Good Friday Message - "Prophet, Priest, King" (Video and Sermon Notes)

Notes from message:

Jesus Christ holds three offices.  These offices he has held throughout eternity and will hold throughout eternity.  Each one of them describes a different function of his purpose and work. Does anyone know what these three offices are?  Prophet, Priest, and King

It is interesting to note in the OT type of the kingdom of God, the nation of Israel, that these three offices were almost always divided.  Few men ever held two of these offices at the same time. Samuel was one of those exceptions. He was both priest and prophet. He anointed kings, but he could never be king.  In one instance in the OT, a king (Uzziah), tried to take on the role of priest for a moment. Do you remember what happened to him? He was struck with leprosy. I think he got the point.  As a matter of fact, in Israel’s history no man was allowed to hold two of these offices at the same time...that is the offices of priest and king. There is only one man in history that has ever been qualified to hold all three offices.  His name is Jesus Christ. For us, to understand Jesus’ functions in each of this offices will help us to understand what Good Friday is all about.

While it is true that Jesus has held all three offices throughout eternity, it is also true that there has been or will be a season for each of these offices in which that office was or will be predominate.  There has been or will be a period of time in history in which Jesus in each of these three offices is or will be clearly seen with the human eye by all men...without any possibility of denial.

Prophet

Deut 18:15, 18, 19 - A prophet like Moses

• John 5:46; 6:14 Messiah was to fulfill the role of The Prophet
• The Prophet would be like Moses in that he spoke to God face to face (Deut 34:10)
• He would be like Moses in that God would put His words in His mouth and He would speak all that God commanded.
• Those who refused to listen to The Prophet would be destroyed (their soul would be required of them). Acts 3:22, 23 (Peter’s sermon)

Luke 4:16-21 (Isaiah 61:1, 2)

• The role of the Great Prophet (Messiah in Hebrew means anointed one)
• Speak to men for God (Preach good news)
• Proclaim liberty to the captives
• Give sight to the blind (Perform miracles)
• Predict the future (or prophecy)

Priest

While a prophet represented God to man, the priest (especially the High Priest) represented man to God

• “His purpose is to restore men to fellowship with God who is justly angered at man for his rebellion and his rejection of the truth. This the priest does by the sacrifice of a substitute for man whereby he makes atonement, and by intercession on man’s behalf. As the one who made atonement for Israel the priest stood between the sinner and God, symbolically bringing the two together in reconciliation.”
• The Levitical priesthood of the Old Covenant was a type of a greater priesthood that was to come.  It was only symbolic of a greater priesthood that was to come. The one which was to come would in actuality bridge the gap between God and man.
• Psalm 110:4 predicts that Messiah would be a High Priest who would reign forever”according to the order of Melchizadek.” (Melchizedek was a priest of a higher order than that of the Levitical priesthood, which would follow centuries later)
• Jesus, as Great High Priest under the New Covenant was better than all previous priests.
• They had a fatal flaw...They all died.  The priesthood of Jesus Christ is “according to the power of an endless (or indestructible life).” Hebrews 7:16; 24, 25
• The Levitical priests at their best were all sinful creatures.  Jesus Christ, our Great High Priest, was “holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens.” Heb 7:26
• The Levitical priests had to make an offering daily, first for their own sins, then for the sins of the people.  Jesus had to offer up one sacrifice “once for all.” That sacrifice was the sacrifice of Himself, which He offered on Calvary
• The Levetical priesthood was based on an inferior covenant, which was only a shadow of the New Covenant.  Hebrews 8:6
• Jesus performed His outward role as both Great High Priest and sacrifice upon the cross.  When Jesus exclaimed on the cross “Tetelestai” (It is finished), He was acting in this role as Great High Priest. Hebrews 9;11, 12; 10;11-14
• Jesus continues to perform this role in heaven as our Great High Priest, making intercession for us before the Father.  Because of this, nothing can separate us from the love of Christ!
• An amazing passage in Zachariah leads us into the third office of Jesus. Zech 6:12, 13
• Here is a prophecy that Messiah (the Branch) would be a “priest sitting on His throne.”  Never in the whole history of Israel had there been a priest sitting on a throne. One who was to come would fill both offices of Priest and King.

King

• It was prophesied in many places in OT, that Messiah would come as King
• Psalm 45;6, 7
• Isaiah 9:6, 7 “the government will rest on his shoulders...He would reign on the throne of David.  
• Isaiah 32:1,2 “A King shall reign in righteousness.”
• Although Jesus came as a king, He was rejected by His own countrymen. (John 1:11)
• At the foot of the cross, they protested that Pilate had written “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”  Earlier they had cried, “We have no king but Caesar! (John 19:15-22)
• Yet Jesus proclaimed that His kingdom was not of this world.  He has ruled over His kingdom in the hearts of His people for almost two millennia.  When we submit to His righteous rule, He becomes our everlasting king...our king who today rules in righteousness!
• As Jesus was outwardly The Prophet during His 3 ½ year ministry on earth, and outwardly was the High Priest who sacrificed Himself on Good Friday, so too Jesus will outwardly, for all the world to see, come back to reign as King! Rev. 11:15; 17:14; 19:11-16

Today, if you will hear His voice, Jesus can be your prophet, priest and king.  He can speak to you as the prophet into your heart. Hebrews 3:12-14 Don’t harden your heart as the Israelites did to the prophet Moses!

As priest, He has inaugurated a new and living way for us to walk with Him day by day. Hebrews 10:19-24

As both priest and king, He has made us to be a kingdom of priests! (Rev 1:6)