Christ as Prophet, Priest, and King

Laetare Sunday (Lent 4)| John 6:1-15| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| March 10, 2024

“When the people saw the sign that He had done, they said, ‘This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world!’” What did the people mean by this? They were referring to the prophesy of Moses found in Deuteronomy 18, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to Him you shall listen.” So, the people of Israel had been waiting for a prophet like Moses. Through Moses, God fed the people of Israel bread from heaven in the wilderness. Here in the wilderness, Jesus fed five thousand men of Israel, plus their wives and children with only five loaves and two fish. That’s a pretty good comparison!

So, the people were right that Jesus is the prophet foretold by Moses, but they were wrong in what type of prophet He is. They thought He was a prophet like those of old. But Jesus is much more than that. This prophecy from Deuteronomy 18 is a Messianic Prophesy, which means it is a prophesy about the Messiah. The title Messiah comes from the Hebrew word for Anointed One. Christ comes from the Greek word for Anointed One. Messiah and Christ mean the same thing. Throughout the Old Testament, God promised an Anointed One, the promised Messiah, the Christ. In the Old Testament prophets, priests, and kings were anointed with holy oil to consecrate them into their office. So, throughout Scripture, the Christ is promised and revealed to us as our Prophet, Priest, and King.

That Jesus is the prophet like Moses, who has arisen among the brothers of Israel, means that He is the Christ. Which means that He is a prophet like no other prophet. A prophet speaks God’s Word. God spoke to the prophets, and the prophets in turn spoke to the people. Yet, this is different for Jesus, because Christ is God. God did not simply put His word in the mouth of a mortal, but the very Word of God became flesh (John 1:14)! St. John records, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.” (John 1:1-3) Christ Jesus does not simply relay a message from God. He is the very Word of God made flesh!

The book of Hebrews begins, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things, through whom also He created the world.” (Hebrews 1:1-2) The prophets never instituted anything of themselves. They spoke as the Holy Spirit carried them (2 Peter 1:21). Moses did not institute circumcision. God gave it to Abraham. Moses didn’t institute the Passover. God instructed Moses. Moses did not institute any of the sacrifices, festivals, or sabbaths. God told Moses to tell the people.

But Christ has instituted Baptism. Baptism is not just plain water, but water joined to Christ’s Word and promise. And so, through Baptism, Christ our Prophet speaks to us today (Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:16). Christ instituted the Office of the Keys, saying to His disciples, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them. If you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” (John 20:22-23) So, when you hear the Absolution, you know that Christ the Prophet speaks through your pastor. Our Prophet speaks through the Gospel message, He sent to be proclaimed to the whole world (Mark 16:16; Luke 24:44-47). None of the prophets of the Old Testament could have done any of these things. But Christ, the Word made flesh has done it.

Christ is greater than the prophets of old, so that He can say that the one who keeps His Words will live forever (John 8:51). Shortly after this feeding of the five thousand, Peter confesses Jesus to be this great Prophet when he says, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also, we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” (John 6:68-69)

But the crowd did not recognize what kind of Prophet Jesus is. They wanted to make Him their king, so that He would keep feeding them bread all their lives until they died. What silliness! Jesus was already their King! That evening in the wilderness was not the first time He fed these people. He had been feeding them every day of their lives since they were born. In fact, the eyes of all look to Christ and He gives them their food in due season (Psalm 145:15). Yes, Christ gives it to them. Christ is God. Through Him all things were made. St. Paul writes in Colossians 1, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” (vss. 15-17) The greater miracle than feeding the five thousand is that He feeds every living thing every day throughout the history of the world!

Christ was already their King! He didn’t need them to make Him King to feed them. He already fed them, clothed them, and cared for their little ones. Yet, He has a greater kingdom He desires to bring them into. Jesus told Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world.” This is the kind of King Christ desires to be for us. One who gives His people bread, that if they eat of it, they will never die! (John 6:35)

Christ’s kingdom by which He cares for the physical needs of every living thing, including you, is His kingdom of power. But Christ wants to be your King in His kingdom of grace, where He rules your heart through faith. It is on the cross where Christ reigned as your King, conquering sin, death, and hell for you. And if you trust in this King, He will not only take care of your body, but your soul. And though your body will die, He will raise your body to new life to live in His kingdom of glory in heaven.

This is the kind of King the Old Testament prophesied of when it spoke of the Christ. King David, from whom God promised the Christ would descend, said, “The LORD said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I place your enemies under your feet.’” (Psalm 110) King David called his son his Lord, because his son is God, the Messianic King, who conquers Satan, sin, death, and hell for us.

Jesus tested Philip saying, “where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” But Jesus already knew what He was going to do. Does Jesus not test you in this same way? How often have you asked yourself, “How are we going to pay for this? How are we going to get this done?” And yet, Christ already knows what He is going to do! So, why does Christ test us in this way, so that we wonder when and how He will provide for us? The same reason He tested the people of Israel in the wilderness when He did not permit them to sow or reap, but made them trust that He would send bread down from heaven each morning. “That He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” (Deuteronomy 8:3) This is what Jesus said to the people when they caught up with Him later, “Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you.” This food is Christ’s own flesh and blood, which He gives through His Word, that is, through the Gospel.

Finally, Jesus is our Priest. A priest is one who mediates between God and the people by offering sacrifices. John tells us that the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Soon, crowds of Jews would bring their lambs to the temple to be sacrificed. The Passover was a memorial meal, which reminded the children of Israel how the angel of death had passed over the houses, which had the blood of the Passover lamb on their doorposts. The Passover was a type of peace offering. Those who ate of it participated in fellowship with God. All the sacrifices of the Old Testament, including the Passover lambs, foreshadow Christ Jesus. Christ is our High Priest. St. Paul writes, “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2:5) Yet, Christ is not only the High Priest, who offers a sacrifice to mediate between God and the people. Christ is the Sacrifice itself! Hebrews 9 states, “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.” (vss 11-12) And St. Paul explicitly writes, “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” (1 Corinthians 5:7) Christ’s blood causes death to pass over us, and when we feast on Christ through faith, we have fellowship with God.

So, that Christ is the Prophet, who is the very Word of God, and that Christ is the King, who has power to save both your body and your soul, means that Christ is also our High Priest, who offers Himself as the perfect and final Sacrifice to end all sacrifices (Hebrews 9:26). And so, He also invites us to eat from His altar a fellowship meal of His own body and blood.

Jesus feeding the five thousand in the wilderness points us to a much greater feeding our Prophet, Priest, and King offers to us. Later in this same chapter, Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35) Here, Jesus clearly teaches that we feast on His flesh and blood through faith, when we hear and believe the Gospel. And just as Jesus was able to feed the five thousand with just five loaves of bread, and had there been many more people, it would not have made a difference, He could have fed the whole world with just those five loaves of bread, so also, Christ is able to spiritually feed the entire world with His flesh and blood. Jesus never runs out of forgiveness and grace from His cross. There is always more Jesus to go around to feed hungry souls.

And we Christians have a regular reminder of this truth in the Sacrament of the Altar. Christ feeds us His true body and blood in the Sacrament. Everyone who eats it receives Christ’s body and blood, whether he believes or not, which is why you should examine your faith lest you eat it to your own judgment. But all who eat Christ’s body and blood in the Sacrament with repentant hearts and in true faith, receive forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation through it. And although, Christ has distributed His body and blood to His Church for nearly two thousand years, there is no less of Him than when He first instituted this Sacrament. There is always more. Amen.