Jesus: Our high priest, prophet, king (1)

In the New Testament, the word Messiah is derived from the Hebrew word for “anointed.” Christ (Gr. Christos) meaning “the anointed one.” Jesus Christ revealed Himself as our anointed high priest, prophet and king. He is God’s chosen son, the messiah.

He declared at the launch of His ministry, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor . . . to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free,” (Luke 4:18; Isaiah 61:1). Jesus Christ fulfilled the Old Testament prophecy as the anointed one, the chosen messiah (Luke 4:21). He proved his anointing through the miracles he performed and the life he sacrificed as saviour of the world (Acts 10:38).

Our high priest is none other than Jesus who came to the earth, lived and ministered, he then ascended to heaven after his resurrection. The Bible teaches that he is seated at the right hand of the Father interceding for us and waiting for his enemies to be made his footstool.

Jesus, our high priest, is preoccupied with the ministry of interceding for us now. He is representing and defending us in the court of heaven (1 John 2:1; Heb.5:1-2; 8:1-5). According to Revelation 8:1-5, he is busy working or processing our prayers and using them to extend his will and kingdom of God on this earth. Revelation 8:1-5 gives us a picture of an angel with a golden censer standing by the altar in heaven processing the prayers of the saints. This angel carrying the golden censer is believed to be Jesus, our High Priest. When the prayers of the saints are mixed with incense and with fire from the altar, it is thrown back to the earth causing noises, earthquakes, and thundering on the earth. Thus, our prayers when offered to God are used by God to achieve his purpose on earth.

Jesus possesses remarkable qualities that mark him out as our merciful High Priest.

He is a merciful and faithful High Priest who is able to help those who are tempted (Heb.2:16-18); He is able to sympathise with our weaknesses. Tempted and yet without sin (Heb. 4:14-16); He is able to deal with the ignorant and those who go astray (Heb.5:1-3); He has a permanent priesthood (Heb.7:24); He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to him (Heb.7:25); He makes intercession for us without ceasing (Hebrews 7:25); His priesthood is superior. As to his character, He is Holy, blameless, pure, and set apart from sinners. (Heb. 7:26) These are the qualities and character of our High Priest.

Jesus is also our Prophet. Moses prophesied in Deut. 18:18-19, that God would raise another prophet after his kind. Peter, in his sermon, quotes Moses’ prophecy as being fulfilled in Christ Jesus. “For Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Acts 3:22-25 NKJV).

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