We have pictures of prophets in our heads. We sometime forget that Jesus was a prophet,
Based on Luke 4:18-19 Sunday’s Gospel
“When Messiah comes, blessed be He, He will bring good news.” That was the prayer of believers through the centuries as they watched and waited for the promises of God to be fulfilled and the Messiah to be revealed. Then one day in the synagogue of Nazareth, a young hometown man stood up and said that the Messiah had come and it was He. His name was a common one, Jesus – Savior, but from that day forward He would bear a title – Christ; Anointed one; Messiah.
He said that He was anointed to bring good news. He read from the great Old Testament book of Isaiah, the 61st chapter. What was the good news? What was the Messiah anointed to tell? What was the Messiah anointed to be? It’s all about mercy. I wrote a sermon season for Lent a long time ago for LCMS World Relief and Human Care that focused on mercy and our merciful high Priest, Jesus. I focused upon how those that He saved and redeemed have been saved and redeemed to live merciful lives. It is all about mercy.
First we have to go back to our catechism classes. My Savior had two names: Jesus and Christ. Jesus means Savior and Christ means Anointed One or Messiah. Jesus was anointed to a three-fold office: Prophet, Priest, and King. He was anointed to free us from the unholy three: sin, death, and the power of the devil.
He was anointed to be Prophet; to preach God’s Word, the Good News. What Good News did He preach? Paul says in Eph. 2:17, “ He preached peace to you who were far off and you who were near.” Paul says in Col. 1:19-20, “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” He gave the peace that passes understanding. He brought the peace between God and man and between men because all the walls that divided us are down. He came to give a peace that the world cannot give. No wonder the angel said at His birth “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” And then a whole bunch of angels sang, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” He continues to be our Prophet through the preaching of simple pastors in the church. Whenever the Gospel is proclaimed, Christ is still the Prophet.
