PROPHET JESUS
- Luke: " 4:22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, "Is this not Joseph's son?"
4:23 He said to them, "Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, 'Doctor, cure yourself!' And you will say, 'Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.'"4:24 And he said, "Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown."
The born blind man was healed by Jesus, as Jesus gave him back his eye sight, his neighbors and those, who had formerly seen the blind born man begging, asked that. “How were your eyes opened?" He replied, "A man called Jesus made mud, anointed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went away and washed, and I received sight.’ "
They took him to the Pharisees who rebuked the blind born man and the same time they falsely accused Jesus, the Jesus is a sinner, because he does not observe the Sabbath.
But the blind born man answered:
“We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God, and does his will, he listens to him. Since the world began it has never been heard of that anyone opened the eyes of someone born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
Some among the Pharisees became quite confused, saying, that, indeed, “How can a person who is a sinner do such miracles?” So there was a division among them.
Therefore they asked the blind man again, “What do you say about him, because he opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”
The angry among the arguing Pharisees threw him out from the place.
Nonetheless, the born blind man, received his vision, and also received the enlightenment as well, and he witnessed that Jesus is a prophet.
This story from Gospel of John is also great instruction that only the prayer of the righteous is granted in Heaven. The Epistle of the Apostle James mentions prophet Elijah, that when he prayed there was no rain in Israel for three years, as it as written in the Book of Kings, that Elijah said:
“Elijah the Tishbite, who was one of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As Yahweh, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.”
It happened, not because Elijah was in a whimsical mood against precipitation, but it was a prophetical action against Israel, as the whole country was led astray by the king and his foreign Queen, made the country turn to idolatry, worshiping Phoenician gods.
We take the fertilizing rain as granted, however it is a gift from God, like a rewarding blessing for the ground. Prophet Elijah made it visible, that sinners do not deserve to be rewarded, thus the rain was not granted from Heaven at this time, but withheld from the country, which committed idolatry or tolerated that others did commit idolatry. Elijah did not pray for personal gain, or anything for himself, but he conveyed God’s message to the sinning country. That message is always the same.
REPENT and RETURN to GOD.
According to the apostolic letter the Hebrews, Jesus Christ is our King, and he is our high priest and he is our ultimate prophet at the same time. All these having said, however, all the researchers agree that the letter to the Hebrews was not written by apostle Paul himself, but probably by his disciples and the letter had a lot of problems during the so-called canonization process, like authenticating the letter to the Hebrews as scripture.
The kingship of Jesus used to be justified from the book of Daniel, as it is written in chapter seven: “I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of the sky one like a son of man, and he came even to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him. Dominion was given him, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will not be destroyed.” Daniel 7 : 13-14
We can summarize Jesus’ ultimate Kingship, that there must be no other King on Earth, beside Jesus to whom we owe due respect, as in any case we have to search for guidance of the Holy Spirit, by which we are governed.
His High Priesthood is claimed by the letter to the Hebrews which argues that Jesus' priesthood is based on the ordination of Melchizedek, who was described as a non-Jewish Priest King of Jerusalem in an Abraham story, calling him the Priest of the Most High, and it is also asserted in the Psalm 110:
The Lord God has sworn, and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. The Lord God is at your right hand. He will crush kings on the day of his wrath.” Psalm 110 : 4-5
We can summarize, Jesus High Priesthood, as the only mediator between God and the human nation, there or no priests beside him, standing in front of God, incessantly praying for us, begging the Father to look at not our sins, but Jesus’ sacrificial love for humanity, manifested mightily on the cross, and culminated in the Great Victory of the Easter.
Regarding Jesus role as our highest prophet, though the prophethood in general tradionally began with Adam, the first human, still it is Abraham who is generally regarded after the Flood, who stood before God, as a role model for all later prophets.
For long millennia it was the general religious habit in the Middle East that the first born male children were thrown into the fire as a burnt sacrifice to the gods.
However, it is written in the fifth book of Moses, in chapter 12, that God forbids Israel to follow the practices of the neighboring nations by commanding that You shall not do so to the Lord your God: for every abomination to the Lord, which he hates, have they done to their gods; for even their sons and their daughters do they burn in the fire to their gods.
However,it is also written, that God commanded Abraham to take his son Isaac to the Mount Moriah, in order to kill and burn him as a burnt sacrifice to God.
Even, if it is written, it is very questionable that God had ever said this to Abraham, as it is clear from the Old Testament that the human sacrifice is a detestable abomination in the eyes of God, and it is also written that God never tests anybody with evil.
It rather happened that Abraham had to have this fight in his own mind against the pressing religious belief of his era that sacrificing the firstborn children to the gods is a must.
Abraham had to come up with the conclusion in his own heart, that it is indeed an abomination, and he will not commit the child killing, murderous act.
The Prophet, like Abraham did not mind the idolatrous culture and customs of the nations, but turned directly to God for guidance.
He heard the voice of God in his heart, the you shall not commit human sacrifice, because it is a despicable abomination in the eyes of God, but fear the Lord, your God. Thus, he was able to lead his people into a new future, into a new Abrahamic covenant. A the Prophets major role is not making miracles and wondrous deeds, showing Heavenly, supernatural signs on Earth, but to convey the message of God, to utter the Word of God, to lead the people closer to God.
That was exactly what Jesus did, with the always recurring major message of the Prophets: People, may You turn away from your sins, repent and return to God, Amen.
