(Other Scripture passages)
1 Kings: 17:17-24
Galatians 1:11:24
Psalm 30
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen. (Psalm 19:14)
Our readings today show three offices of the Messiah, or Christ. Both terms mean “anointed one” and there are three offices in the Bible in which the person fulfilling that role is anointed with oil.
Those three are prophet, priest, and king. The unique characteristic of the Christ, is that he fulfills all three offices at once. No one else throughout the Bible’s long history has held claim to all three offices except Jesus.
[Of High Priests: Ex. 29:7, 29; 40:13; Lev. 6:20; 8:12; 16:32; Num. 35:25; Psa. 133:2.
Of Priests: Ex. 28:41; 30:30; 40:15; Lev. 4:3; 8:30; Num. 3:3.
Of Kings: Judg. 9:8, 15; Saul, 1 Sam. 9:16; 10:1; 15:1; David, 1 Sam. 16:3, 12, 13; 2 Sam. 2:4; 5:3; 12:7; 19:21; 1 Chr. 11:3; Solomon, 1 Kin. 1:39; 1 Chr. 29:22; Jehu, 1 Kin. 19:16; 2 Kin. 9:1–3, 6, 12; Hazael, 1 Kin. 19:15; Joash, 2 Kin. 11:12; 2 Chr. 23:11; Jehoahaz, 2 Kin. 23:30; Cyrus, Isa. 45:1.
Of Prophets: 1 Kin. 19:16.]
Prophet
In today’s Gospel reading from Luke, after Jesus brings the widow’s son back to life, a clear tie-back to the miracles of Elijah and Elisha, the townspeople proclaim Jesus as a great prophet of God.
Later in Luke’s Gospel (24:19), during the walk to Emmaus, two of Jesus’ many disciples describe him to the stranger walking with them, saying “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.”
Many of us may become powerful in word and deed before the people, but few become powerful before God. Prophets are determined by God, not us, and they serve as his “covenant enforcers.”
Think about the prophets and what they have done throughout the Bible. When God’s people wandered from the behavior he expects of them, heading toward great calamity, God sent them prophets to remind them of God’s will, and to warn them that their behavior has consequences.
When God told the Israelites about reward and repercussion for their choice of behavior, it was not the vindictive action of a vengeful God, like many people would have you believe.
Here is what he says in Deuteronomy (30:11, 14-18):
Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. … No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.
See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed.
When parents tell their children not to play in the street because they’ll get hit by a car, the parents don’t get in their car and wait for the child to play in the street so they can run him over.
That’s a ridiculous image, yet it’s what we picture God doing when it come to blessings and curses.
A child playing in the street will eventually get hit by a car as a result of his own disobedience, not the action of his parents. God told us how to live our lives, and if we deviate from that behavior, we place ourselves in danger from the bad things that are in this world.
If we choose to have sex outside of marriage, we risk getting diseases that will kill us. If we choose a life of crime, we risk going to prison or brutal death by other criminals. Materialism and promiscuity are gods that we bow down to and worship.
God sends prophets to warn us about where our behavior is leading us. He sent Jeremiah to warn Israel about its destruction at the hands of the Babylonians. He sent Micah to warn about the results of injustice toward the poor and helpless. He sent Elijah to show the folly and danger of worshiping Baal and following King Ahab and Jezebel. And he sent Jesus to warn us of the everlasting results of our choices.
Each prophet of God was able to perform amazing miracles. And Jesus performed the same types of miracles that prophets before and after were able to do through the Holy Spirit, healing the sick, bringing the dead back to life, feeding multitudes — these were all done by prophets before Jesus. That’s why the Israelites recognized Jesus as a prophet, strong in word and deed before God and the people.
Jesus performed miracles just like those of the OT prophets – in our modern biblical illiteracy, we fail to see the connection between Jesus and the earlier prophets that would have been unmistakable to 1st century Jews. Jesus was clearly a prophet.
Priest
Part of the role of a priest is to proclaim and interpret the Gospel, or the Good News, and in Old Testament times, to offer sacrifices to God on behalf of his people for atonement of their sins.
In the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he explains that the Gospel was revealed to him by Jesus himself, not a human source, combining both the Old Testament and New Testament aspects of priest.
Also, our opening readings in our bulletin include a passage from Hebrews describing Jesus as priest. Not just any priest though; rather he is described as a great high priest. In Judaism, there was only one high priest, and he was the one who would enter the innermost sanctum of the temple, the Holy of Holies, behind the 60 foot high and 40 foot wide scarlet curtain to offer the atoning sacrifice for God’s people.
Jesus is that high priest for us, the single, perfect sacrifice atoning for our sins.
This is the rest of that passage from Hebrews:
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are — yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
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. He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people.
No one takes this honor 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.” And he says in another place, “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”
During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek. (Gen 14)
Mere belief in Jesus is not enough. Satan and his demons believe in Jesus, but they’re not saved are they? As the passage from Hebrews states, Jesus is the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him. We need to change our behavior and follow Jesus by living as Jesus lived and doing what Jesus did.
King
The Bible has many references to Jesus Christ as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. In that culture, at that time, the ruler of any nation or people was the king. And he had a kingdom.
In Psalm 24, King David recognized a king greater than himself, explaining the King of Glory in song. Psalm 24:10 reads,
"Who is he, this King of glory?
The LORD Almighty — he is the King of glory."
Today’s Psalm shows a similar reverence to our Lord and king. And In Paul’s 2nd Letter to Timothy (4:1[-3]), the apostle writes:
“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, [I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.]”
The title of “King” isn’t used as much today, but the position applies to those who are place in leadership positions over us, such as Prime Minister, Premier, or President.
Although their duties are mostly secular, they are also the moral leaders of their countries and set the moral standard for behavior by their actions. Our founding fathers understood that. Despite what today’s media and political leaders tell us about separation of church and state, that concept was never part of the founders’ vision for our nation.
Here are a few forgotten statements by some of the leaders that God has appointed over us:
“It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible” President George Washington, September 17th, 1796
“I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth -- God Governs in the Affairs of Men, And if a Sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, Is it possible that an empire can rise without His aid?” Benjamin Franklin
“Except the Lord build the house, They labor in vain who build it. I firmly believe this.” Benjamin Franklin, 1787, Constitutional Convention
“We have no government armed in power capable of contending in human passions ubridled by morality and religion. Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other.” John Adams, address to the militia of Massachusetts, 1798.
“It is no slight testimonial, both to the merit and worth of Christianity, that in all ages since its promulgation the great mass of those who have risen to eminence by their profound wisdom and integrity have recognized and reverenced Jesus of Nazareth as the Son of the living God.” President John Quincy Adams
“The Bible is the Rock on which this Republic rests.” President Andrew Jackson
“I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man. All the good from the Savior (Jesus) of the world is communicated to us through this book.” Abraham Lincoln
“America was born a Christian nation. America was born to exemplify that devotion to the elements of righteousness which are derived from the revelations of Holy Scriptures. …” Woodrow Wilson, 1911, pre-Presidential campaign speech.
“The fundamental basis of this nation’s law was given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teaching we get from Exodus and St. Matthew, from Isaiah and St. Paul. I don’t think we emphasize that enough these days. If we don’t have the proper fundamental moral background, we will finally end up with a totalitarian government which does not believe in the right for anybody except the state.” President Harry S. Truman.
None of these statements would be uttered today by any politician seeking any public office, much less the presidency. I can’t picture anyone in any of the televised debates saying "the Bible is the rock on which this republic rests."
But these things are no less true today than they were 200, 100, or 50 years ago, just because no one has the courage to say them.
The leaders of this world would not be in authority if God did not allow it to happen. That doesn’t mean that God puts evil people in charge of countries around the world. God allows our sinful choices to have their inevitable consequences, but in his grace and mercy, he often limits our losses.
I say grace and mercy because grace means getting what we don’t deserve; while mercy means not getting what we do deserve. Without God’s grace and mercy, we would all be much worse off than we can begin to even imagine.
As a Christian nation we are governed by God, who gives us clear direction for our behavior. But he also gives freewill. So we understand that other people are free to choose to not believe in him. Christian nations allow the most freedom of religion, but ironically Christians are portrayed as being intolerant toward others.
In case you still have any doubt that our founders based our governing principles on the benevolence of Jesus Christ and the Bible, listen to Isaiah 33:22:
For the LORD is our judge,
the LORD is our lawgiver,
the LORD is our king;
it is he who will save us.
It’s a rather odd coincidence that the framers of our constitution just happened to choose three branches of government: judicial, legislative, and executive, each of which the Bible says is led by the Lord.
We need to reach back to the early days of our nation and realize that Jesus is the only one ever to be prophet, priest, and king. He provides us with clear guidance and has confirmed his prophesies as 100 percent accurate, demonstrating incredible signs and miracles throughout his ministry; he sacrificed himself for our sins, paying our penalty himself, in a perfect sacrifice beyond the ability of any high priest before him, and eliminating the need for the temple sacrifices; and he is the recognized king of all creation who will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
The Season after Pentecost focuses on what Jesus expects from us. He calls us to follow him. In the movie Evan Almighty, the lead character, Evan, has been called by God to do something that goes against what the rest of the world thinks is normal. When a reporter asks why God chose to call him, Evan replies, “God calls all of us.”
I’m not sure why we deny Jesus Christ as our Lord when the evidence is so overwhelming. Henry Bosch writes,
“Socrates taught for 40 years, Plato for 50, Aristotle for 40, and Jesus for only 3. Yet the influence of Christ’s 3-year ministry infinitely transcends the impact left by the combined 130 years of teaching from these men who were among the greatest philosophers of all antiquity.
Jesus painted no pictures; yet, some of the finest paintings of Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci received their inspiration from Him. Jesus wrote no poetry; but Dante, Milton, and scores of the world’s greatest poets were inspired by Him.
Jesus composed no music; still Haydn, Handel, Beethoven, Bach, and Mendelssohn reached their highest perfection of melody in the hymns, symphonies, and oratories they composed in His praise. Every sphere of human greatness has been enriched by this humble Carpenter of Nazareth.
Our Prophet, our priest, and our king. Jesus is Lord.
And we need to make him the center of our lives, because a couple hours on Saturday or Sunday just isn’t good enough.
We can’t worship Jesus here, and then ignore him the rest of the week while we focus on the other gods we’ve set before us, like wealth, our cars, or even the San Diego Padres.
Jesus must be the primary part of our lives. If he isn’t lord of all, he isn’t lord at all.
God bless you.
