Lesson for December 20, 2020
Jesus Christ – Prophet, Priest and King
Christ as Prophet
Matthew 13:53-58, “When Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there. And He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, with the result that they were astonished, and said, ‘Where did this man acquire this wisdom and these miraculous powers? Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is His mother not called Mary, and His brothers, James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man acquire all these things?’ And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not dishonored except in his hometown and in his own household.’ And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.” A prophet was a person chosen by God to speak on behalf of God, the message he had received from God. Prophets were God’s specially called messengers. They were “holy men of God who spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” (II Peter 1:21)
The control and guidance by the Holy Spirit in the expression of the message guarantees the expression of truth without error. The prophet’s job was to call the people back to God and to the truth of God’s Word. It involved warning them of the consequences of their actions and a call to repentance (a change of mind). At times it was a message of God’s plan for the future of His Kingdom. They were men through whom God spoke His message of love for mankind and warned them of the consequences of their sins. The heart of their message was God’s promise of eternal redemption through the coming of Jesus Christ the Messiah.
The test of the prophet was practical and simple: “When the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the Lord has truly sent him.” (Jeremiah 28:9) True prophecy has in it no contradictions. It must always agree with what is already known about God. (Matthew 7:15-23; Mark 13:21-23; Jeremiah 14:13-18, 28; 1 Kings 22:5-28).
Christ’s message to the world was one of salvation. He encouraged people to believe in Him for eternal life. He explained that He was God in the flesh sent to deliver them from their sin. He also prophesied about future events such as His death, burial and resurrection. He predicted the betrayal of Judas, the denial of Peter and the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersing of the Jewish race. He prophesied the coming of the Holy Spirit and the Church. (John 3:16, 36, 14:9; Mark 8:31-33; Matthew 16:21; Luke 22:21-22; Matthew 24:1-2; Luke 19:41-44, 21:20-24; John 14:25, 16:5-7)
Christ as Priest
Hebrews 5:10, “Being designated a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.” Jesus Christ is our royal High Priest forever. In order to become our High Priest Christ had to become true humanity. Jesus Christ represented us before God first on the “altar” of the Cross, and now in Heaven before the throne of God. By becoming our High Priest, Jesus Christ became our mediator to God. (I Timothy 2:5-6) As believers in this age, we belong to His priesthood (the Royal Priesthood). This priesthood is far superior to any that existed in the past. (Hebrews 7) As our High Priest, Christ won the strategic victory over Satan in the Angelic Conflict. (Hebrews 4:14-16; 6:17-20) The priesthood of Christ is the reality of those priesthoods that previously existed in the Old Testament. Just as the rituals and the sacrifices were images of the real things which were to come in the future, the royal priesthood of Christ is the realization of those types as well. (Hebrews 8)
Jesus Christ Who was king and prophet in His humanity did not ask for the position of high priest. He was born of the linage of David and was therefore in the line of Judah. There was no priesthood of any kind in the family of Judah; the tribe of Levi had all of the priests. Jesus Christ is the only priest in all of Israel’s history Who is from the tribe of Judah, Who is a bona fide King and at the same time a priest. In the future He will be the High Priest of Israel during the Millennium even though He is from the tribe of Judah. Under God’s grace plan: God promotes, God appoints, and God commissions.
Hebrews 5:5-6, “So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He Who said to Him, ‘Thou art My Son, today I have begotten Thee”; just as He says also in another passage, “Thou art a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.’” We have a quotation from Psalms 2:7 first, “Thou art my Son…” indicating that when this was written about Jesus Christ, He was not yet humanity and could not yet be our High Priest. Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, became a true member of the human race. So, first Jesus had to be born as a human being before assuming the role of our High Priest and fulfilling the divine decree from eternity-past.
We also have a quotation from Psalms 110:4, “Thou art a priest forever…” is derived from the Hebrew verb “kun,” which means to stand up. And a “kohen” in Hebrew was the priest who stood up at the altar, stood up for the people, stood up and talked, stood up for what God commanded, stood up and represented the people to God. So, Christ did not assume the role of High Priest by His own volition, He was appointed by God the Father.
According to the order of Melchizedek means in the same manner of Melchizedek. Melchizedek was an actual person, a Gentile, who ruled a great city called Salem, the ancient Jerusalem. He functioned as a priest under the family priesthood and he was a contemporary of Abraham and not a theophany of Christ.
Theophany comes from two Greek words, “theo” for God and “phaneia” for appearance. So, a theophany is an appearance of God (Christ) in the Old Testament.
The very fact that in the divine decrees the Father said Christ was a priest forever indicates that the Father intended to raise Christ from the dead. So, death does not hinder the priesthood of Jesus Christ. Death terminates the priesthood for everyone except Jesus Christ, and the fact that He would be a priest forever is the prophecy of the Resurrection. Jesus Christ continues to function as High Priest.
Christ as King
Matthew 2:2, “Where is He Who has been born King of the Jews?” Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords and will rule on earth during the Millennium. Therefore, Christ has both a spiritual kingdom and an earthly kingdom comprised by those who believe in Him for salvation. Christ has always been and will always be the King of Israel though they rejected Him in favor of an earthly king named Saul and many others after that in the Old Testament. During the Millennium He will once again resume His rightful place of honor as the King of Israel. When He began His earthly ministry, He made the offer to Israel to be their king, but they once again rejected Him, and this time were responsible for crucifying Him.
A king must have a kingdom. The Kingdom of God is God’s eternal kingdom to which every believer belongs from all dispensations, perhaps even angels. It is God’s spiritual kingdom, which is entered only through salvation by faith alone in Christ alone. (Matthew 6:33; Luke 13:28-29; John 3:3-7; Hebrews 12:22-23) Within that kingdom there is the Kingdom of Heaven or the kingdom of the heavens.
The Kingdom of Heaven is only part of the entire Kingdom of God and refers to the millennial reign of the Lord Jesus Christ on earth. Since the Kingdom of Heaven is a part of the Kingdom of God, they are sometimes used interchangeably. It is this earthly kingdom that was announced by John the Baptist and offered to Israel by Jesus Christ and rejected by the Jewish nation. Since it was rejected and the Messiah crucified, the Kingdom of Heaven was postponed until after the Tribulation. Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven and the Millennium are the same period of time. This period will be the time when David’s greater Son, Jesus Christ, will rule on earth. It is a time when all the covenants to Israel will be fulfilled. It is a time of peace and prosperity. (Matthew 3:1-3; Luke 1:31-33; Zechariah 12:8; II Samuel 7:7-10)
When John announced that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand, it simply meant that the Messianic ruler was on the scene and ready to set up His kingdom on earth. Even the disciples of Jesus thought that the Kingdom of Heaven was going to be set up at that time. (Acts 1:6) In Matthew 13 Jesus teaches the multitudes about the Kingdom of Heaven in parables, so, these parables and their meanings apply only to the Millennium not to the Church Age. In the end, the nation of Israel rejected Jesus as Messiah and with the assistance of the Romans fulfilled prophecy by crucifying the Savior. (Matthew 27) Therefore, we see that there is a difference between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven. The first is a spiritual kingdom and the second is an earthly kingdom. Both, of course, are God’s kingdoms.
As members of the Royal Family of God and the Kingdom of God, Jesus Christ is the King of all Church Age believers. Being spiritual royalty is dependent upon a relationship with someone of royalty. For believers it is their relationship with Jesus Christ that makes them royalty. Christ actually has a number of royal titles and also has a royal family. As the Son of God His royal family is God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. As the Son of David His royal family is the line of David. As the King of kingsand Lord of lords His royal family is the Church. It is this unique Church family that we have the privilege of being a part of as Christians. (I Timothy 6:13-16)
God interrupted the Age of Israel in order to send His Son as our Savior and to establish a royal family for the King of kings and Lord of lords. Every person during this age who believes in Christ immediately becomes Royal Family of God. While Christ was on earth during the Hypostatic Union he also set up and executed a way of life as an example for the believer in the Church Age to follow. We call this system “The Christian Way of Life,” which was tested and proved by Jesus Christ prior to the Church Age.
For thirty-three years Christ tested and proved this unique life. Operating by the power of God the Holy Spirit He was able not to sin and fulfilled His royal destiny by going to the Cross in a state of sinless perfection. His execution of this system proves to us that all believers have the potential of glorifying God by living the Christian Way of Life.