Day after day, as we work with Muslims, I hear Jesus referred to as a prophet, another prophet in a long line of what Muslims refer to as prophets. Muhammad quite brazenly declared himself to be a prophet like those others, like Adam, like Abraham, like David, and even like Jesus. In fact he even declared himself to be the “last prophet”. Of course, his declaration was extremely self-serving, giving him power and license to do whatever he wanted, including going to war with other, subjegating other people under the thumb of his religious, now political, power, and living a sexual lifestyle that was far from God’s ways, even going as far to take a child as a wife.
Now, to be fair, Jesus did prophecy, so in this sense he was a prophet. He spoke of the times that would come as well as how the end of the world would happen. But Jesus didn’t just speak. Jesus did. And in fact, the prophecies that he spoke primarily spoke about what he would do.
For example, Jesus routinely prophecied, telling his disciples that he would go to Jerusalem where he would be handed over to the Pharisees and the other religious leaders, only to be hung on the cross. At the last supper, Jesus told his disciples that his death, which was symbolized by the bread and the wine that he shared with them, what we refer to today as the Lord’s Supper, Jesus told them that his body would be broken and his blood would be shed for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus prophecied about himself and his death on the cross that would set all people free from their sins, if only they would accept his sacrifice, his gift of love, grace, and mercy by faith.
Jesus also prophecied about the end of time, telling his disciples that he would return as the Son of Man previously spoken of in the book of Daniel in chapter 7. He would come again, riding on the clouds, coming back in judgement and justice over all people.
So if we believe that Jesus was a prophet, then we should believe what he prophecied about. He prophecied, not just talking about a far-off God, but instead about himself.
So was Jesus a prophet? Yes, but so much more! He is also our savior. He is also our king. In fact, he is God himself.
Reading now in the book of Hebrews, Jesus is additionally referred to as our high priest. The priests would offer sacrifices in the temple. They would be chosen one time each year to go into the temple and offer a sacrifice both for themselves and their own sins as well as a sacrifice for the people of Israel and their sins.
This happened year after year, decade after decade, and century after century, just as God has commanded the Israelites to do as the law was given to them. This was God’s plan from the beginning, and now Jesus would come to fulfill God’s plan. Jesus would be the high priest, but not only for the Israelites, but for all people. He would offer a sacrifice, but that sacrifice would not be an animal, it would be himself. His sacrifice wouldn’t be for himself because he had never sinned. His sacrifice, instead, would be for the people and the forgiveness of their sins.
Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.
Hebrews 7:26-28
Jesus is the high priest in the order of Melchizedek. Melchizedek was both the king of Salem – the name of Jerusalem before it was Jerusalem – as well as a priest of God for the people of Salem.
Jesus was not only a king, not only a prophet, not only a savior, but he was also a high priest. Jesus came in the “line of Melchizedek”, meaning that the true priesthood of God, in Jesus, shifted from the line of Levi to the line of Melchizedek, which in reality has no genealogical beginning and no end. Jesus has no beginning and no end, and yet he served his people as their priest, offering the greatest sacrifice once for all. One sacrifice for all people. Past, present, and future, Jesus’s sacrifice was perfect and given for everyone, given as a result of his work as our high priest.