THE LORD JESUS AS PROPHET
I desire, dear brethren, to say a short word about the Lord Jesus as Prophet. We have the light of the Lord Jesus as Prophet, Priest and King; we would hold tenaciously to that truth; but the two persons in these chapters experienced the Lord Jesus as Prophet; they spoke from experience, which is deeper, fuller, and more important, than having light. It would be good for every one of us to have experience of the Lord Jesus as Prophet.
In chapter 4 we have a situation that we speak of as moral, having to do with good and evil. In the universe there is the problem of good and evil, which will yet be solved. Good eventually will triumph and evil will be confined to its own place. The problem of good and evil is worked out in the universe, but it has to be worked out in the soul history of every one of us. This is how the Prophet appears in this beautiful incident at Sychar’s well. Sitting by the well was the Lord Jesus and this woman came. He said to her, “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that says to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water”, John 4: 10. He gained her interest but had difficulty in gaining her confidence. No matter what the Lord said, she had something to counteract it, because to the woman He was a complete stranger. But eventually the woman said, “Sir, give me this water”. Then, “Jesus says to her, Go, call thy husband, and come here”.
After setting before her so attractively the glad tidings of the gift of living water He raised the moral question. “Go, call thy husband, and come here”. “The woman answered and said, I have not a husband”. Jesus said to her, “Thou hast well said, I have not a husband; for thou hast had five husbands, and he whom now thou hast is not thy husband—this thou hast spoken truly. The woman says to him, Sir, I see that thou art a prophet”. She had to do with the Lord Jesus as Prophet. She says later, “Come, see a man who told me all things I had ever done”. She did not tell Him all things she had ever done—He told her all things she had ever done, therefore she knew that she had come under divine scrutiny and all her sinful history was settled. He told her all things she had ever done; she faced the exposure of her whole moral course. That is what the Lord Jesus would help us to do. The Lord as Prophet would help us to face our whole history, not only to our satisfaction but to His own satisfaction. Things she did not have on her conscience the Lord put on her conscience to settle her conscience; everything she had done was out. What a great matter this is! She becomes evangelical; she is able to say to the very men she knew before, “Come, see a man who told me all things I had ever done”. Her heart was filled with Christ. She had experienced Him as the Prophet. I wonder if we have all undergone this experience, because it is available for every one of us. It is a great matter to be settled in our conscience and have a settled Object for our heart as this woman had. “All things I had ever done”, are all cleared, “Come, see a man”. All she could speak about was the Man whom she had to do with individually.
This is the Lord as Prophet when He was here, but He is not here now. He looks for the very features that were expressed by Him as Prophet when here to operate at the present time. In a meeting like this, as is described in 1 Corinthians 14, we would expect what is prophetic, which really means a representation of the Lord Himself. He is not here personally, but the character of what came out in Him here is to be found in meetings of this character. It says, “If therefore the whole assembly come together in one place, and all speak with tongues … will not they say ye are mad? But if all prophesy, and some unbeliever or simple person come in, he is convicted of all, he is judged of all; the secrets of his heart are manifested; and thus, falling upon his face, he will do homage to God, reporting that God is indeed amongst you”, 1 Cor 14: 23-25. It is God’s presence known by His word. That is what we would expect in an occasion like this.
But actually this incident in John 4 was not a meeting for ministry; it was a personal interview between the Lord Jesus and this woman, more personal than an occasion like this. We often take advantage, and possibly rightly so, of an occasion like this to speak to persons whom we know need help. We often do so in the preaching; but how often do we get alongside by personal contact to help such persons? That is a greater challenge. We have gone through the gospel of Matthew recently endeavouring to get a better understanding of kingdom and assembly principles, one of which is “between thee and him alone”, Matt l8: 15. I raise the matter with us, dear brethren, for we may not do enough by personal contact. Paul at Ephesus for three years not only taught publicly, but in every house. He also said, “Wherefore watch, remembering that for three years, night and day, I ceased not admonishing each one of you with tears” (Acts 20: 31); that is not in the meeting, that is personal contact, “each one of you with tears”. I just raise the question; maybe we could do more by personal contact, bringing in something prophetic to help a person where he or she may be at the moment. I am sure it is an important matter. May the Lord help us in it.
The Lord Jesus as Prophet has not only to do with what is moral, because the moral question does not come in with regard to the man in John 9. The Lord said regarding him, “Neither has this man sinned nor his parents, but that the works of God should be manifested in him” (John 9: 3), and, oh, see how, the works of God were manifested in him! What a remarkable man he was! and the context in which he said, “He is a prophet” was in answer to the question as to how he received his sight. The Lord as Prophet would give us sight; He would enable us to see things as He sees them. You see how faithful this man was in the sight he received from the Prophet. He is like the Lord Himself. In chapter 8 the Lord is opposed. The chapter ends with, “They took up therefore stones that they might cast them at him”, John 8: 59. The Lord was speaking as Prophet in chapter 8, unappreciated, not listened to. How patiently the Lord answered all the questions of the opposers in chapter 8. He was the Prophet with the word and He was refused; they took up stones to cast at Him.
This man in the ninth chapter is also opposed, and he answers all the questions that were put to him by his opposers. His neighbours are mentioned, the Jews, the Pharisees, and the parents. He answered them all. What happened? They cast him out. They took up stones to cast at Jesus in chapter 8, and they cast this man out in chapter 9. The Lord was outside; we might say, outside the camp, and this man who had been blind was where the Lord was. The Lord is outside the camp in chapter 8. It says, “They took up therefore stones that they might cast them at him; but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and thus passed on”. He was outside the religious organisation of men; this man finds himself in the same position. The Prophet would help us to find the way of righteousness in the public confusion of Christendom and to find Him outside the camp. He said Himself in chapter 17, “They are not of the world, as I am not of the world, John 17: 16. This man in chapter 9 would be one such. In chapter 10 the Lord speaks of the flock, in which this man would find where he belonged. He would see his way by the help of the Lord Jesus as Prophet. Oh, how tender He is, how patient with every one of us that we might know, by experience, the solution of our whole moral histories and receive sight, thus being directed to be where He is and to find the flock, “Therefore let us go forth to him without the camp, bearing his reproach”, Heb 13: 13. This man certainly bore the same reproach as Jesus bore in chapter 8. The Lord Himself was an embarrassment to the Jews in chapter 8, and this man was an embarrassment in chapter 9; he could not fit into any organisation of this world.
Dear brethren, let us know, let us experience, what the Lord can be to us as Prophet. He is able to solve the moral history and lead us to find where He is, going forth to Him. “Let us go forth to him without the camp, bearing his reproach”. “To him” is not the Lord in heaven; it refers to the Lord somewhere down here; we need the sight which the Prophet would give us to find where He is at the present time, although there is public confusion, and fragmented conditions. I can assure you, and many here would assure you, that the Lord is somewhere. He is to be found. We need the sight which He would give, and is willing to give. May the Lord help us, therefore; may He encourage us, for His own Name’s sake.
EDINBURGH
17th January 1989
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