Q.24 // How does Christ fill the office of a prophet?
A // Christ fills the office of a prophet in revealing to us by his Word and Spirit the will of God for our complete salvation.
Q.25 // How does Christ fill the office of a priest?
A // Christ fills the office of a priest in his once offering up of himself to God as a sacrifice, to satisfy divine justice and reconcile us to God; and in making constant intercession for us.
Q.26 // How does Christ fill the office of a king?
A // Christ fills the office of a king in making us his willing subjects, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.
The book of Hebrews divides the person of Jesus Christ into three offices (or roles) that He fulfilled: Prophet, Priest, and King. This isn’t to simplify or reduce the mysterious nature of the God-man, but to help us to identify what it was that He came to do. What we see is the roles of Jesus are that God was planning this all along.
Since God first started interacting with His people, Israel, He had done in a very specific way. He had spoken to the people through mouthpieces (prophets), He had mediated the relationship through sacrifices (priests), and He has ruled the nation by His law upheld by kings. When Jesus comes on to the scene, He doesn’t come to create new categories, but to show us how each of these roles was a placeholder until He fulfilled them.
PROPHET | Jesus comes as the key to the story. God’s revelation of Himself is not complete in the OT, but is made perfect in the grace of Jesus Christ. As Jesus reveals Himself and appoints the Apostles to ‘make it known,’ He declares Scripture complete. We don’t need further clarification on who God is, we have His Word. It is sufficient. Jesus fulfills the role of prophet by completing God’s Word.
PRIEST | Jesus comes as the sacrificial lamb. The priests made continual sacrifices for the continued sins of the people. Jesus atonement was a once and forever payment. When Jesus dies on the cross, He declared: it is finished. No longer was their anything that ever needed to be done to pay the debt of sin for God’s people. Jesus fulfills the role of priest by mediating the relationship between us and God.
KING | Jesus comes in sovereign power. Jesus life is a declaration to all opposition that He is in control. When Satan tries to tempt Jesus, He shows He is more powerful. When death tries to hold Him, Jesus rises. Jesus ascends to heaven to sit on the throne and rule over this world. Jesus fulfills the role of king by establishing a kingdom that will last forever.
Right now, we sit in a place where this Kingdom has been established but is not realized in all of its glory on this earth. We long for Jesus the prophet to speak to us directly. We long for Jesus the priest to be present physically. We long for Jesus the King to make all of the brokenness right. All of this WILL be. For now, we have to live out our understanding of Jesus’ triperspectivilism:
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations (declaring the truth of the PROPHET), baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (identifying with the PRIEST), teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you (conforming to the rules of the KING). And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” | Matthew 28:18-20