Prophet, Priest, and King

2007-06-14

Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of three offices of importance in the days of Israel under the tribal confederacy and the Davidic monarchy: Prophet, Priest, and King. The prophet is God’s spokesman to humankind, the priest (especially the high priest) is humankind’s spokesman to God, and the king is God’s anointed to rule His people on His behalf.

It is amazing when thinking about Jesus in these roles, because each of these bears great significance. Jesus, during His ministry, was considered to be a prophet, and more significantly, the Prophet of Deuteronomy 18. Surely, they recognized that He was different than the religious leaders of the day, since in Capernaum, the people were astonished because “he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes” (Mark 1:22). This resembles what Moses stated: “The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken” (Deuteronomy 18:15).

As high priest, Jesus offered Himself as a propitiatory sacrifice once for all to pay for the sins of humankind. Unlike high priests in the past, Jesus did not need to do the ritual cleansings before He offered His own sacrifice, nor did He have to offer a sacrifice for His own sins, because He had no sin (Hebrews 4:15). Now He sits at God’s right hand as our advocate. Jesus, not as a Levitical priest, but as a priest of the order of Melchizedek, was not bound to be from the Aaron’s family; He came in the power of the priest-king of Salem (Genesis 14; Psalm 110; Hebrews 7).

Jesus as King is very significant. Though there had been the long dynasty of Davidic kings, it was well known that the real King was the Lord Himself (see, for example, Psalm 10:16). God Himself is the fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant in 2 Samuel 7. The kings ceased to reign with Zedekiah, and the following was written about Jehoiachin, his nephew: “Thus saith the Lord, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah” (Jeremiah 22:30).

Did God contradict His promise? He had something greater in mind, since God truly was their King. He came in the flesh, and will rule as the Son of David from Jerusalem in the Millennial Reign. Jesus fulfilled the unconditional promise of this covenant, but interestingly enough, He took the brunt of the fulfillment of 2 Samuel 7:14: “I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men.” Many kings suffered for their wrongdoings. David lost a child because of his adultery, Josiah died in battle, Zedekiah had his eyes put out, and the kingdom was torn in two because of the arrogance of Rehoboam. But who suffered exactly as it was told in this oracle of God? Praise God for His sacrifice in Jesus Christ, whose propitiation covered all the sins of humankind.

It is amazing that Jesus is the fulfillment of all things that the Old Testament foreshadows. We can be confident that Jesus is the long-awaited Redeemer and Savior, and that He will fulfill every promise He made. Keep resting in Him, for when we recognize that He has taken away the penalty of our sins, and that He is empowering us to live for Him, a day will come when we will not live in the presence of sin ever again.