I will raise up for them a prophet like you [Moses] from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name.
Deuteronomy 18:18–19
“I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!
But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?”
Luke 12:49–59
Jesus left there and went to his home town, accompanied by his disciples.
When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.
“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing?
Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offence at him.
Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honour except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.”
Mark 6:1–6
“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people…”
Luke 24:19–23
At the end of the book of Deuteronomy is a section about the death of Moses. It states : “Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, who did all those signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do in Egypt – to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel” (Deuteronomy 34:10–12). But earlier in the book (18:18; see our Bible passages above) God speaks to Moses of another prophet like him who will be raised from among the Jewish people – a new Moses.
Speculation continued as time went by and no one fitting this description
appeared, until Jesus came. Then the speculation centred on him (see Matthew 16:13–16) and people began to identify him as a prophet, possibly the prophet spoken of to Moses. At the time of his death (see our passage from Luke 24 above), he was understood to have been a great prophet. At that point the acceptance that he was the messiah, the saviour of the world, had not yet taken root.
Jesus’ prophetic ministry is not emphasized as much as his teaching and healing nowadays, but it was revered during his earthly life. It is seen both in his fore-telling of events to come, and in his forth-telling – interpreting and understanding the spiritual significance of the events of his day, and seeing into the hearts of his fellow men, discerning truth and announcing the will of God.
O God of all truth, things hidden away in secret are exposed by the daylight of your presence. May we, by your mighty power and your Spirit at work within us, learn to see and discern what is wise and good for our nation, our time. Then give us the strength and the courage to work for our vision to come into being. In Jesus’ holy name we pray; Amen.
