do, in the way that men can,

yet you also have this great gift from God. to

speak in that way to those whom God has given

to you. I leave that for application today. I

hope that this has been a blessing to you in

understanding the prophetic role of Jesus Christ

and how he fulfilled it. Let's pray.