Don Stewart :: Was Jesus a Prophet?

A prophet is a spokesman for God, one who relates the message of God to the people. They were usually unpopular among their people. The Old Testament tells us of many prophets that God raised up. They include as Elijah, Jeremiah and Isaiah. The Old Testament however predicted that God would raise up one special Prophet who would be like Moses. Moses wrote,

The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brothers, him you shall hear . . The Lord said to me, 'They have spoken well. I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. It shall come about that whoever will not listen to my words which he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him' (Deuteronomy 18:15, 17-19).

But at the time of Moses' death this particular Prophet had not yet appeared:

But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face (Deuteronomy 34:10).

Furthermore, the Old Testament does not record that this particular prophet ever appeared.

At the time of Jesus' coming, the people were still looking for "the Prophet." The religious leaders asked John the Baptist

Are you the Prophet? (John 1:21).

John said that he was not. When Jesus appeared on the scene and started performing His miracles He was recognized by many as the long-awaited prophet who is to come into the world.

Therefore when the people saw the sign which he had performed, they said, "This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world" (John 6:14).

Jesus' Testimony That He Was "The" Prophet

Jesus Himself testified that He was that prophet - the One who spoke the words from God the Father.

So Jesus answered them and said, "My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me"(John 7:16).

Jesus predicted the people would know He came from the Father.

So Jesus said, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and I do nothing on my own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught me (John 8:28).

Jesus also said.

For I did not speak on my own initiative, but the Father himself who sent me has given me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told me (John 12:49-50).

Jesus again testified He was speaking the Father's words.

He who does not love me does not keep my words; and the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me (John 14:24).

The Testimony Of His Disciples

After the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus His disciples made it clear that Jesus was that Prophet like unto Moses:

For Moses truly said to the fathers, 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brothers. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. And it shall come to pass that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people' (Acts 3:22,23).

The Bible says.

No one has ever seen God, but God the one and only who is at the Father's side, has made him known (John 1:18).

Summary

The Old Testament predicted that God would raise up a prophet like Moses who spoke with God face to face. It is the claim of the New Testament that Jesus was "the Prophet" predicted in the Old Testament who would be like Moses, dealing with God on a face-to-face basis. But Jesus was greater than Moses for He was the one and only God who had eternally been face-to-face with the Father.