THE PROPHETIC OFFICE IN THE STATE OF HUMILIATION

By Gary Ray Branscome

Because Christ is “The mighty God, The everlasting Father” (Isaiah 9:6), when He taught He did not receive His message by inspiration, as did the prophets of old (2Timothy 3:16), but instead spoke as God Himself. As it is written, “God, who in the past spoke to the fathers at many times and in various ways through the prophets, has spoken to us in these last days in the person of His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe” (Hebrews 1:1-2). For that reason, “The people were astonished at His doctrine, For He taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes” (Matthew 7:28-29). And, the authority He spoke with did not consist of acting like He had authority, but of the fact that, “His word was with power” (Luke 4:32). It was the power of the Spirit of God witnessing to the hearts of the hearers that astonished them.

The message Christ proclaimed was one of repentance and faith. As it is written, “Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” // “The Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” // “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believes on him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” // “Every one who looks to the Son, and believes on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up on the last day” (Matthew 4:17 and 20:28, John 3:14-15 and 6:40). While Christ proclaimed the Law as part of His call to repentance, His focus was on the Gospel-truth of salvation through His death as our substitute. We see that in the words, “He took the twelve aside, and said to them, Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets concerning the Son of man will come to pass, for He will be handed over to the Gentiles, and will be mocked, and treated spitefully, and spit on. And they will scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day He will rise again” (Luke 18:31-33). [See, Matt. 16:21, Mark 8:31, Matt. 11:28-30, John 6:29,32,33,35.]

The words, “I tell you truly, Until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter or stroke will pass from the law,” tell us that Christ did not do away with the Law, or replace it with something else (Matthew 5:18). Instead, the words, “Woe to you also, you lawyers! for you load men down with burdens they can hardly bear, and you yourselves do not touch those burdens with one of your fingers,” tell us that the Pharisees, for all their legalism, rationalized God’s Law and made excuses to get around it (Luke 11:46). Much of what Jesus said about the Law was aimed at correcting their false interpretations, while calling the People to repentance. We see an example of that in the words, “You disregard the commandment of God, and hold to the tradition of men, such as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such things. And He said to them, You completely invalidate the commandment of God, in order to keep your tradition. For Moses said, Honor your father and mother; and, Anyone who curses his father or mother, let him be put to death, but you say, If a man will say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is a gift, by which you might profit by me; he shall be free. And you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition, that you have handed down: and you do many things like that” (Mark 7:8-13).

The words, “Jesus replied, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets,” and the words, “The entire law is summed up in one command; You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” tell us that the Law has not passed away (Matthew 22:37-40, Galatians 5:14). Moreover, the words, “The law is not meant for a righteous man, but for those who are lawless and rebellious,” tell us that those who are unrepentant are still under the Law, and will be condemned by the Law (1Timothy 1:9). So I repeat, “Until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter or stroke will pass from the law” (Matthew 5:18).

Another problem that Jesus had to deal with, was the idea that riches were evidence of God’s favor. That idea often gave the wealthy a false assurance of salvation, while undermining the faith of the poor. We see that in the words, “How hard is it for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God” and in the words, “He (Jesus) looked at His disciples, and said, Blessed are you who are poor: for yours is the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:24, Luke 6:20). Therefore, in reading passages like that we need to understand that the Bible is not saying that there is some virtue in being poor, but that we should not trust in riches. Whenever people derive their assurance of salvation from something other than God’s promise of forgiveness in Christ, they have a false Gospel (1Corinthians 15:1-4).