Active Waiting: Braiding Together Prophet, Priest and King to Become a Little Christ

Active Waiting to Become a Little Christ.

“In my mind I keep returning to something, something that gives me hope – the mercies of the Lord are not exhausted, His tender compassions have not ended. On the contrary, they are new every morning! How great is your faithfulness! The Lord is all I have, I say; therefore I will put my hope in Him. The Lord is good to those waiting for Him, to those who are seeking Him out. It is good to wait patiently for the saving help of the Lord.” (Lamentations 3:21-26).

WAIT: “qavah,” a common Hebrew term in Scripture for “wait,” which has a literal meaning and a figurative meaning. We get a fuller understanding of ‘qavah” and what it means to “wait” in the biblical sense, when we combine the literal with the figurative:

Literal Meaning of Qavah: the process of weaving together separate strands into one; braiding together what is needed for wholeness; binding together by twisting and entwining tightly. Examples of this root word for wait would be braiding hair, twining rope, twisting strands together for a cord. To wait in this sense is not passive, but active; not a waste of time, but a useful time; not something to avoid at all costs but instead to redeem as fully as possible; not the time for seeking distractions from potential boredom, but a time to recognize it as an opportunity.

Figurative Meaning of Qavah: to actively hope with patience; to maintain a persistent faith; to peacefully trust in God; to be content in the midst of delay; to live in eager anticipation; to engage in the spiritual activity of listening for/to God; to alertly watch for God in the midst of uncertainty; to look for God’s guidance and presence; to have a faithful expectation of what has been promised by God; to prepare oneself for whatever comes next; to “collect oneself,” to actively “get it together.”

The Purposes of Waiting: to gain and renew strength; to learn dependence on God; to flesh out one’s submission to God; to grow spiritually; to make progress in spiritual discipline; to gain wisdom and understanding; to keep from making rash or unwise decisions; to cooperate with God in His transformation of us; to continue securing one’s intimate union with God; to grow in patience and hopefulness.

A Little Christ: Prophet, Priest and King.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfector of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2).

Jesus Our Pioneer. We believers are running in a race of faith, and we need to run it with patient endurance and active persistence. Keep our eyes on Christ, who mapped out this race and is our Pioneer. He designed the course we are running, and we need to follow His instructions. He has been there before us, so let us follow Him as the Source of our belief. He saw joy ahead at the finish line, and that helped Him endure the shame and pain of the Cross. He persevered against stiff opposition from sinners and the devil himself, but he didn’t lose heart. Let us follow our faithful leader who as Prophet, Priest and King has made a path for us. And look now, He is seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven! We will all join our Pioneer in heaven if we run the race He has set before us, running it the way He Himself ran it for our salvation.

“Every Christian is to become a little Christ. The whole purpose of becoming a Christian is simply nothing else.”  (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity).

What does it mean to become a “little Christ,” a human version of the divine Messiah? How do we go about becoming little Christs? We certainly can’t assume the role of Messiah, but we can each become a little messiah-in-training. The Hebrew Scriptures are very clear about their appointed leaders… they must be anointed. The roles of prophet, priest and king are these anointed ones, and they find their fulfillment in the Anointed One in the Gospels. This is another example of how Christianity is basically a Jewish religion. The Christian faith finds it roots in the Jewish faith. Jesus was a faithful Jew, and so much of the Jewish Bible finds its fulfillment in the Gospel story. The anointed ones in the Old Testament find their culmination in the Anointed One in the New Testament. Some examples: Elisha is anointed by Elijah to be a prophet; Aaron is anointed by Moses to be a priest; David is anointed by Samuel to be king. And Jesus is anointed by the Father to be Messiah at His baptism. Jesus became the Christ who holds all three offices together, prophet, priest and king, summed up in the one office of Messiah.

“The Lord will raise up for you a prophet like me from among yourselves, from your own kinsmen, said Moses to His people. The Lord said, You are to pay attention to him…I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I order him.” (Deut. 18:15-18).

Christ the Prophet. For many generations, faithful Jews had been waiting for a Prophet with a capital P, a Moses-like prophet, prophesied from Deuteronomy 18, who would arise from within the Jewish nation. This Prophet would be sent by God to perform for the Jews many of the things that Moses did. The Prophet would be an extraordinary and divinely inspired Teacher, a mouthpiece of God, speaking God’s words to the people. This Prophet would repeat some of the miracles of Moses… providing food unexpectedly for masses of people; providing a spring of living water; controlling the seas; healing illnesses; foretelling future events and interpreting past or present events. This Prophet would be the divine fulfillment of Yahweh’s promise to Moses. And the Jewish faithful were hungry for this special Prophet to appear. Jesus fulfilled and embraced the role of the special Moses-like Prophet wholeheartedly from the beginning of His ministry. He severely rebuked sin and hypocrisy. He openly proclaimed mercy and comfort. He controlled the waves of the sea. He provided food for thousands of people in the wilderness. Instead of literal water, Jesus proved to be the Source of living water, spiritually speaking. Instead of leading the people out of slavery to Egypt, Jesus led the people out of slavery to sin and death. Jesus faithfully taught the Word of the Lord, going so far as to tell His disciples, “The word which you hear is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me.” (John 14:24). Jesus went even further when He said, “The Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do only what He sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” (John 5:19). Spoken like a true Prophet. Jesus also wore the mantle of the Prophet by foretelling future events… His death and resurrection; Peter’s denial; Judas’ betrayal; the destruction of the Temple; the coming of the Holy Spirit. Jesus too fulfilled the role of prophet by healing everywhere he went, drawing comparisons to all the healing that so many prophets in the Hebrew Scriptures performed. As a prophet, Jesus wasn’t shy about saying or doing the hard thing. Just ask the moneychangers in the Temple. Jeremiah said that the words of the prophet can be like “a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces.” (Jer. 23:39). And Jesus certainly broke many rocks in His travels. Prophets are known to speak with authority, and Jesus was often commended as someone who taught as one who had authority (Mark 1:22). It’s also interesting that Jesus thought of Himself as a prophet, identifying Himself as such after His hometown rejected Him, and stating that a prophet is without honor in his own home. It’s interesting to note that of all the Biblical personalities He could have spoken with at the Transfiguration, Jesus talked with the two greatest prophets in Jewish history, Moses and Elijah. Jesus embraced the role of prophet, He identified with the role of prophet, and He fulfilled the role of Prophet anointed by God.

“… Jesus became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him, and was designated by God to be High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 5:9-10).

Christ the Priest. Jesus wasn’t merely a prophet, but The Prophet. And Jesus wasn’t merely a priest, but High Priest. In the Mosaic tradition, the priest was God’s representative to man and man’s mediator before God. The priest offered sacrifices to God for the people for forgiveness and to establish a connection with the Almighty God. The priest was to intercede for the people, to offer up prayers and thanksgivings. Animal blood ws sprinkled, incense was burned, bread was baked, the lamps were lit, all to build a bridge from man to God. In fact, that’s what the word priest means in Latin, “pontifex,” or “bridgebuilder”. The high priest was the only priest allowed to enter the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement, where he offered the sacrifice and sprinkled the blood that cleansed the people once a year. One can see how this Old Testament system was full of powerful hints at the coming of the Messiah, the High Priest. As our priest, Jesus is God’s representative to mankind, and is mankind’s mediator before God. In the OT system, the High Priest would be the only man who could enter the Holy of Holies to sprinkle a blood sacrifice on the Arc of the Covenant. Jesus is our worthy High Priest, because He offered Himself as the blood sacrifice to cleanse us from sin. Like the good priest that He is, He now “lives to make intercession for us” (Hebrews 7:24-26), and this is the perfect fulfillment of the priesthood that was so important in the Hebrew Scriptures. His one-time sacrifice on the Cross is sufficient, because He is the sinless sacrifice that will remain for all eternity. Our High Priest fulfilled the Day of Atonement on Calvary, and that sacrifice will remain forever.

“Therefore God exalted Christ Jesus to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9).

It takes two hands to follow Jesus. On the one hand, Christ is our dear companion on the way, our intimate friend through thick and thin. There is nothing wrong with that, of course. We do enjoy a spiritual buddy system, since Jesus Himself called His disciples friends (John 15), and we by extension are now privileged to form a meaningful friendship with Him. But on the other hand, Christ is our King. He has total dominion over the entire universe, including each of us. He reigns as eternal Sovereign over the world, whether or not the world wants to acknowledge His reign. Christ has executive power over all creation. He holds rightful authority over each of us, and we need to cooperate with His Kingship if we know what’s good for us. Jesus is not merely our bosom buddy, He is our ultimate authority. There are subtle ways we have a tendency to see Christ as our friend while neglecting His authority. Perhaps we imagine walking arm in arm with Him, to the neglect of bowing the knee at His throne. Perhaps we tend to say in our presumptuous petitions, Gimme, gimme, gimme, rather than humbly asking for the King to grant us something out of the goodness of His heart, out of His unearned favor. Maybe we approach Jesus casually if not flippantly, instead of submitting to Him with reference to His Royal Highness. Christ is our ruling authority each and every day we seek to follow Him. In fact, He is the ruling authority even if we don’t want to follow Him. The writer of Hebrews perhaps had this in mind, combining Christ’s friendship with His Kingship, by encouraging us… “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16). Living into Christ with both hands, boldly approaching Him as both our accessible friend and our sovereign King.

While-U-Wait: Braiding Together the Roles of Prophet, Priest and King to Become a Little Christ.

Living into the Roles of Christ. To become a little Christ, a messiah-in-training, we need to think about representing Him, imitating him, adopting His offices of prophet, priest and king. So it follows that each follower of Jesus is anointed and empowered by the Holy Spirit to, to some degree, fulfill human versions of those three divine offices pioneered by Christ. Each believer has embedded within him/her the power and inclination to participant in His mission by being a little prophet, a little priest and a little king. These roles are summed up in that of little Christ, without developing a Messiah complex. It is not the believer’s job to be the one holy and anointed Messiah. Believers are asked to be juniors-in-training, little versions of the Senior-in-charge. Believers are called to be servant-prophets, servant-priests, and servant-kings. Nothing more. Nothing less. Believers don’t have the authority or ability to be anything but little versions of Jesus Christ, doing much the same thing that He did on the earth.

Chutzpah. In order to truly be a little Christ, there is a character trait that is needed: Chutzpah (hoots-pah), a Yiddish word that long ago entered English usage. It is from the Hebrew word, “hutspah,” which means audacious. Chutzpah is a neutral word that can be either positive or negative. Chutzpah can be righteous or unrighteous, holy or unholy. It is an idea difficult to define, so there are a lot of synonyms for it, especially in the biblical sense: spiritual audacity; brazen gall; tenacious stubbornness; headstrong persistence; outrageous guts; shameless nerve; feisty assertiveness; brazen impudence; unyielding boldness; courageous spine; expectant defiance. The Holy Scriptures, both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, are overflowing with examples of holy chutzpah. One wonders if it is actually a faith requirement for all believers. In fact, God seems to love chutzpah in us when it is based on our ultimate trust in Him and His character, our unselfish motives, our yearning for justice and mercy. Chutzpah in front of others becomes holy when it is done in obedience to the Lord and is an outworking of our faith in Him. As Rabbi Schulweiss once said, “Spiritual audacity toward God finds a place of honor in Jewish religious thought.” The rabbis of old have always insisted that chutzpah is a valid expression of faith. Just a quick glimpse at the Gospels reveals that Jesus and His followers fully embraced the ancient Jewish ethic of holy chutzpah. When Jesus saw chutzpah in action, He usually said things like, “Great is your faith!” Maybe Christian scholar Dr. Brad Young said it best. “True faith requires bold perseverance. Sometimes it is expressed by brazen impudence. Faith can be defined as chutzpah. Persevere with unyielding tenacity.” (Brad Young, Jesus the Jewish Theologian).

The Believer as a Little Prophet. God’s little prophets don’t need to foretell the future, carry out miracles, or perform healings, though that may occasionally happen. But the servant-prophet can:

1. Stand Up for Justice. Einstein once remarked that the prophetic voice in society is crucial because “the prophet has an almost fanatical love of justice.” Prophetic work in justice could include advocating for those who are being unfairly treated or taken advantage of. It could be standing up for the life of the unborn or the elderly regarding abortion or euthanasia. Or it could be rescuing those innocent ones who are accused unjustly. Justice is central to God’s character and God’s desires for humanity, and so the prophet works to make things right according to the character and will of the Lord. A little prophet may end up contradicting societal norms, a prophet may be countercultural, but that’s consistent with all prophets in Scripture. Jesus was the Big Prophet, and we follow His lead by doing His prophetic work when we see injustice. As Yahweh told the prophet Isaiah, “Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.” (Isaiah 1:17).
2. Take Special Assignments. The prophets in the Hebrew Scriptures were often called by God to be living visual aids to God’s word for the people. They simply did what God asked them to do to demonstrate or spread His word. Prophets weren’t afraid to be unconventional in their obedience. One pastor recently heard from the Lord that he should preach a sermon/day for 100 consecutive days. So he did just that, and the Spirit moved powerfully. Another pastor heard from the Lord that he should simply read the Bible through out loud on his podcast, for a full year. He did just that, and it became the #1 podcast in the country. Prophets aren’t shy about doing something different or out of the ordinary if the Lord directs things in that way. Prophets historically are not afraid to do something unconventional if that’s what’s called for. Little prophets follow in the footsteps of the Big Prophet.
3. Speak the Word. God’s Word sooner or later comes down to justice and mercy. An act of compassion is worth a hundred words. So is a gesture of comfort and hope. Mere God-talk is not necessarily speaking the Word. Reciting Scripture in an inappropriate context or for selfish reasons is not speaking the Word. Sometimes, though, when led by the Holy Spirit, speaking the Scripture is a powerful tool of God to accomplish His will. Sometimes a well-timed and apt Bible verse or story has the power of the Almighty God behind it. When the spiritual authority of the Lord is filling the Word, it is as if God Himself is in the room speaking. In fact, that’s exactly what it is. Much like the biblical prophets, the little prophets now speak the Word in Spirit and power, not to gain advantage or gain a holy reputation. “My word that goes out from my mouth will not return to me empty. It will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11).
4. Be God’s Spokesperson. If the biblical world was a classroom, God’s prophets were the visual aids. As the Lord’s mouthpieces, they were often called upon to be symbols of His messages. Since they were instructed to be dramatic illustrations of the word of the Lord, the people not only heard the word, they literally saw the word. So prophets were often asked to make spectacles of themselves. Sometimes they went from being mouthpieces to megaphones in their actions. They were held up for ridicule, mockery and rejection. Because prophets were obedient to a fairly unpredictable God, they were often dismissed as cranks and eccentrics and not taken seriously. Prophets were often instructed to be living object lessons, so they had to learn how to swallow their pride and embrace public humiliation. Sometimes prophets did things that should be glossed over in Sunday School if not totally ignored. At times we have to wince when we read of a prophet’s antics, and we want to file it under “Do not try this at home.” We can often take a light-hearted approach to their street theater. In such cases we can take to heart G. K. Chesterton’s words, “He who has the Faith has the fun.” But other times their performance art is not mere comic relief. It is difficult and painful and definitely not fun. All this translates into God’s biblical prophets being spiritual live wires, engaging personalities, and real characters. The biblical prophets may have struggled at times with accepting God’s instructions, but in the end they all settled into being fools for the Lord.
5. The prophet’s job is equal opportunity. Miriam is the first woman in the Hebrew Bible to be called a prophetess (Ex. 15:20). She is prominent in Jewish history, and is on the short list of the seven special women in the Jewish faith who were called prophetesses. These women are the “Holy Women to Israel”: Sarah (Genesis), Miriam (Exodus, Numbers), Deborah (Judges), Hannah (1 Samuel), Abigail (1 Samuel 25), Huldah (2 Kings), and Esther. The designated prophet in Jewish circles, whether male or female, held a unique place in the Scriptures. Prophets and prophetesses were able to receive divine revelations from the Lord regarding the future as well as the present. The prophet would speak what was on God’s mind. Prophets were also held up as role models of sanctity and intimacy with God. They set the community standards for religious faith and behavior. Rabbinic tradition holds that Miriam was at first considered a prophet because she had prophesied to her parents that they would bear the person who would deliver the Israelites from bondage. The fact that both mother and sister went to such extraordinary measures to take care of Moses suggests that they knew Moses was going to be unique, with a singular role as savior and deliverer of his people. The other reason Miriam was called a prophetess in Scripture is that she was described that way in direct connection to her role as worship leader in song at the Red Sea. Music and prophecy have always had a unique bond regarding the Lord’s revelations.

The Believer as a Little Priest. “Like living stones, you are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5). Each believer is called to be a priestly assistant as we devote ourselves to the High Priest. How can we flesh out our priesthood?

1. Be an Intercessor. If there is one word that would summarize the role of the priest, it would be intercessor. Help meet the spiritual needs of others by bringing God to them, representing the presence of God, by demonstrating God’s character to others so they know what God looks like and what kind of character God has. Help maintain God’s connection to people through Scripture, wise counsel and holy living. And then through more direct intercession, bring others to God. Let the incense burn so that the smoke and fragrance go straight to heaven in your prayers for the people you know, or don’t know. Your effectiveness in the priesthood is heavily dependent on your disciplined prayer life.
2. Offer Yourself Daily as a Living Sacrifice. Read God’s mind by studying the Bible; Minister to “one another” in God’s name; Offer up sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving; Live a life of self-denial as you pick up your cross daily. “Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – which is your spiritual worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:1-2). The priests back in Moses’ system offered up lots of sacrifices that involved animals, grain, etc., but the priests following Jesus simply offer up themselves.
3. Lead the Worship of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. An often overlooked and underappreciated responsibility of the priest is to lead the way into worship through singing praises, and playing instruments, and dancing in joy to the praise of God. Priests were known to sing a “weapon song” as they led the troops into battle. Consider the method of fighting by king Jehoshaphat, placing a long line of singing priests on the front lines of what looked like an impossible battle with a completely overpowering enemy. “And the prophet Jahaziel said, ‘Listen, all Judah and you citizens of Jerusalem, and you King Jehoshaphat! Yahweh says this to you, ‘Do not be afraid, do not be daunted by this vast horde, for the war is not your affair but God’s. Go down against them tomorrow. You will not need to fight in this battle. Take up your position, stand firm, and see what salvation Yahweh has in store for you. Judah and Jerusalem! Be fearless, be dauntless; march out against them tomorrow and Yahweh will be with you.’ Then, having conferred with the people, Jehoshaphat appointed Levitical singers who were to praise Yahweh and go out ahead of the army in sacred vestments, singing, ‘Praise Yahweh, for his faithful love endures for ever!’ The moment they began their shouts of praise, Yahweh sprang ambushes on all who were invading Judah, and that was the end of them.”  (2 Chronicles 18:18and 20:15-17, 22, NJB).

The Believer as a Little King: Christian believers are not the type of Little Kings that need to be in charge or sitting majestically on some throne. They don’t need to rule over other people. They don’t need to establish little kingdoms of their own in which to reign supreme. Little kings are servants of Christ the King:

1. Have dominion over the created world. Believers, and people in general, actually are intended to see nature as their domain. We are to rule over creation, establish our reign over it, subdue it and master it. What does a good master, a little king, do exactly? Be a good steward of nature, doing our best to help creation flourish. We are to take responsibility over creation and exercise the kind of power that enables nature to grow and be healthy. We are to honor God by caring effectively for His handiwork, preserving the created world for His delight. We are to enjoy a God-ordained relationship over the created world, as God spelled out in Genesis 1:26-28:“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of heaven, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that moves on the earth.” 
2. Live as a Member of the Royal Family. Believers have been adopted into God’s family, and welcomed into spiritual royalty. So we need to live into that status, honorably, humbly, responsibly, as servants of the King. We don’t stoop to attitudes or behavior that are not worthy of Kingdom royalty. We don’t try to usurp the King in some sort of power struggle. We treat every believer as brother and sister, as members of this family, with love and respect, acknowledging together our gratitude to the King for our life-saving adoption through the mercy of the Royal Father.
3. Extend the Kingdom. We cooperate with the King in His desire to expand His kingdom. He wants ultimately for all to be adopted, and He wants us to work to that end. The King has anointed believers to tell the Good News of His reign to those who haven’t heard. When it comes to His kingdom, the King says that there’s always room for more. In fact, the King will keep filing adoption papers for all eternity if that’s what it takes.

In keeping with biblical principle, believers who are little prophets, little priests and little kings must be anointed. Jesus’ baptism paved the way for this process. Just as He was anointed by the Father with the Holy Spirit at His baptism, believers are likewise anointed at their baptism. Two sanctified materials are needed at a baptism to complete the anointing: water and oil. The Holy Spirit comes to the baptized, alights on them and remains as it was with Jesus Christ. Only, just because the baptized become little Christs, doesn’t mean the baptized receive a little anointing. The Holy Spirit doesn’t come in bits and pieces. The Holy Spirit isn’t dribbled, drop by drop, but instead is poured till overflowing on the newly baptized. Whenever we see the Holy Spirit being applied, He is poured:

• “...till the Spirit is poured upon us from on high.” (Isaiah 32:15);
• “Exalted to the right hand of God He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.” (Acts 2:33);
• “They were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.” (Acts 10:45);
• “God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.” (Romans 5:5);
• “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior.” (Titus 3:5-6)

An extravagant anointing of the Holy Spirit to produce little prophets, little priests and little kings. In all this, let us remember that there is only one Messiah. Believers are only little messiahs, not the divine Messiah. We are little Christs, not The Christ.