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 Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.” And 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.” Deut. 18:15-18
Dear Lord Jesus, the prophesies about your Advent are a kaleidoscope of glory. Each promise is wonderful in and of itself, but taken together they breathtaking and life-giving—the quintessential vision of hope, a garden of buds becoming a forest of beauty.
But of all the promises given about your birth, I often overlook one of the first ones given. You are the greater Moses—the promised brother and trustworthy prophet. We haven’t been left alone to figure stuff out. We’re not shut up to the bankruptcy of our wisdom, the limits of our perspective or the quagmire of our foolishness.
Throughout the history of redemption, God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets, at many times and in various ways. But finally and fully, he has spoken to us through you, his beloved Son—Creator and heir of all things (Heb. 1:1-3). You are the final Word, Lord Jesus—the living Word, the loving Word, the incarnate Word. We worship and adore you, this very day in this very moment.
Everything we need to know about God and the world, about ourselves, the past, the present, and the future, we find in you. For all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in you and revealed by you, Lord Jesus (Col. 1:3). You are the only One who can set us free from nonsense and no sense, from illusions and delusions, from the uncertainty of guessing and the paralysis of second-guessing. This brings us great peace and profound comfort.
Unlike Moses, you were faithful to your calling in every respect and detail, including your death on the cross (Phil 2:1-11). Indeed, you’re not just greater than Moses, you’re greater than Aaron and Melchizedek, and Israel’s entire priesthood and sacrificial system (Hebrews 7). The law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through you (John 1:17)—the grace and truth of which you are full, the grace and truth by which you are presently ruling the world.
“Hallelujah!” we shout, with uninhibited, unfiltered, undiluted gladness. “Joy to the world”, indeed, “the Lord is come” and is coming again. The wonders of your love are everywhere, Jesus—before us, behind us and all around us. So very Amen we pray, in your holy name, with gospel joy and kingdom hope.
