Now, I know that many of us in this room have read and/or heard the different accounts of the events surrounding the birth of Jesus and the state of affairs in that region at that point in history so many times that we feel like we pretty much know all that can realistically be known about that night in Bethlehem. However, simply because something can’t be known fully doesn’t (nor should it) stop us from asking various questions about it. One of the questions that commonly gets asked of these events is if they were expected; was the birth of Jesus expected? Now, this may seem like a bit of an odd question. After all, we have all of the numerous prophecies of the Old Testament about how the Messiah would come into the world and what he would do once he was here. We know that Jesus is referred to at various points as the long-awaited Messiah. So, the short answer to whether or not these events were expected is yes. Maybe not every detail, but these events were anticipated in a general sense. Well, do you know where most of these expectations came from? As I mentioned a moment ago, they came from those prophecies that we find in the Old Testament. They, of course, all have God as their source of origin, but they were delivered to His people through prophets. A prophet was someone who spoke for God to His people. God’s will for His people was revealed through the speaking of a prophet, who himself had received God’s instructions via dreams, direct hearings, or some other theophany. God would also from time-to-time reveal future events that were to come in the life of His people; these were called prophecies. Well, God had spoken through various prophets for some time revealing little pieces about who the coming Messiah was to be. We refer to these specific prophecies as Messianic prophecies.
One of the earliest revelations about the coming Messiah comes to us from Moses’ words to the nation of Israel just before they were to enter into the Promised Land. In Deuteronomy 18, Moses tells the Israelites, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen.” Moses then goes on to remind the people of the events that happened previously, during their wanderings in the wilderness, when the people fully acknowledged that they needed someone to stand between themselves and God because of their sinfulness. They not only acknowledged their need for someone to stand in such a place, but begged God to provide them with that person. “Don’t just let us pick someone, but you choose who should stand between yourself and us.” And God tells them that He will do just that in his words to Moses, “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.” So, the question that we’re going to ask and somewhat answer is whether or not Mary, Jesus’ mother who was looking into his newborn eyes that night, had any idea that her son was the eternal prophet promised by Moses some roughly 1500 years prior to Jesus’ birth.
Now, as we said last week, it would be pretty unlikely for Mary to have a completely accurate idea of the magnitude of who Jesus really was there in that moment. The truth of the matter is that she was probably still dealing with a little bit of the euphoria of delivering this child into the world. The reality that she was now a mother was still setting in. All of the emotions that come with this life-changing event were more than likely raging inside of her then just as they do within most women who give birth today. However, because of the visit from the angel Gabriel telling her that she was to give birth to the Son of God and because of Joseph’s being visited by the Lord during a dream, they both knew full-well that there was something different about this child that wasn’t like anyone before. I mean, it’s not as if there hadn’t been some pretty amazing births already recorded in Scripture. Think back to the births of Isaac or Moses or Samuel. In a few of these cases we’re told of either barrenness or age or a combination of the two on the part of their mothers leading to it being highly unlikely that these children would be born. Yet, they were born in God’s unfolding of His eternal plan. In the case of Moses, the situation that existed with the slaying of all Hebrew boys was even more bleak-looking than Herod’s vendetta to kill Jesus. I mean, we need only look at John the Baptist’s birth to see God’s overcoming of Elizabeth’s (a relative of Mary’s) barrenness to bring John into the world. However, none of these miraculous births and survivals are as amazing or incredible as the virgin birth. So, Mary (and Joseph as well) had to know that there was something much greater about this particular child, something much greater than the world had ever known. They know that this child isn’t just some man of God like the world has seen come and go, but something entirely different.
Now, I don’t want to get off on too much of a tangent here, but there are those who will fully acknowledge that Jesus was a prophet. However, they won’t acknowledge that he is the eternal prophet who serves this very day as our advocate with the Father. That’s an important distinction to be aware of. For example, those in the Muslim tradition will point out that Jesus speaks numerous times about his being sent by the Father and they take these references to mean that he is merely referring to himself as just a prophet. They point to texts like Matthew 13:57 and Jesus’ words to the people of Nazareth when he told them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household” as proof that even Jesus acknowledged himself to be merely a prophet. Well, there are two things there that need to be cleared up. First, Jesus’ acknowledgment of himself as a prophet doesn’t mean that he isn’t something else in addition to being a prophet. I would acknowledge that I’m a pastor, that doesn’t mean that I can’t be a judge or a doctor or some other profession as well. Now, I’m not, but I know of several ministers who have other professions in addition to the pastorate. The second thing of note in this misinterpretation of Jesus as merely a prophet is that it is incorrect exegesis of the original Greek. The word that is translated “prophet” has no other possible meaning. The word that is translated “angel” can also be translated as “messenger” or “one who is sent out for the purpose of proclamation.” So, we can’t mistake Jesus’ words about being sent by the Father and make him merely a messenger for God. After all, part of the job of a prophet was proclamation, so there is going to be some overlap. To view Jesus as merely a prophet is to incorrectly reduce the significance of who Jesus is and what he came to accomplish.
If we were to turn our attention to John 4 and read the account of Jesus at the well with the woman of Samaria, we would find that after a moment of conversation that the woman said to Jesus, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.” However, only a mere 10 verses later, her understanding of Jesus grows and she recognizes him as the Messiah. “Can this be the Christ?” she says in verse 29. She sees that Jesus was much more than a mere prophet. Another example in John’s gospel of Jesus being much more than what we may think at first is found in the very first words of this account. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God” (1:1-2). You see, Jesus didn’t only proclaim the Word of God; He is the Word of God. Perhaps the clearest statement on the superiority of Jesus comes to us from the opening words of the epistle to the Hebrews (1:1-2). “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.” Are you starting to see how all of this adds up? When we take the prophecies of the Old Testament and the revelations that God gave to Joseph and Mary and we put those with Jesus’ own words about himself (words like “For I have not spoken of my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak” John 12:49), then the picture of Jesus being the faithful prophet of the New Testament becomes even clearer. Jesus is the fuller and more perfect prophet than all those who have proceeded him. All of the prophets that had come before Jesus have one thing in common; their time of God speaking through them came to an end. However, that isn’t the case with Jesus. There is an eternality to his serving in the role of prophet. Also, it isn’t as if his speaking to God’s people about God is something that he knows little about. In fact, he knows all there is to know because he is God himself. As R.C. Sproul says, “Jesus is not just the subject of prophecy; He is the chief object of prophecy. He did not just teach about the future or declare the Word of God; He is the Word of God, and He is the focal point of all the prophetic teaching of the Old Testament.”
So, we may not be able to come to a definitive conclusion on whether or not Mary knew that the baby boy that she was looking at was the eternal prophet, the promised Messiah. She might have. At the very least, we could assume that she had a good idea about some aspects of Jesus being the One whom God would speak through to His people. However, we can come to a conclusion on whether or not we know that Jesus is the once for all prophet of God. Do you live your life as if Jesus still serves as the eternal prophet? I know that that sounds like a bit of an odd question at first. Let me clarify, do you live as if the only rule for your life is that which is given to us through Jesus? Is your life governed by the Word of God? Or is your life governed or commanded by something else? Do you take orders from the things of this world (your desires, earthly governments, society in general)? If your identity as a Christian, as one who is obedient only to the commands of God, came in direct conflict with your personal security, the security of your family, your financial security, or your health, which one wins out? I know that’s a tough question to answer. I also know that many of you are saying to yourselves, “Well, God would never ask me to choose between Him and my family.” No, God wouldn’t make us choose, we’re the ones who choose without even being asked. We’re the ones who seek personal desires over the kingdom of God. We’re the ones who take care of ourselves first and then worry about everyone else.
The reality of the matter is that for many, life is lived as if Jesus isn’t the eternal prophet. For many, we take as much guidance and leadership from our own experiences and understanding as we do from Christ’s commands for us. “My previous experience in this situation dictates how I’m going to approach this more than my following Christ.” As we’ve said already, Mary may not have known the full extent of Jesus’ serving as the eternal prophet, but we do…at least to some extent. Maybe we should take the advice that Mary gave to the servants in the text that we looked at last Sunday at the wedding in Cana, “Do whatever he tells you.” In other words, live as if Jesus is in charge of your life and not as if you are the one in charge.
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