2.6 Jesus Was the Last Old Testament Prophet

Quote:

"Jesus was an Old Testament 'prophet' not a New Testament 'evangelist.' Jesus never preached the New Testament 'gospel' in MMLJ -- before the cross. He never produced one New Testament 'Christian.'"

Answer:

1. Jesus was more than an OT “prophet,” He was “a prophet like unto Moses” in that He could speak the new precepts while one law was still in effect, just as Moses did. But, He was much greater than Moses (See Hebrews on this point!). God was speaking through His Son (Hebrews 1:1-3; 2:1-4). His words are “spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). But the kingdom was spiritual (John 18:36). The word of the kingdom would be the seed that had life in itself (Luke 8:11). The gospel of the kingdom Jesus had been preaching among Jews would be the message “preached in all the world” (Matthew 24:14; 26:9-13). Therefore, Jesus’ words, that were “spirit” and “life,” would be the seed that produced the kingdom. The death, burial, and resurrection of Christ would give the kingdom message He had been preaching the tools for becoming a reality. The spiritual kingdom could not exist without the atonement for sin (destroying the power of darkness to accuse us before God - Colossians 1:13), the resurrection (assuring the hearts of power over death), and the Spirit confirmation in the miraculous help He gave the Lord’s ambassadors. All of these elements were part of the means of establishing the kingdom, the gospel Jesus had been preaching from the start of His ministry. (Matthew 4:17,23; 24:14; 26:13). The power to bring all of Jesus’ teaching of the kingdom into reality was given in Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and the Helper power of the Holy Spirit. Since Jesus said the gospel He had been preaching before the cross would be preached “in all the world” (Matthew 24:14), then it follows that Jesus’ teaching is the very thing that would make “Christians” once the battle with sin and death was out of the way. At the cross, the battle with sin was waged and the accuser (Satan) lost his right to accuse us. Sin was paid for, and the power of darkness to take us to hell with the devil and his angels was lost. When Jesus overcame death, Satan was crushed. He could not claim the souls of the redeemed. Jesus could sit down on the throne, and the Spirit would verify and testify of Christ. The kingdom was set up, a spiritual one won on a spiritual front between the forces of good and evil. The good news that it was coming could now be the good news that it has come. It is still the good news of the kingdom. Yes, the gospel Jesus was preaching before the cross would be “preached in all the world” after the cross. Indeed, Jesus’ words that were “spirit” and “life” were the words that made “Christians.”
2. Some people thought that they were doing Jesus a favor by calling him a prophet and putting him in the classification with the great prophets of old. Listen to Jesus’ response to this (Matthew 16:14-17): "And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.” Notice the consistency between this and Hebrews 1 and 2. Given this, we ask the readers: is it correct to make the unqualified statement that Jesus was an Old Testament prophet (and nothing else)? Given the clear statements to the contrary, we would argue that to leave a statement like that unqualified is a sin. It just does not hit the mark of New Testament accuracy and truthfulness. Peter did, the “some” in Matthew 16:14 did not.