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The Gift of Prophecy

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    Elements of Discontinuity

    One of the differences between prophecy in the Old Testament and prophecy in the New Testament is that with the coming of the Messiah also a new eon arrived. The kingdom of God, as Jesus said, was now in humanity’s midst (Luke 17:21). Eventually this brought about significant changes to society, the people of God, and the cult.GOP 57.3

    Jesus was the climax of the line of the prophets. “The impact he made, whether on the crowds (Matt. 21:11; Mark 6:15; 8:28; Luke 7:16) or on individuals (Luke 7:39; Matt. 26:68; John 4:19; 9:17), was such as to make them feel they were in the presence of one of the classic figures of prophecy.” 40Rino Fisichella, “Prophecy,” in Dictionary of Fundamental Theology, ed. René Latoun and Rino Fisichella (New York: Crossroad, 1994), 791. Fisichella suggests five points that may have characterized Jesus as a prophet: “a. Jesus interpreted the Sacred Scriptures b. Jesus uttered prophecies c. Jesus performed prophetic actions. ... d. Predictions of his passion and glorification . . . e. Jesus as visionary41Ibid., 791, 792. Yet he surpassed all prophets. While Jesus was not out of sync with the Old Testament prophets, He still cannot be completely compared with them. Jesus Christ was unique, and His ministry was unique. “Jesus always and only acted in the first person, and this, for a prophet, was unthinkable.” 42Ibid., 792. When discussing prophecy, one has to ask how the gift of prophecy is “redefined” by the message and life of the prophet. This needs to be further explored. But in this article it may suffice to provide some hints:GOP 57.4

    • The gift of prophecy culminated in Jesus, the man of the Spirit, as in nobody before and after Him.GOP 58.1

    • His call to repentance took on a unique urgency and radicalness, as seen, for example, in the unsurpassed Sermon on the Mount. The same is true for His call to love.GOP 58.2

    • Jesus did not only communicate a divine message—He was the embodiment of His message, the perfect representative of His Father, and a member of the Godhead.GOP 58.3

    • He wanted His entire audience to become His followers, disciples. This would change their lives completely.GOP 58.4

    • Jesus did not only announce the possibility of salvation—He is the Savior.GOP 58.5

    • He did not only talk about judgment—He is the Judge.GOP 58.6

    • In the life of Jesus there was absolute congruence between message and life as in none of the prophets, because Jesus was without sin.GOP 58.7

    Before the coming of the Messiah, the Jewish society and the people of God were intertwined. This changed with the presence of Jesus. People had to make a decision for or against Him. Those who accepted Jesus as Christ became His ekklesia, His church (Matt. 16:18) and His flock (John 10:16). This flock was not limited to Judaism, but included Gentiles in such a way that Paul would call it a mystery (Eph. 3:4-6). A new “Israel” was created. This affected the ministry of New Testament prophets.GOP 58.8

    The coming of the Messiah affected also the cult and rendered obsolete the Temple service with its sacrifices and priestly ministration. A new form of worship developed, along with a new form of church governance. The Old Testament priesthood found its fulfillment in the ministry of Jesus and came to an end. The community of believers was the new priesthood. A “democratization” 43Robert M. Johnston, “Leadership in the Early Church During Its First Hundred Years,” Journal of the Adventist Theological Society 17, no. 2 (2006): 6, uses this term when he talks about spiritual gifts. “By placing apostleship among the charismata, Paul completes its ‘democratization,’ making it available to anyone to whom the Holy Spirit should choose to distribute it.” of the Spirit took place at Pentecost, when Jesus poured out the Spirit on all believers. Some were called to serve as apostles, elders, deacons, and pastor-teachers.GOP 58.9

    These changes affected also the prophetic ministry in New Testament times. The New Testament prophet would focus even more on Jesus, His life, His words, and His acts than the Old Testament prophet had focused on the Messiah. 44Fisichella, 794, suggests: “For this reason alone, the NT is already substantially different from the OT prophet.” And he adds, 794: “The prophecy is ‘the testimony of Jesus’ (Rv 19:10); its purpose is to make the Lord’s word present, alive, and immediate for the community.” In this sense we can talk about some kind of discontinuity or change that occurred with the coming of the new eon, the shift from Old Testament to New Testament.GOP 58.10

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