Christ our Prophet, Priest, King: Hebrews 1:3

Christ our Prophet, Priest, King
Hebrews 1:3
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It is a shame that this gem of a book is so often neglected by many Christians. They don't know what they are missing. I can't speak for others, but the reason why I had earlier read sparingly from it for a long time is because I thought it was mainly "Jewish stuff", written for those who came to Christ from a Jewish background. Well, yes and no. It is that - and much more. Hebrews not only leads Jews to Christ, it also makes the Old Testament come alive. It Christianizes much of the Old Testament.

Hebrews is the epitome of the Old Testament focused through Gospel lens.

Here again are the first three verses of Hebrews, with a closer look at the third verse:

"God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom He also made the ages (aeons); who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,"

Did you notice that that last verse demonstrates, not only Christ's deity, but all three of Christ's offices?
He is our God: Christ is "the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person". He who sees Christ has seen the Father.
He is our Prophet: "upholding all things by the word of His power". He has the words of eternal life (John 6:63), and we live by every word that comes out of His mouth (John 6).
He is our Priest: "when He had by Himself purged our sins". "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."
He is our King: He "sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,"

One of the best, concise explanations of Christ in His three offices is given by Louis Berkhof (Systematic Theology. p.357, ):

"As Prophet He represents God with man; as priest He represents man in the presence of God, and as King He exercises dominion and restores the original dominion of man."

Do we believe in this strong, this powerful of a Savior? He not only is our Lord and Savior, but He has spoken to us (perfect tense, once for all, verse 1) as our Prophet, the very one promised in Deut. 18. He has cleansed us at Calvary, yet still intercedes as our Priest in heaven - Did you know that? (If you doubt this look at Heb. 7:24-25). And He is our King, overcoming our sin by His day-by-day grace. Our daily Bread of Life, the hidden Manna.

Because the only ones being anointed in the Old Testament were prophets, priests, and kings it stands to reason - and is verified by Scripture - that the Messiah ("Anointed One") would perfectly assume all three offices. That is exactly what He did. At the public revelation of His Messianic ministry, Luke 4:18-19, Christ reveals His mission, showing aspects of all three offices.

Yet the Jews rejected Him - in all three offices!
They rejected Him as Prophet, John 6:60. "This is a hard saying; who can understand it?"
They rejected Him as Priest, Heb. 10:29.
They rejected Him as King, John 19:14-15 and Luke 19:14. "We have no king but Caesar!", "We will not have this man to rule over us."

But before we are too hard on them, and on the unbelief of many of them, we need to add that many, very many, in Christendom have done -and are doing - the very same thing. Many, while professing belief in Christ as Savior, reject Him as Prophet, Priest, and King. All the unhealthy and dangerous doctrine in Christendom through the ages has come about because of rejection of one, two, or all three of these aspects of Christ's lordship.

Many reject Him as Prophet.
Christ was specifically promised to His people as the Prophet of Deut. 18. Some blatantly reject His prophethood by calling His veracity to account, and by denying Christianity in general. But others, while not denying that Jesus is prophet, believe also in prophets after New Testament times, after the close of inspired Scripture.

But they do this by ignoring certain safeguards in the Word itself. Rev. 22:18-19 warns against either adding to, or taking away from, the Word of God. To have a "word from the Lord" is to add to the other words from the Lord which were written down for all of us - the Bible. Or do we believe that God gives out His word in varying qualities: Inspired and semi-inspired? No, the Bible says that in Him there is no untruth and "all the promises of God are Yes and Amen in Christ Jesus".

Preachers who turn babes in Christ from the simple Word with "God also said this..." cheapen the revelation of God and interrupt the growth of Christians who, instead of growing by the "sincere milk of the Word", 1 Pet.2:2, are being taught to listen to this "word from the Lord" and that "annointed message". Its no wonder so many do not grow up in Christ, and do not have their senses matured to discern good from evil, Heb 5:14!

All of this comes from not honoring Christ as our Prophet. Though we have Christ's words written, He still speaks those words to us everyday. The Spirit of Christ brings to mind, comforts and strengthens us with our daily Bread according to each day's peculiar need.

Many reject Him as Priest.
They either reject His priestly ministry at Calvary or in heaven, Heb.7:24-25; 8:1-2.
Those who reject - or find insufficient - His sacrifice at the cross try to add to their salvation by having some good works (just in case). The formal name for this in some denominations is "merit" or "supererogation", but the idea is the same: What if the hymn is not true? What if Calvary did not cover it all?

I have met a number of these restless, sad, jittery people (some, probably, true Christians) who seem to have "God-haunted" personalities. They talk much about sacrifice, hardships, judgment - but very little about joy and peace. They are often the ones who are judgmental against others who maybe, just maybe, have found a sweet, private fulfillment in the promise of Matt. 11:29, "and you will find rest for your souls."

One of the most powerful encouragements for me was to understand how Christ both ministered at Calvary for me and continues to minister in heaven for me. What an awesome savior we have.

Another way that many reject Christ as Priest is when they erect a whole system - as the Roman Catholics do - of priesthoods that the Bible does not require. There is one priestly mediator between man and God, but they have fatally convoluted this. The eternal Melchizedekan priesthood of Christ (Heb.6:20-7:21) leaves absolutely no room for any other priesthoods, priests, or sacrifices. It is all taken up, thoroughly and once for all, in Christ.

Many reject Him as King.
Some do it out of sheer disbelief and unrepentant carnal addiction. They see no need for Christ or salvation or any of that "God stuff".

But there are others who are more subtle, trying to hold on to both a carnal life and godly hope. Very often they say things like "I have a problem in this area.", or "I'm still struggling with (fill in the blank)". While this is true of most Christians - who doesn't have struggles at different times? - there comes a time when that comment becomes disingenuous. Elisabeth Elliot confronted one person who said this, answering him,

"You aren't struggling with sin. You are putting off obedience."

I like that. That is strong, bitter medicine. But it has the ring of truth.

Think of this. Christ conquered sin. He conquered the world. If we are in Christ we can do all things through the one who strengthens us (Phil. 4:13). The "all things" certainly includes walking in the Spirit, loving God, loving our neighbors as ourselves, growing in grace. We work out our salvation in fear and trembling. He also makes us overcomers.

Christ is our King. He is stronger than Satan, or our sins, or the world.
If we sin, it is not Satan's doing, it is our doing. Mea culpa.
At that point we are denying that Christ is King. We are denying that Christ has come into this world, saving His own. This is not the faith of a Christian; it is a different spirit altogether. See John 4:1-4.

 

Thank you, OR. I led a Bible study through this book. It lasted about a year. I certainly did not teach all that could be taught - that goes without saying. The first verses, especially, are really rich in doctrinal comfort and instruction.

 

Ooops. Sorry about that.

How did that happen? It looks the same size as other posts on this page.

[Rolling up sleeves. Deftly torquing the font-adjustment wrench]

OK. Is that better?

 

I believe that is the real key. Certainly it is something that the Lord has been convicting me about: receiving with meekness the implanted Word which is able to save our souls. My abrasiveness not only hinders my witnessing, but my own channel of grace and knowledge in Christ.

About your first paragraph: It sounds very familiar. I was asked to fill in once for the regular teacher. It was understood I was use those wretched SB (Gospel-lite) quarterlies. Like you, I used it to read the text. When I started to, well, "improvise" (exegete and apply according to context, and not according to the little fluff pieces I was provided) the man next to me pointed quietly to the place in the quarterly I had strayed from.

I wasn't asked to teach again.

 

With all due respect, I disagree on that. I believe that our churches today have lowered the bar too far. I know that some teachers get needlessly technical. However in depth Bible study, that is, teaching Scripture in context with illustrative clarity, is just what is needed in our SS. As the Word is presented those who have ears to hear will be drawn in.

Perhaps the material you use is better, but what I dealt with was rife with "springboard" application (no application at all, in many cases). The "rabbit trail" I was going down, in that SS session, was actually explaining Paul's use of terms in that passage of Ephesians 4. What I was supposed to be teaching was (if I remember correctly) some lame story about a family going on a vacation.

 

Thank you, Robert, Marcia, and Sag. The good thing about well-prepared Bible lessons is that we can be assured that God's Word will always do what it is sent out for. Of course, that particular promise is active to the degree that the Bible is actually used.

Sag, I think you overstate what I am saying for rhetorical effect.