We are talking about the need for Christians to meditate and I've been suggesting things to meditate on - God, his word, his works, etc. Something very profitable to meditate on would be the threefold office of Christ, the fact he is our great Prophet, Priest and King.
When we say ‘Jesus Christ’ you know Christ is not his surname but a title based on the Greek word which in Hebrew is Moshiach or Messiah. Both words mean anointed one ie one who has oil put on his head. In Acts 10:38 Peter says God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power … In the Old Testament prophets, priests and kings are the ones who were anointed. Thus when we call Jesus Christ we mean he is Messiah, the anointed one – anointed not with oil but with the Spirit, to be our prophet, priest and king. Some ideas of Christianity stress only one or other of these offices. Some ignore them all and speak only of Christ as a man whose good example we must follow which is really heresy. If we are biblical we will give attention to all three offices as seen in Christ. So
1. Meditate on Christ the King
Who is the most powerful man on earth today? Perhaps the President of the USA but his power is limited as America is a democracy. For real power you need to be an absolute monarch - a King or an Emperor. Down the years some kings have gained the title great – Constantine the Great, Alfred the Great, Rhodri Fawr, Frederick the Great, etc. As great as they may have been they all died and few have the power today such kings once had. However, there is one Great King still alive today who, though he died, he rose again and reigns forever. He has a kingdom that can never fall - Jesus, King of the Jews, the King of kings and Lord of Lords.
Remember how when the wise men came to Jerusalem looking for Jesus they asked for The King of the Jews and when he was eventually crucified the title above his head read The King of the Jews. The Jews wanted Pilate to change it to 'He claimed to be ...' but he refused. He was simply being awkward but the fact is that this really was The King of the Jews – the great king promised in the Old Testament. For Pilate and others, it was a joke – Here is the King of the Jews: a helpless, crucified criminal. What can he do? But three days later he rose from the dead. Pilate's conversation with Jesus before the cross went like this (John 18:33ff) - Pilate asked him if he was the king of the Jews. Jesus explained his kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place. You are a king, then! said Pilate sarcastically. Jesus replied You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.
Jesus undoubtedly claimed to be a king then. Early in his ministry (John 1:49) Nathanael calls him the King of Israel and he accepts it. This is why he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey to fulfil Zechariah 9:9 ... See, your King comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey .... When the people acclaimed him as king he accepted it. However, he was no earthly king. After feeding the 5000 they wanted to make him king by force but he resisted. He didn't come down to be an earthly king. Rather, he came to bring in God's kingdom – Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near. But this kingdom is no earthly kingdom, it is from another place – from heaven. That is why he willingly laid down his life as he did. Earthly kings fight and seek to conquer earthly territory but that never was the way his Kingdom advanced. Earthly kings seek to capture castles and conquer lands but King Jesus came rather to capture men’s hearts and conquer their sins. By nature you are a rebel against him. You say We will not have this man to be king over us but Jesus is at work through his Spirit in this world and goes out conquering and to conquer. He calls on all today to lay down their arms, cease resistance and bow to him. Acknowledge him as Lord and Master, your rightful sovereign.
Three aspects of his kingship to meditate on. Think of him as
1. A merciful King
By might and by right he has authority to rule over you. We all deserve death at his hands but by his amazing mercy there is a way of escape. If you will only bow down before him then rather than destroying you as would be right he'll forgive you and have mercy on you and give you the freedom and the desire to live for him. Today is a day of amnesty, a day of grace. All who acknowledge Jesus as Lord can know mercy. All who stubbornly refuse and hold out against him must realise that a day is coming when they will have no choice in the matter. They will have to bow the knee and acknowledge his Lordship. His offer of mercy is limited. It is not forever.
Psalm 2 is graphic. It describes the rebellion of the kings of this earth against God’s anointed king and describes how in reaction God laughs and scoffs then rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, he has installed his King on Zion, his holy hill. This is where Christ is declared to be the Son of God: You are my Son; today I have become your Father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will rule them with an iron sceptre; you will dash them to pieces like pottery. That’s how it will be for rebels at the judgement. The conclusion then is that earthly kings, should be wise ... Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. In other words Jesus, God’s anointed, will rule over all one day. We will all bow down to him. So before that day, kiss the Lord Jesus with a kiss of peace. We must take refuge in him, before his wrath flares up to destroys us.
2. A glorious King
In another Psalm, Psalm 24:7-10, we read Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty - he is the King of glory. It is clear that it is a description of the glorious return to heaven of the triumphant Lord Jesus Christ following his victory on the cross. Earthly kings like to be called 'your majesty', wear crowns and robes, sit on thrones and surround themselves with gold and silver. Without those things there is often nothing majestic about them at all. But the Lord Jesus is glorious in his own person and works. He is glorious, great, full of splendour and majesty. He is God. Because we think so much of him on the cross where he faced shame and suffering, we can easily forget his real glory. Yet even there his glory is seen. How majestic he is. How different to those who crucified him. Think of some of the things he said on the cross - to the thief who repented – Today you will be with me in Paradise and for the crowds Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing. Think of his triumphant It is finished!
3. The Supreme King
Way back in Numbers Balaam foresaw it (24:17) I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a sceptre will rise out of Israel. He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all the sons of Sheth. The psalmist saw it too (89:27). He hears God the Father say of the Christ I will also appoint him my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth. Psalm 110:1 is similar The LORD says to my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.
Yes, he was despised and rejected but Isaiah sees that is not the end of the story (49:7) ... to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the servant of rulers: Kings will see you and rise up, princes will see and bow down, because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you. He is called (Revelation 1:5, 17:14, 18:16) ... the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings - ... On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. He is the Lamb in the midst of the throne of God. There is none greater and ultimately we will all bow down to him and give him glory. The nations are his. 1 Corinthians 15:25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet
2. Meditate on Jesus the Prophet
1. Think what a prophet is
We are probably less clear on what prophets are. We tend to think of prophets as foretellers of the future. That is understandable but in the Bible the chief meaning of prophet is someone who speaks the Word of God. In Exodus 6 God says to Moses See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. So a prophet is one who speaks on God’s behalf. He speaks what God tells him to say.
2. Know Jesus is a prophet
There are not as many Scriptures about Christ as Prophet as those about Christ as King but there is plenty of evidence that Christ is not only the Great King but also the Great Prophet. Indeed it is not something in any doubt. Muslims, for example, are happy to accept Jesus was a prophet. Of course, we want to assert that he is more than a prophet. There are many others too willing to accept that Jesus is at least a prophet.
People who heard Jesus on earth spoke of him as a prophet. Mark 6:15 As the people debated who Jesus is some said He is Elijah. And still others claimed, He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago. Luke 7:16 They were all filled with awe and praised God. A great prophet has appeared among us, they said. .... It was the conclusion made too by the woman at the well (John 4) and the blind man who was healed (John 9).
Others were more sceptical. We read of a Pharisee who invited Jesus to his house. When he saw him receive attention from an immoral woman (Luke 7:39) he said to himself, If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is - that she is a sinner. Jesus not only knew what sort of a woman she was but what the Pharisee was thinking too! Also Matthew 21:11 ... This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee 21:46 They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet Luke 24:19 ... a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.
There were times too when the crowds got even closer, as in John 6 and 7, where we read (6:14) After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world. (7:40) On hearing his words, some of the people said, Surely this man is the Prophet. What they meant by that we’ll come to in a moment.
We should also say that Jesus accepted the designation prophet. Luke 13:33 ... I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day - for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem! Mark 6:4 Only in his home town, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honour.
In John 3:32 he testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no-one accepts his testimony. 7:16 My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. 8:26 he who sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from him I tell the world. 12:4-50 Then Jesus cried out, When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. ... There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. ... whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.
3. Know Jesus is the prophet spoken of by Moses
As we said, there were times when people thought may be Jesus was more than just a prophet. In Deuteronomy 18 Moses says The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him. For this is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God nor see this great fire any more, or we will die. The LORD said to me: What they say is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.
This prophecy reached a partial fulfilment in the sending of many different prophets in the Old Testament period culminating with John the Baptist. People were looking, quite rightly, for an ultimate prophet – the Prophet. When John was asked if it was him he said ‘No’. But what about Jesus? In Acts 3 Peter certainly makes that connection with Deuteronomy 18. Perhaps the two clearest places it comes out are Hebrews 1:1-3a and John 1:1-3 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. Every true prophet reveals truth about God but the Lord Jesus is the exact representation of God’s being. He is the unique Prophet. His is the final revelation. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. John's choice of the word Word is highly significant. Here is the one who is God but who uniquely communicates God. John 1:18 No-one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known. This is how to know God – through Jesus Christ. He is the one who perfectly reveals God. If you want to know what God is like, look only to Jesus.
4. Think of the implications
See that the one great Teacher or Prophet you need above all is Christ. It is not easy to admit our ignorance but we have to. We don't know everything that is clear and sometimes what we think we know we need to learn again. Therefore we need to cast ourselves entirely on Christ and learn from him. Matthew 28:20 … teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. How do we do that?
- Read the Old Testament. Luke 24:27 Jesus beginning with Moses and all the Prophets,(ie the Old Testament) he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. Even the Old Testament prophets, as Peter says (1 Peter 1:10,11) searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.
- Read the New Testament. The New Testament tells us not only about the Great Prophet, the Lord Jesus Christ, but is all inspired by the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of Christ. These are truly the words of Christ and must be listened to. Matthew 11:27-30 All things have been committed to me by my Father. No-one knows the Son except the Father, and no-one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
We need to listen to God's Word. Listening is not enough, of course – we must do what it says.
3. Meditate on Jesus the High Priest
Jesus is only called a priest in the Book of Hebrews. Hebrews 3:1 Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. However, there are references to his priestly work in other parts of the New Testament.
1. Think about what a high priest is
Basically a prophet represents God to man and a priest man to God. We have a definition in Hebrews 5:1 Every high priest is selected from among men and is appointed to represent them in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. So Selected from among men – it has to be a man, a human being. Appointed – ie by God. To represent them in matters related to God – the high priest’s role is to represent man in anything related to God. He is a mediator. To offer gifts and sacrifices for sins – especially his role is to do with sins. He offers gifts to God and makes sacrifices to deal with sins.
In the history of religion, there have been and are all sorts of priests and high-priests. Think of Roman Catholicism, pagan religions, etc. In the Old Testament, each patriarch was a priest over his household (Noah, Job, Abraham, etc) but when God brought Israel out of Egypt for various reasons a priesthood was established with all the priests coming from one tribe - Levi. The greatest work of the high priest was on the annual day of atonement (Yom Kippur) when he would go into holiest place of all with blood to make atonement for Israel. His other work was to represent and pray for God’s people. The purpose of this priesthood and Temple and sacrifices was to point people, imperfectly and symbolically, to what Messiah would do perfectly and actually. What was true of Aaron and the high priests that followed is true too of Christ.
2. Think of the ways Christ is pictured in the Old Testament high priests.
1 Called by God
Hebrews 5:4, 5 No-one takes this honour upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was. So Christ also did not take upon himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, You are my Son; today I have become your Father. {Psalm 2:7}
2 Anointed and holy
John 1:32 Then John gave this testimony: I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. Hebrews 7:26 Such a high priest meets our need - one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Jesus is the holy messiah.
3 Liable to temptation so sympathetic to sinners
Hebrews 2:18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. 4:15, 5:2 ... we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but ... one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are -yet was without sin. …
4 Making complete atonement by himself alone
Hebrews 2:17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.
5 Interceding for his people
Hebrews 7:25, 9:24 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. … Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. In God’s presence he is present pleading for his own.
3. Think how Jesus is superior to all earthly priests?
Of course, there are many ways in which the high priest was inferior to Christ, as are all human priests. This teaches us that we do not need a human priest but one great high priest, Christ. Eg
1 He does not need to make atonement for his own sins
Hebrews 7:27, 28 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. ... Every human priest needs atonement for his own sins. What is the point in going to someone who himself needs atonement when you can go to someone like Jesus?
2 He is a Melchizedek priest
Hebrews says Jesus was not a Levitical priest like Aaron. He was from the tribe of Judah not Levi. He became a priest, however, like Melchizedek (the Priest-King Abraham meets in Genesis) not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (7:11) it would have happened but there had to be a change rather and Christ became (as announced in Psalm 110:4) a priest for ever, in the order of Melchizedek. A New Covenant replaces the Old and there is a new priest. Hebrews 8:6 But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises. Trying to find salvation through an earthly priest going back to what is inferior.
3 He goes on forever
Hebrews 7:23 24 Now there have been many of those priests since death prevented them from continuing in office but because Jesus lives for ever he has a permanent priesthood
4 He offered himself
Hebrews 9:25, 26; 10:11,12 Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year ... But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. … Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
5 His once for all sacrifice is enough
Hebrews 9:25-28; 10:11-14 Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year ... Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself … Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people ... Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. … by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
In true Christianity there is no priest class. All are priests under the one great high priest Christ.
- Trust in Christ for he alone has dealt once and for all with the sins of his people
- Trust in Christ for he alone has opened up a way into the presence of God for his people
- Trust in Christ for he is the only one who goes on praying for his people night and day
At least since the time of Calvin, it has been common to speak in these terms. When God created man he gave him at least three things:
- knowledge/understanding
- righteousness/holiness
- dominion over creation
However, when man fell these things were lost. We are all now by nature ignorant, lost, defeated. Outside Christ we are spiritually ignorant, spiritually lost, spiritually dead. So think
- I need spiritual discipline, guidance and rule. Left to myself I make a mess of life but when Christ rules, all is brought into order and beauty. I need Christ as my King. Why do I need Christ as a king? Because I am weak and helpless.
- I also lack knowledge. I don’t know God. I don’t understand spiritual truth. My great need is to have someone teach me spiritual truths. Jesus is the one who alone can teach me satisfactorily. Why do I need Christ as a prophet? Because I am ignorant.
- I also need to be saved. I am far from God by nature – morally polluted, corrupted, unrighteous. By his perfect priestly atonement and his faithful priestly intercession Christ is the only one who can remove sin and bring me near to God. Why do I need Christ as a priest? Because I am guilty.
