Not Just Another Prophet

I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose.   Matthew 5:17

People have always thought of Jesus as one of the prophets (see Matthew 16:14), but he made it clear that we must not understand him that way. “I came to accomplish [the prophets’] purpose,” he said. Every time the prophets spoke, they announced God’s promises, and God’s to-do list got longer!

If Jesus were just another prophet, he would have announced more things God would one day do, but Jesus’ coming would not have contributed much to actually getting those things done. Jesus did not come to make God’s to-do list longer. He came so that God’s to-do list would be done!

Jesus cannot be placed alongside the prophets or other religious teachers. If you want to know who Jesus is, you need to understand that he’s altogether different from the Old Testament prophets or any other religious leader who has ever lived.

A friend of mine attended a religious seminar and was told that Judaism stops with Moses, Christianity stops with Jesus, and Islam stops with Muhammad. Many people see Jesus as just another figure in the long line of religious history. They see Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus, Paul, and others, continuing into contemporary times, as great religious teachers whose portraits all hang on the same wall.

Some opponents of Christianity suggest that Christianity is a new religion invented by Jesus, who lived a mere two thousand years ago. But the Bible story goes back to the beginning of time. It tells us what God said he would do, and it tells us that he has fulfilled his promises through Jesus Christ.

The prophets announced God’s promise of blessing for all nations, a Kingdom that will never end, and a new heart for God’s people, but the uniqueness of Jesus Christ is that all of these promises find their fulfillment in him. Have you begun to see why Jesus’ portrait belongs on a wall all by itself?

For further reading, see Matthew 16