2/1/09 - Epiphany 4 - Deut. 18:15-20

THE PROPHET LONG PROPHESIED
- Similar to the law-giver
- The only true gospel-giver

Do you remember the events that happened on Mount Sinai? The Israelites had been delivered from the Egyptians by the Lord himself, he had led them through the Red Sea on dry ground, he had brought them across a desert, and he had guided them to the base of this famous mountain on their way to the Promised Land. Mt. Sinai was the mountain on which Moses received the 10 Commandments. It was the place where he was given many of the laws and customs that the Israelites were to follow from that time forward. But it was also covered in clouds and smoke because the glory of the Lord was on it. There was thunder, there were trumpets blasts, and there was the command from God that if anyone touched any part of the mountain - whether man or animal - they would be instantly put to death. And there, at the bottom of that mountain, the Israelites were petrified! They were overwhelmed by this visible and audible display of God’s power and might and they didn’t want to be anywhere near it! They begged Moses not to make them hear the voice of the Lord again. They pleaded with him not to make them look at the divine fire of his might surrounding the mountain. And so Moses brought their request before the Lord. And this is the response that Moses carried back to the people: “The LORD said to me: ‘What they say is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.”
And so in the middle of the fear and terror and awe on the part of the Israelites, the Lord gave them an incredible promise: he would send them a Prophet, one through whom God would speak, one of their own brothers, one like Moses, but also one far different. And the Israelites were undoubtedly relieved to hear these words. Because they knew they couldn’t handle their perfect God in person. They couldn’t even cope with a peripheral reflection of the glory of the Lord as shown them on the mountain, let alone a direct confrontation with him on a regular basis. And so this “Prophet” that God was to send would be a buffer in between them. The Prophet would talk to God himself, the Prophet would stand in his glory, the Prophet would bring the people’s requests and pleas to their perfect Lord. And they would stay away at a safe distance. They would be perfectly happy and content to hear the words of the Lord through this mediator.
But the Prophet wasn’t going to be Moses himself. I’m sure the Israelites had in mind when they came to Moses with their request that Moses would be the one to intercede for them before the Lord. And he was at that time in a small way, but God used this opportunity to promise them someone even better. A person like Moses, a man from among their own brothers, but someone to come in the future. A greater Prophet. A special mediator prophesied by the Lord himself. When he would come, no one knew. Where he would come, no one knew. But he would come. He would come sent by the Lord and with the Word of the Lord on his mouth and with the truth of the Lord on his tongue. And this Prophet was a man whom the Israelites would look forward to for centuries - long after they left the vicinity of the mountain on which he had been prophesied.
The events recorded for us today happened in about 1500 BC - 1500 years before Christ came into this world. And so for a millennium and a half the Israelites waited to see this Prophet whom the Lord would send. And I wouldn’t doubt that every prophet that came their way during those years - whether it was Elijah or Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah or Ezekiel, Micah, Malachi, or one of the many prophets to come in between - I’m sure they wondered if that one was “The One.” If that particular prophet at that particular time was the one who would fulfill the prophecy. But as the years and the decades and the centuries went by, the Prophet never came. And by the time Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the Israelites were still waiting. They were waiting, but they didn’t forget. They knew God’s Prophet would come and they were just as excited to see him as their forefathers were so many years ago on that mountain south of the Promised Land. In fact, when John the Baptist arrived on the scene, people seriously considered him to be the Prophet they had been waiting for all their lives and even asked him if he was. Of course, John wasn’t the one; he only prepared the way for him. And when The One came - when Jesus revealed himself - there were many Israelites who knew he was the one.
When Jesus raised a dead man back to life from the city of Nain, the people there were “filled with awe and praised God. ‘A great prophet has appeared among us,’ they said. ‘God has come to his people’” (Luke 7:16). After Jesus miraculously fed the crowd of 5000 with a meager amount of food, the people there said, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world” (John 6:14). And later, when Jesus was teaching the people about salvation through him alone, many believers confessed, “Surely, this man is the Prophet” (John 7:40). And he was. He was the Prophet whom God prophesied about. He was the one from among his own brothers. He was the one through whom the Lord would speak to his people. He was just like Moses.
There were many similarities between these two prophets. Just like Moses, Jesus was chosen by God the Father to save his people. Just like Moses, Jesus led his people away from the enemy. Just like Moses, Jesus performed some incredible miracles throughout his life. Just like Moses, Jesus was a mediator, a go-between, a middle-man for God and his people. Just like Moses, Jesus prayed for his flock. Just as Moses saw a glimpse of God’s glory when he passed by him in the crevice of the rock, Jesus saw his Father’s glory in full. Just as Moses’ face shined so brilliantly after he came down from the presence of the Lord that he had to put a veil over his face, Jesus’ entire being shone with glory on the mountain of Transfiguration in front of three of his disciples. Just as Moses carried God’s truth, so did Jesus. Just as Moses was hated by his own people, so was Jesus. Just as Moses died before the nation entered the Promised Land, Jesus died so that we could enter the Promised Land. There are many similarities between Moses and Jesus. But there are also some significant differences.
Jesus was true God, of course, while Moses was simply a sinful human being and nothing more. That difference is obvious and well-known. But another significant difference - and one that is just as important - is revealed to us in John 1:17, “The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” There’s the difference. The law - what we are supposed to do and what punishments we can expect if we don’t do them perfectly - is what Moses came down with from Mt. Sinai. Grace and truth - salvation through faith in Christ alone - is what Jesus, the greater Prophet, came down to give us. Jesus came to show us a way to heaven apart from the law of Moses. He came to show us what he would do for us, not what we would have to do for God. Jesus came to relieve our burdens, to dissolve our guilt, and to release us from the pressures that the law inevitably creates. “Through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,” the apostle Paul once preached. “Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38-39). Jesus is the antithesis to Moses - he is Moses’ opposite - because he came to give us what Moses never could: sure salvation in heaven forever.
And so, my friends, do not make Jesus into another law-giver. Yes, Jesus preached the law. The entire Sermon on the Mount is law. Jesus upheld the 10 Commandments and honored all of his Father’s words. But he didn’t come to give us more rules to follow. He wasn’t here on this earth just to show us how to live a good life. He didn’t come in order to give us directives on how to have a pleasant existence on this earth. But it’s so easy to think that way, isn’t it? It’s natural for us to think that if we just do what Jesus tells us to do in his Word, he’ll love us more. No! That’s making Jesus into a law-giver! He can’t love us anymore than he already does! Nothing we do can change his love for us because we can’t earn his love in any way. It’s also natural for us to think that if we do the things he tells us to do in his Word, our ticket to heaven is that much more secure. No! That’s making Jesus into a law-giver! Our entrance into Paradise is already guaranteed! Our eternal life is not dependant on how much we can do on this earth; it’s dependant on how much Jesus did for us on the cross! It’s natural for us to think: “I should do this because this is what Jesus commands.” No! Jesus does not motivate us with the law! He motivates us with the gospel! And so our thoughts should rather be: “I should do this because Jesus died for me on the cross and I would love to do this for the Lord whether he asked me to do it or not.” It’s so easy to make Jesus into another law-giver. It’s so natural to our sinfully skewed hearts to make Jesus into another Moses. One who holds the tablets of the 10 Commandments in his hands instead of the bloody nails. One who regulates what we should do and how we should do it instead of the one who did it all for us. One who is ready to punish and condemn misbehavior instead of the one who forgives it. Jesus is not a law-giver. He is the sin forgiver. And it is detrimental to our faith and completely contrary to everything Jesus is when we make him into just another Moses.
Thank the Lord that he’s not just another Moses. Thank the Lord that he is so much more. Through the law that Moses carried all that happens is that “we become conscious of sin” (Romans 3:20) the book of Romans says. But the gospel that Jesus accomplished “is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). Jesus brought salvation when Moses could only bring condemnation. And so Jesus couldn’t be just another Moses. It would have been pointless. We would still be in the same situation if Jesus were just another law-giver. We would be lost forever because we wouldn’t be able to earn eternal life. Jesus couldn’t be a law-giver. He had to be the gospel-giver. A salvation-giver. A forgiveness-giver. And that is exactly what he is. He is the Prophet long prophesied. He is the one who speaks the true and unchanging words of his Father. He is our Mediator, our Intercessor, and our Substitute. He is the one who is just like us but so much different. He is our God. He is our Savior.
And so it’s interesting to me that such a great gospel promise came from Mt. Sinai of all places. That mountain is usually remembered as the place were God’s law was given and God’s commands were etched in stone for all time. And it’s good to remember that. But don’t forget Good News! Don’t forget about the Prophet God had promised on that mountain. He was going to fulfill all the laws that were given there. He was going to forgive all the sins that were revealed there. Jesus, the Prophet long prophesied, was the one bright spot in that laundry list of rules and regulations and commands and inescapable sins. And he still is. Jesus is the one ray of brilliant light in this world clouded with sin. Our Prophet came not to give us laws, but to comfort us, to help us, and to give us peace. And our Prophet remains not to give us something to do - but to give us someone to believe.
Amen.

“May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way.” - 2 Thess. 3:16