S121P13 – The Savior’s many faces: a true prophet
Lk. 7:13-17
When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother. Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen up among us”; and, “God has visited His people.” And this report about Him went throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region.
We have a habit of falling into having certain ideas about what prophecy is, of seeing it as a one-note kind of gift. When I first started reading the Bible, I saw a prophet as one who predicts the future. We often speak of the Old Testament prophecies that tell of Messiah’s coming, so that definition made sense to me. Then, in speaking with someone about a vision I had, that person told me I had prophesied even though that vision was not about any future prediction. Here, Jesus is being called a prophet when what He did was resurrect a man. I think what happened here was that the people gained an understanding of how evidence of a prophetic gifting can take different shapes, and they clearly saw that evidence here.
Jesus spoke of many things during his time on Earth. He certainly spoke of future events to come that would not occur for many years, so his prophetic gifting could not be verified by their fulfillment. Much more of his recorded speech centers on his spiritual teaching. We might not see his parables or exposition of Old Testament scriptures as prophetic, but they rest on the core principle of prophecy. It is speaking with God’s authority as his mouthpiece. Whether foretelling the future, teaching the truth, or sharing an encouraging vision, a prophet’s authenticity will be evidenced by all kinds of spiritual fruit. Here, Christ’s ability to raise a man from the dead showed the people that He was the real deal, a true representative of God’s speaking his words.
We can debate whether the words of these people mean that they recognized Jesus’s divinity, or whether they simply saw his connection to their God. At a minimum, they certainly recognized that God was moving in their midst through this man, and it filled them with the fear of the Lord. Jesus was a true prophet, and this passage lets us know how we can discern whether the prophets we encounter are true. There is no single sign, but those with keen discernment will know the authentic from the counterfeit. Let us seek God to see and be authentic prophets of his. Father, thank You for the power of the gift of prophecy, and let us not only discern your prophets but walk in that gifting as well.