Monday, May 22, 2006
Matthew 28:19-20 "Go therefore and make disciples... teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you . . ."
JESUS IS STILL OUR PROPHET!
We sometimes make the mistake of thinking that Jesus' saving work on our behalf came to a conclusion with His ascension into heaven. We readily discern that during His earthly sojourn He lived the perfectly sinless life for us in order that that might be credited by God to us sinners for righteousness, and that in His passion He paid the penalty for all our sinning in order that we might be acquitted of all guilt. But do we realize that Jesus to this day and to the end of time is busily engaged in His great work of bringing us in safety to the heavenly home which He has prepared for us and that to this end He is still carrying on His threefold office as our Prophet, Priest, and King?
His work as Prophet here on earth was to reveal Himself to men as the Son of God come to earth to be their Savior from sin, from death and from the devil's power. This he did during the three years of His public ministry through His preaching and through His miracles, which substantiated the truth of His words. Before His ascension into heaven He arranged for the continuation of His prophetic office by commissioning His disciples of all ages: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world" (Matthew 28:19-20).
Though He has now ascended into heaven, He is still engaged in directing the preaching of the Gospel. "He gave some to be . . . pastors and teachers . . ." (Ephesians 4:11). What a wonderful assurance that furnishes pastors and missionaries and teachers in the knowledge that Jesus Himself has placed them into the particular fields in which they are laboring as His spokesmen! How reassuring also for congregations to know that the servants of the Word in their midst have been placed there by none other than the all-wise Savior Himself!
