Jesus the Prophet (Acts 3:22-23)
Peter is addressing a Jewish audience here and he was probably aware of questions that would automatically arise in their minds regarding the Messiah and his kingdom. In particular, Peter deals with the matter of the prophet foretold by Moses and with the concern of the focus of Old Testament prophecy. His listeners were fully aware that the Old Testament, their Bible, predicted the coming of such a prophet as well as containing the predictions of other Old Testament prophets who were not like Moses. The key point regarding this predicted prophet was that he would be like Moses. Therefore we need to consider the ways in which Jesus was a prophet like Moses, and the easiest way to do this is to detail some unique features of Moses’ prophetic ministry.
Moses the prophet
The first aspect to note is that Moses prophesied to a community for whom he had been instrumental in providing redemption from slavery. God sent Moses with a message of deliverance to a nation of slaves unable to deliver themselves from political bondage.
A second detail to note about the prophetic word of Moses was that it was accompanied by miraculous signs. This was the case with regard to his message to Pharaoh, as displayed in the ten plagues that afflicted the Egyptians, as well as subsequently when he was leading the people of God through the desert, such as providing water from the rock.
A third feature of the prophetic ministry of Moses is that he received from God the instructions to pass on to his people. Moses received these instructions at Mount Sinai and they are recorded in the Books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Most of these instructions are concerned with aspects of the worship of God, but he was also given instructions regarding individual behaviour as well as the role of the civil authorities.
A fourth feature of Moses’ role was that he was faithful in his service of God. This is the point that is made by the author of Hebrews when he writes in Hebrews 3:5: ‘Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant.’ Wherever God asked him to go and whatever he asked him to do, Moses was loyal to God.
A fifth feature of Moses’ prophetic role was the spirit in which he ministered. He is identified in Numbers 12:3 as ‘very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.’ His attitude is very commendable when we recall the stubbornness and ingratitude of the Israelites whom he taught about God.
Similarities between Moses and Jesus
We can take these five features of Moses the prophet and apply them to the ministry of Jesus. Jesus’ ministry involves dealing with a people who are enslaved, except that they are not in bondage to another political system, but to the power of sin. He teaches those whom he had to redeem from the state of sin. This is a big difference between Moses and Jesus. The redemption connected to Moses was brought about through the sacrifice of the Passover lamb; Moses did not provide the means of redemption. In contrast, Jesus had to redeem his people by the sacrifice of himself. This he did when he suffered on the cross and bore the penalty against their sins. He took their place and bore the wrath of God that was their due.
Like Moses in his role as the Deliverer of Israel, Jesus also performed miracles in order to authenticate that he was sent by God to be the Messiah. The Saviour himself pointed to the miracles when John the Baptist asked for confirmation of what was happening: ‘And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me”’ (Matt. 11:4-6).
Again like Moses, Jesus received the teaching he gave to his disciples from God. ‘“I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him”’ (John 8:26-29).
Further Jesus was faithful to his calling to be God’s prophet. This aspect of his service was prophesied in Psalm 40:8-10: ‘I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart. I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O LORD. I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart; I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.’ These verses are quoted by the author of Hebrews (10:7ff.) when speaking of the work of Christ in teaching those for whom he died.
It is also the case that Jesus is identified as possessing the same attitude as Moses did – meekness or gentleness. This was how the Saviour described himself, and he did so in the context of his functioning as a prophet. Matthew records these words of Jesus: ‘Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls’ (Matt. 11:29). Jesus was a gentle and humble Instructor of his disciples.
Going back briefly to the three offices of Jesus, we should realise that he performs each role simultaneously. For example, when he teaches as a prophet, he is giving the path of blessing as a priest, and requiring obedience as a king. Or when he was on the cross, he was suffering as a priest, fighting as a king over the enemies of sin and Satan, and teaching his followers about forgiveness, family responsibilities, and faith. He does not perform the same task each time, but he always functions in this threefold way.
So Jesus teaches the redeemed, performs acts of power, conveys the information he received from the Father, is continually faithful to him, and always does so with an attitude of humility and gentleness. I have used the present tense to describe his activities because, as the Catechism again reminds us, Jesus performs the roles of prophet, priest and king ‘both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation’.
Having noted some general points about the similarities between Jesus and Moses, I would wish now to consider some specific features in which the prophetic office of Jesus transcends the ministry of Moses.
Uniqueness of Jesus as a prophet
The first aspect to note concerning how Jesus transcends the abilities of Moses is his capability of dealing with all his people personally. When Moses was instructing the Israelites, he could not deal with them all simultaneously. In contrast to the limitations of Moses, Jesus can instruct his church simultaneously. This is the case whether we think of the church on earth with all its distinctions of language, development and needs. It is also the case with regard to the church in its aspect of part of it being in heaven and part on earth. Today Jesus is the Teacher of the believers in heaven and the believers on earth. Obviously, he teaches them different matter, but the fact is that there is only one Teacher of the church, Jesus the prophet. Of course, we know that Jesus is not physically present with his church on earth. So how does he teach them? He does so through the ministry of the Holy Spirit who takes of the things of Christ and reveals them unto us (John 16:14-15). We are gathered here as a congregation in order to be taught together by our Prophet. The Spirit of Christ illuminates us as we listen to him.
In addition to teaching us personally, Jesus also will teach us permanently. He will be our Teacher throughout our lives as Christians here on earth, and he will teach us in heaven after we die. In a way similar to how a pupil leaves school and goes on to university, so we leave the teachings given on earth and begin to learn deeper aspects of truth in heaven. On earth, university eventually comes to an end, but our experience of being taught by Jesus will never end. Psalm 22:22 indicates that Jesus, when he was on the cross, made a promise to his Father that he would do this for Christians. He promised that he would teach the Father’s name to his brethren. A picture is given of this heavenly activity in Revelation 7:17: ‘For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’ The prophet functions as a Guide into the eternal fountain who is God himself, and each time Jesus reveals truths about God to us the Father will wipe away our tears. I am not convinced that these tears are connected to life on earth. They may be, but they seem to be linked also to the discoveries we make of God as the eternal fountain. Tears are an expression of emotion; we can have tears of delight at new discoveries, tears of amazement at unexpected attainments, and tears of love as we sense we are loved. It will be impossible to behold Jesus in the eternal world without having overwhelming emotions, of having great joy.
Further, Jesus the prophet teaches us powerfully. By this I mean that he never fails in conveying to us the particular truths that we need to hear. In his presence today he has taught us the truths about salvation that we needed to hear. A teacher usually has a plan as to what they are going to teach their classes. Jesus also has a plan, and he does not adjust because of unseen circumstances. He knew exactly where each of us would be spiritually today. The Saviour may have taught us today that God is merciful, that God will chastise us for our sins, that God has suitable promises, that God has given particular instructions. Whatever our need, he will have addressed it. In this life, he has to teach us about aspects of God that suit our condition as pilgrims; in the next life, he will teach us about aspects of God that will suit our condition as glorified person made perfect in holiness.
Peter’s warning
Having indicated that the exalted Jesus is the prophet whom Moses predicted, Peter now repeats the warning that Moses gave concerning a wrong response to the future prophet: ‘And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people’ (2:33).
Peter is not referring to people who may not have the opportunity of listening to Jesus. Such will be judged according to the light they had from creation and conscience. Instead he is speaking to those who would not be attentive to what Jesus had to say to them.
What was the message that Peter had for the crowd in Jerusalem that day? It was not merely that Jesus was able to work astonishing miracles on behalf of unfortunate people. Instead his message was that these citizens of Jerusalem should repent of their sins, including the sin of having rejected Jesus previously. If they persisted in refusing to repent, the day would come when they would be cut off from the visible community of God’s people and find themselves under his awful, eternal judgement.
This is the message that Peter has for us as well. This is a lesson that Peter had to learn himself because on the Mount of Transfiguration he was told by God to listen to Jesus and not to Moses and Elijah. And he says to us, ‘Safety and satisfaction come from listening to Jesus Christ. Repentance brings us into a relationship in which we enjoy the personal, permanent and powerful instruction of Jesus the Prophet.’