Why Jesus Came as a Prophet

In our last posts, I went over why there was so much disunity within Israel at the time Christ arrived on the scene. Because of this disunity, Jesus came on the scene as a prophet.

Jesus fulfilled the role of a prophet because the religious and ruling forces were not focused upon what God wanted them focused on. His teachings appeared so radical because they had drifted so far from the original intent of the Law that God had given to Moses. It is likely Moses himself would not have thought Jesus to be so radical because Moses understood God wanted a relationship with his people (Dt 7:6-8) and the laws given were for that purpose and not just something to be followed for the sake of following them.

Many compromises had been made by the Jewish leaders to make the Jewish religion more convenient for them to live in their world. It went from a religion about relationships to one of keeping rules and traditions which redefined their definition of righteousness. To them, obeying the rules and traditions of the Law is what imputed righteousness to them rather than seeing their shortcomings (Mt 23:23) and inability to follow all the laws and therefore needed their Messiah to come to impute his righteousness to them.

The Jews’ physical oppression led them to ignore all else Scripture said about the Messiah’s coming, and they believed he would rescue them from their Roman oppression. Yet Christ focused on something more foundational: their unity with him.

Unity is the key upon what Christ focused. While he said he came to create division (Lk 12:51), he was talking about the division between the falsehood being taught and the truth of Scripture. Yet, in him and through him he desired unity for all. Jesus said, My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one – I in them and you in me – so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have lived them even as you have loved me (Jn 17:20-23).

In almost every one of Paul’s epistles, especially Ephesians and Colossians, he also focused on unity because unity focuses on relationship; religion focuses on mankind’s obedience which Satan can weaponize.

Church history shows us that the church has taken the same route as did Israel. With power came corruption. The relationship between God and his church was turned into a religion which Satan was able to weaponize by creating disunity which caused God’s people to turn on each other. The church became more secular with less reliance on the Holy Spirit and thus a decline in gifts of the Holy Spirit, or even what they were and how to use them correctly. Differences became new denominations which created further disunity and created animosity even between Christians themselves. Christians have also become oppressed – some places more so than others. We, too, are looking for a rescue, but perhaps Christ wants us to focus on something more foundational as well: our unity with him.

Tune in next time as we explore this idea further and how God may restore his unity within his church.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens