The Prophet

Last Sunday in church, our pastor asked a similar question to “when you hear the name of Jesus, what do you think?” My mind, like a Rolodex, when straight to prophet, priest and king. In the Old Testament, the nation of Israel was tired of being attacked and thought that if they had a monarchy system it would help lessen the attacks. God, however, wanted the Hebrew people to be a theocratic government. Meaning, God would lead his people as he had done before. (Think Exodus…by a pillar of fire and cloud). The nation of Israel, however, had a different idea. They persisted on having a monarchy system, hoping that would solve their problems. In fact, the solution to their problem was not a physical king, but the solution would have been being obedient to God’s plan, not their own. Nevertheless, God appointed a king to rule over the nation. In part of this monarchy system, God put in place a prophet for the king. The prophet was one who spoke on behalf of God. The prophet was the mouthpiece that would take God’s commands to the king. Ultimately, the king could listen to the prophet and obey God’s commands or the king could choose otherwise. John 8:26 tells us that Jesus came on behalf of God to instruct the Hebrew people about who God is and the course of actions they needed to take. The same goes for us in current day. Jesus is our prophet that tell us the direction God wants us to go. Jesus is also the prophet that declares that he is coming back for his bride (the church).

The Priest

The priest had the task of being the people’s representative with God. Again, in the Old Testament, there were multiple roles and functions of the priest. We are maybe familiar with the High Priest and the Day of Atonement. The High Priest would enter into the Holy of Holy’s and receive a word from God to take to the nation of Israel. When Jesus died on the cross, the veil was torn signifying we all now have one on one access to God. Jesus is our representative, our High Priest. We are all extremely thankful for that. But what about the everyday activities the priest was responsible for? The service, the sacrifices, the scrolls, the tabernacle itself, all of these duties were daily, not just once a year. The question quickly becomes, am I letting Jesus have his way in the minutia of my daily tasks? Such as in how I act, in my speech, in my physical appearance, and in my thought life. In all those things, I have a priest in Jesus that wants to represent me before his Father. The priest would also take the animal and make the blood offering for the forgiveness of sin. Instead of an animal, Jesus covers us with his own blood that was shed on the cross. Not to mention Jesus, as the priest, sacrificed himself on my behalf, for my sin. It’s a tough way of life to live, in the in-between; either I can let him be my High Priest, or not.We might be more like the Hebrew people then we are willing to admit.

The King

“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,¹¹ and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11) “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, ¹⁰ and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.” (Colossians 2:9-10) Scripture makes it pretty clear the position that Jesus has been given. He is the King of Kings. Revelation tells us that Jesus will return to defeat Satan and reign as King. I am overwhelmed by the magnitude of that statement, maybe because I know I have someone that rules with compassion and grace when that is not what I deserve or humanity deserves. Part of the role of a King is to watch over the civilization of people in his kingdom, to care for and keep their best interest at heart. Not only has Jesus defeated Satan, but he has also given freedom to escape the bondage of sin. Jesus has met the requirements I could not meet. He traded his life for mine (and yours). He is a loving king that provides, protects and promises eternal hope. 

Photo by Michael D Beckwith on Unsplash