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Advent: The Long-Awaited Prophet

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November 30, 2025
Steven Lee
Pastor for Preaching & Vision

The Birth of Christ (Advent)

The Person of Christ

Apologetics & Truth

Transcript

0:18Well, good morning. Today we observe the first Sunday of Advent. Over the next several Sundays we'll be looking at how Jesus fulfills Old Testament scripture, particularly as the prophet, the priest, the king and the Lamb of God. And so if you're a guest, we're really glad you're here with us as we study God's word. Would you join me as I pray and ask the Lord for help?

0:48Father in heaven, we ask that you would give us eyes to see and hearts to rejoice in all that Christ is so cause your spirit to blow upon us this morning so that we would see more of Jesus' glory. We pray this in your name. Amen. There is one Christmas hymn, in my opinion, more than any other that captures the longing of advent. It's minor notes, give it sort of that haunting, moody anticipation. And you're wondering what song is he talking about? So listen, as I read, its first two Stanus, oh come. Oh, come Emmanuel and Ransom captive Israel, that mourns and lonely exile here until the Son of God appears, oh, come thou day spring from on high and cheer us by thy drawing, nay disperse the gloomy clouds of night and death, stark shadows put to flight that hymn OAM come.

2:04Emmanuel lives in the tension of sorrow and longing and hope. It captures sort of the heartache mingled with joy that takes place at the birth of Jesus. Here we get the savior of the world born. And yet he comes in the most humble of circumstances. The Messiah is arrived and yet he's born to an unwed mother. He's come to dwell among mankind, yet he comes as a lowly. Infant wise men come from afar while Herod and acts infanticide. Shepherds receive the good news of great joy for all the people. And yet the world continues to dwell in deep darkness. And this is true probably for many of us at Christmas time as well.

2:57Christmas is the season of celebrating with its flurry of shopping and gifts and eating. Oh, the eating that takes place. And yet during the season there's heartache and loss where sorrow feels more intense. Isolation and estrangement feel more paralyzing. You, you begin to count the holidays, the Christmases that you've had without a dear loved one, the traditions that have gone to the wayside because they're no longer here yet. We're surrounded by festivities and light and celebration. And so we live in that tension of we're sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. And in the midst of all this, what we long for is the fulfillment of all of God's promises.

3:49What Israel was longing for in those days was for this son of God who would disperse the gloomy clouds of night. And what we await is Jesus' return to make all that is wrong, right? Once again to wipe away every tear, to enact his kingdom, to consummate it. And so our advent series this year is looking back on how Jesus fulfills centuries of promise to usher in life and hope. And this first week we're gonna study how Jesus comes as God's prophet who speaks the very words of God. And so we're gonna look at John 1244 to 50, but we're also gonna look at several other passages to see that Jesus has come as this long awaited prophet.

4:40And so the main takeaway is that Jesus is the long awaited prophet who speaks not only for God, but he speaks as God. Jesus comes as the prophet of God, not only to speak for God, but as God in the flesh. And so my aim is that we would behold the glory of Jesus afresh this morning. So here's the plan. We're gonna look at an Old Testament text that I believe prophesize and anticipates this prophet that is to come. And then we'll look at several New Testament texts and then spend the bulk of our time in John chapter 12. So let me have you, if you have your Bible, turn with me to Deuteronomy chapter 18.

5:25That's the first text. We'll look at this morning. Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Bible. And so all the way back in the Old Testament, and we're gonna be looking at chapter 18, and this is the last book of the Pentateuch. Moses is writing here and Deuteronomy 18, I'm gonna read verses 15 to 19. So Deuteronomy 18, verse 15, Moses is speaking to the people of Israel and he says, the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me, from among you, from your brothers. It is to him you shall listen just as you desired of the Lord your God at horrible on the day of the assembly when you said, let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, or see this great fire anymore lest I die.

6:18And the Lord said to me, they are right in what they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers, and I will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak to them all that I command him. So that's the backdrop of this entire sermon. God tells Moses that he's going to raise up a prophet like Moses who will speak for him and he's to tell the people this. God says, I will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak to them all that I command him. So prophets in those days were like mouthpieces for God. Very rarely would anyone hear the audible voice of God, but instead God would send his prophets and these people would receive God's words and they would speak for God.

7:11They would reveal his purposes and his will and his character. Now, Deuteronomy 18 doesn't explicitly say that this is going to be a singular individual, the singular greater prophet that is to come. And we've seen, we know that after Moses, there are several prophets throughout the Old Testament, but I think the New Testament points to the reality that Jesus is this greater prophet. We'll get there in just a moment, but we know that prophets are messengers from God. They sort of bridge heaven and earth. They disclose God's purposes. Like when God sent Moses to Pharaoh and what was he to say, let my people go, let the people of Israel go out of this land.

7:53And God's spirit empowers the prophets and the message that they speak is not their own. And the authority they speak with is not their own as well. Now Moses, we would say is the greatest prophet of the Old Testament because he was the one who spoke with God face to face. That's recorded in numbers 12 and Deuteronomy 34. And we know throughout the Old Testament there are many other prophets, Samuel and Nathan and Elijah and Isaiah and Jeremiah, and yet they would often receive dreams or visions. Moses was different. He spoke to God face to face. And the listeners, usually Israel would be called to obey these prophets.

8:40If they disobeyed, they would be disobeying, not the prophet but God himself. So that's a brief sketch of prophets and in particular how God tells Moses that Israel should expect a prophet or prophets like Moses who will speak for God. Now I want us to turn to the gospel of John. We're gonna be in John chapter six. First you're gonna be turning all over the place, but John chapter six, verse 14. So where do we see in the New Testament affirming that Jesus is a prophet and that he's a better prophet than Moses? So John chapter six, verse 14, before I read it, let me kind of set the stage. Many of us know the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus had been teaching, all these people had followed Jesus, large, massive crowd of 5,000 men, possibly 10,000 people altogether.

9:36They're in the wilderness, no one has anything to eat. And then Jesus turns to Philip and says, where are we gonna get enough food to feed them? How are you gonna feed all these people? And Philip is like, no clue, no grocery stores nearby Jesus. It's not possible. And Jesus sits them down, takes a young boy's bag lunch, five barley loaves, two fish, and he multiplies it to feed 5,000 and stunning miracle. And it's in the aftermath of this that we get John chapter six, verse 14, when the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, this is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world. Which prophet are they referring to?

10:22I think they're referring back to Ju Otomy 18. In that day, the Jews would've interpreted Deuteronomy 18 Messian anticipating one that was to come and notice sort of the similarities. Moses, what's he known for? Leading the people of Israel in the wilderness and feeding them, playing his part in feeding them manna from heaven. And what did Jesus just do in this account? He's just fed five maybe 10,000 people with bread out of just five barley loaves. So we see some of those parallels that's hinting at Jesus being this greater Moses like prophet. Now turn one chapter later in John chapter seven, verse 40, John chapter seven, verse 40.

11:16This is right after Jesus has just announced that he is the living water and that if anyone thirst, they should come and drink of him and then the people respond. John chapter 40, John chapter seven, verse 40, excuse me, this really is the prophet and others said, this is the Christ. So what the New Testament authors are showing is that the people are beginning to perceive that Jesus was indeed this long awaited prophet that is sent by God like Moses in fulfillment of Deuteronomy 18. And they're seeing that no one has ever spoken like Jesus. No one has ever done the miracles and mighty works like Jesus.

12:00And the reason that he's even greater is because Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, which we looked at a number of weeks ago or months ago in Matthew five to seven, he he'll, he'll say, you've heard it said, but I say to you, here's this greater authority that he speaks with. Now with that in view, let's transition to John chapter 12. We're gonna spend the rest of our time here. John chapter 12, verses 44 to 50. This is a section that immediately precedes Jesus moving more towards his death and crucifixion. And in some ways it becomes this pivot point. And Jesus says who he is and what he's come to do.

12:43And what I wanna do is draw out three ways. Jesus reveals himself to be this long awaited prophet sent by God three ways. Jesus reveals himself to be the long awaited prophet sent by God. And the first reason is that to see Jesus is to see God. To see Jesus is to see God. Look at verse 44 to 46. And Jesus cried out and said, whoever believes in me, believes not in me, but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me, sees him who sent me, I have come into the world as light so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. Now nowhere in 44 to 50 does Jesus explicitly say, I'm the prophet sent by God.

13:34But what does he say? He says, whoever believes in me believes not just in me, but in him who sent me. It's exactly what prophets do. Prophets are sent by God and they reveal God, God's purposes and intentions. And whoever listens to a prophet doesn't listen to the prophet, but he listens to God. And so what Jesus is saying is, I'm a messenger sent by God precisely what a prophet is. And if you see and if you believe in me, you will see and believe in God Almighty, we, we see this in Jesus exchange with Philip. In John chapter 14, Philip says to Jesus, show us the Father and it is enough for us.

14:20Just show us the Father. You've been talking about the kingdom, you've been talking about God the Father. Just show us the Father and that'll be enough evidence. And how does Jesus say what? What does Jesus say in response? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. That is a stunning, stunning, stunning claim. If you've seen me, you've seen the Father because I and the Father are one. Verse 45, whoever sees me, sees him who sent me. Jesus goes even further than any prophet would ever have dared go. Other prophets would say, these are the words of God. If you disobey these words, you're not disobeying me, you're disobeying God.

15:07To obey them is to obey God. But Jesus says, I reveal God because I am God. I am God in the flesh. He's self aware of his identity, of his mission and of his purpose. This is why CS Lewis says, when you read about Jesus in the scriptures, you can only conclude he's either a liar, a lunatic, or he's Lord. Because there's no middle ground when it comes to Jesus. He can't be a good teacher because the things that he claimed. If you see me, you see God himself. That's either crazy talk or he's God. And this is the truth at the heart of Advent, this is the truth that we celebrate here at Christmas, that God has come as Emmanuel God with us.

16:01He comes not only as a messenger for God, but he comes as God in the flesh to dwell with us. Hebrews chapter one verse one says, long ago, at many times, and in many ways God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his son whom he appointed the heir of all things through whom also he created the world. Jesus is the culmination and climax of God speaking through his messengers. And he now finally speaks through his son and his son was present at the creation of the world. Now look with me at verse 46, John 1246, Jesus says, I've come into the world as light so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.

17:01What does that sound like? It sounds like Jesus' own words in John chapter eight, verse 12, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life. And what do both of those verses allude back to? In the Old Testament, Isaiah nine, two, the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwell in a land of deep darkness on them has light shown. So Jesus is saying, I am this source of light and life that Isaiah prophesied. He was anticipating someone greater who would come and shine the light of the glory of God. And that is me.

17:48And as we approach Christmas, we love our lights. And yet do you see the light of Christ? Do you see Jesus as God's scent? One who brings light and life. And unfortunately we live in a world in which many think they see Jesus clearly. Like those 5,000 or 10,000 people who ate of the bread, who literally saw Jesus in the flesh. Many did not ultimately become true disciples and follow Jesus. And yet there's nothing on this earth that rivals his power and glory. He's the very definition of love and mercy. He has infinite perfect. There's no way to exaggerate his glory. And yet do we even see him?

18:42It's easy to take light for granted, uh, until the power goes out and we're in complete darkness and we're fumbling for the flashlight with the 60-year-old batteries that don't work. And we're lighting some candles and then we realize, oh, it's really nice to have light. And so do we see the light? Or how do we respond to the light? Pastor Sam was mentioning earlier in the prayer room, are we like cockroaches when the light turns on, we scatter because we, we can't stand the light. Or are we like a Minnesotan after a long winter when the sun comes out for the first time, we can't get enough of it.

19:26How do we respond to the shining light of Jesus? Let this advent season bend your affections to delight in Christ afresh. The sad reality is that many don't see Jesus. The scripture say John three 19 is because they loved the darkness. And we see that at work in our world, don't we? There's a fascination with the occult. There's this goth subculture that's out there, strange darkness, moody and twisted and despairing, and yet Jesus breaks into the darkness with his blinding light that the world has never seen and many recoil out of horror. When they see that light, they cannot recognize its beauty.

20:20And so the question for us is, do we see Jesus and His glory and his light? So Jesus reveals himself to be the long awaited prophet and reveals that to see Jesus is to see God, to believe in Jesus is to believe in God. This leads to our second truth. To reject Jesus is to reject God. To reject Jesus is to reject God. Look at verse 47. Jesus again says, if anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words, has a judge. The word that I've spoken will judge him on the last day.

21:08Now, these verses are a little bit confusing. Jesus just says, I do not judge him. But then he says, the words that I've spoken will judge him. So the question is, has Jesus come to judge or not? Uh, the answer is, well, yes and no. Jesus' primary mission in his first advent, his first coming is motivated primarily by love for God. So love the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. But what's required to receive this eternal life? Well, you gotta believe in him. You gotta hear his words. Jesus just said, you need to keep them.

21:54In other words, Jesus' words come with power and authority. And if you disobey his word, you will come under judgment. But verse 47, Jesus says, I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. What does that sound just like it sounds just like John three 17, the verse that comes after the one I just read, for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. So Jesus' primary mission in his first coming is salvation, but rejecting the message of Jesus, rejecting the gospel, rejecting his God, sent one means that judgment is inevitable.

22:41And the evidence that we, that will be held up against us will be Jesus words himself. Jesus words will stand against us as the evidence of the fact that we did not respond to the truth. And so we can hear the echoes of this in Deuteronomy 1819, whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. In other words, judgment is coming it, it's like if we lived in a rural seaside port and the town's siren goes off and it's the tsunami warning. And if you don't go to higher ground, you're gonna get wiped away. Or here in Minnesota when the tornado warning goes off, we're supposed to all go into our basement, right?

23:26And and if you don't respond, it's to your own peril. In same way, Jesus has come to announce good news of great joy that will be for all the people. But if you ignore this good news, it does, it will mean that judgment is coming and Jesus will stand against those who rejected him. And his words will stand as the evidence. What this means is that judgment is inevitable. Judgment is inevitable. Jesus will render judgment at his second coming. So this is not exactly your happy go lucky advent sermon with petting zoo. And you know Santa actor, this is an indeed a season of joy and hope and peace.

24:19But it only applies to those who know Jesus. If you don't, it means that you still stand condemned and that judgment is coming and, and so my desire is that there would be none who would say, well, I thought I did and believed enough, and no one told me I had to do anything more. I go, I go to church on Christmas and Easter and uh, do my part recycling, composting even how many will have celebrated Christmas but will have never understood Christ who have never believed in him, but will have rejected him. And for those who do know Christ, how many of us go about our holidays as functional atheists?

25:10We go about our days, our plans, our purchases, our celebrations, our activities as though God did not exist. Rather maybe we be mindful of his word that calls us to do everything for his glory, to hear his teaching and to walk in fear of him, to obey his commands. So therefore, to reject God's prophet, his messenger is to reject God himself. This leads to our third truth. Third truth is to believe Jesus'. Words is then eternal life. To believe Jesus' words is eternal life. Look with me at verses 49 to 50. Jesus again says, for I have not spoken of my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment what to say and what to speak.

26:03And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore I say as the Father has told me. So this continues the theme that we've seen in Deuteronomy 18. Jesus doesn't speak of his own authority, but speaks from the authority of the Father who has sent him and has given him a commandment what to say and what to speak. In other words, Jesus is again saying, I am this prophet sent by God this prophetic messenger, which is why I think it's outrageous. Whenever someone attempts to suggest that Jesus and his teaching contradicts the Old Testament, Jesus and the Father are one. And he says, I only say what the Father has told me to say.

26:52I only speak what I've received from my father. And Jesus knows the Old Testament better than anybody else. In Luke 24, 24, 27, Jesus said, beginning, or excuse me, it says, and beginning with Moses and all the prophets, Jesus interpreted to his disciples in all the scriptures, the things concerning himself. This is the episode where the men are walking with Jesus and their hearts burned within them. And Jesus explained to them the scriptures and they're like, we, we've never read the Old Testament like this. Jesus teaches them how to read it in light of him because they're written about him. Or John 5 39, you search the scriptures.

27:35This is Jesus speaking to the Pharisees and the people. You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life. And it is they that bear witness about me. In fact, Jesus goes even further. He says, if you believed Moses who wrote the first five books you would believe me for, he wrote of me. In other words, Jesus is saying everything in the Old Testament is pointing forward to one reality. And that reality is me. Even Moses in writing the first five books is anticipating and pointing forward to me. And if you read Moses rightly, you would believe in me. So what do Jesus' words consist of? Consist of?

28:20What's his commandment? His commandment is eternal life. He's come to bring eternal life. His ministry and his words and his life reveal that he alone is the way, the truth and the life. There is no salvation apart from Christ. No one comes to the Father except through me says Jesus. So to see Jesus is to see God. To reject Jesus is to reject God, and to believe in Jesus is to take hold of eternal life. So the question before us is what does Jesus as this long awaited prophet have to do with advent? Advent is the season of looking back at these promises that God fulfills in the coming, in the incarnation, in the coming of Christ.

29:17And we can look back and see these prophecies that anticipate this hope, this light that would shine in the darkness, this one that would speak for God. And we find that fulfillment in Jesus. He has come to redeem and rescue humanity from their sins. And he shows us not only who God is, but he reveals God in the flesh. Let, let see if I can illustrate this. Have you ever tried to celebrate some sort of holiday over like a video call like we did all in COVID, right? Y'all logged on to Zoom and you celebrated Thanksgiving or Christmas together and it was terrible. I remember I attended a wedding by watching it on Zoom.

30:09It was the worst wedding ever. No, no offense to the people getting married, it was just, it wasn't a celebration. There's something fundamentally different about being together in the flesh. It's not the same as watching it online. And in the same way God was not content just to send messengers who would speak for him, but in his great love for his people, he just doesn't want just them to be able to say, well, I heard someone else say this about God or someone else spoke for God. God in the flesh came down in the person and work of Jesus so that we could see the immeasurable love of Christ. Jesus broke into our dark world to shine as the light of the glory of Christ.

30:57And unfortunately, we live in a world where we are deaf to the voice of God and we're deaf to the voice of Jesus. And the voice that matters most for almost everybody is our own voice. And that's what's constantly pushed upon us. If you get some sort of life coach or mentor or whatever it may be, what will they tell you to do? They will tell you to listen to yourself. They will say, trust your intuition, your spirit never misleads. You Live in harmony with your true self. Choose what aligns with your inner being. Speak your truth until the world aligns with you. All of that is just complete nonsense.

31:46And yet that's what we worship today. We worship our own autonomy or our own self-realization. We wanna discover our own voice. This pop psychology is compelling for so many because it tells us exactly what we want to hear. I am the master of my own destiny, and my voice matters most. And this is marketed to hundreds and millions and billions of people. Be your true self. Listen to your own voice deep within your spirit, and that's complete hogwash. The voice you need to listen to this morning is the voice of Jesus that reveals God himself.

32:36We cannot be the masters of our own destiny. We cannot be the standard of what is good and right and beautiful. Jesus himself says, my words that I speak will be the standard that is held up on judgment day. It's not gonna be did I, what was I true to myself in that final day? It's gonna be, did you live according to what Jesus himself has said and revealed about God? And so listen to the voice of Jesus this morning. Listen, see afresh. Let your heart rise up in joy in seeing more of Christ. So this Christmas season, are we listening to the right voices? Let his words shape your priorities and aspirations and activities.

33:28Let his warnings instill in you a healthy fear of judgment. Let His patience and mercy move you to repentance. Let his forgiveness awaken in you. Gratitude. Let His promises be your eternal hope and let his voice call you into His presence so that you might abide with him. The most important thing in all of the world are the words of Jesus. They demand our attention. He speaks truths that reshape our lives. And Christmas reminds us that there is a better grand narrative for our world. Rather than just the unstoppable force of chaos and crime and corruption. God himself broke into our fallen and twisted world to shine the light of the glory of Christ.

34:31And he brings justice and reconciliation and hope. And he addresses our greatest problem this holiday season. It's not inflation, it's your sin. And he speaks truth. He shines the light of his glory and ushers in joy and eternal life for us all so that we can see Jesus. And if we've seen Jesus, if we hear his words, we have seen God himself because he's Emmanuel, God in the flesh. And so how are we to respond? When we see Jesus? We rejoice, rejoice. God has come to dwell among us. Let's pray. Father enliven our minds and hearts to see Jesus, to believe in Jesus, to hear His words as the very words of God.

35:33We thank you that He's come not only to reveal God's purposes, not only to speak for God, but to speak as God. And so help us to delight ourselves in Christ more this morning. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

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