In his sermon at the temple,
Peter affirms
that Jesus is the prophet
like Moses
In one of
Moses’ final speeches,
he gave this
messianic prophecy:
"The Lord your God will raise up for you
a prophet like me from among you,
from your fellow Israelites.
You must listen to him”
(Deuteronomy 18:15).
The prophet whom Moses foretells bears these qualities:
He will be raised up by God,
He will come from among the Israelites,
He will be like Moses,
and He will be
worthy of being heard and obeyed.
The prophet who fulfills these words
is
Jesus Christ,
the
prophet like
Moses.
On the banks of the Jordan River, the Jews questioned
John the Baptist
about who he was and why he was baptizing.
Their question
“Are you the Prophet?”
(John 1:21)
shows that they were looking for the fulfillment of Moses’ prophecy. John plainly informed them that he was not the Prophet but pointed them to the One who was: “
Among you stands one you do not know.
He is the one who comes after me,
the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie” (verses 26–27).
John’s description of the Messiah as one “among you” recalls
Moses’ prediction
that God would raise up the
Prophet
“from among you”
in Deuteronomy 18:15.
The very next day,
John specifically
identifies Jesus
as
the One they were waiting for
(John 1:29–31).
In his sermon at the temple,
Peter affirms
that Jesus is the prophet
like Moses
(Acts 3:22, quoting Deuteronomy 18:15). Stephen, addressing the Sanhedrin in Acts 7:37, also quotes
Moses and applies the prophecy to
Jesus Christ.
Jesus is like Moses in several ways.
Moses was both
a prophet and a lawgiver, and
Jesus is, too.
Jesus was widely recognized as a
prophet who
spoke the Word of God
(Matthew 21:46),
and He gave commandments for His followers to obey
(John 13:34; 15:12, 17; Galatians 6:2).
Both Moses and Jesus mediated a covenant between
God and men—Moses the
Old Covenant (Exodus 34:27; Acts 7:44),
and
Jesus the New
(Luke 22:20; Hebrews 9:15).
Both Moses and Jesus were born during perilous times,
and both narrowly escaped a king bent on murdering babies
(Exodus 1:22 and Matthew 2:16–18).
Both Moses and Jesus had a connection to Egypt
(Exodus 2:1–4 and Matthew 2:13–14).
Moses was the (adopted) son of a king (Exodus 2:10), and
Jesus is the Son of the Most High
(Luke 1:32).
Moses spent forty years
as
a shepherd
(Exodus 3:1),
and Jesus is the Good Shepherd (John 10:11, 14).
Both Moses and Jesus were known for their meekness
(Numbers 12:3 and Matthew 11:29).
Moses and Jesus were alike in that they both led God’s people out of captivity.
With great power, Moses led the Israelites out of
physical bondage and slavery in Egypt,
and Jesus, with even greater power,
led God’s elect out of spiritual bondage and slavery to sin.
Moses stood before Pharaoh and said,
“'Let my people go”
(Exodus 5:1).
Jesus came “to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and . . .
to set the oppressed free” (Luke 4:18).
“In Christ Jesus
the law of the Spirit of
life has set you free
from the law of sin and death”
(Romans 8:2).
Moses was also like Jesus
in that he performed miracles--
not all prophets did.
Several of the miracles of Moses bear a
resemblance to Jesus’ miracles,
most notably the provision of
bread in the wilderness
(Exodus 16:35),
which is comparable to Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000 (John 6:1–13).
In fact, after Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes, the
people’s thoughts ran immediately to
Moses’ prophecy:
“After the people saw the sign Jesus performed,
they began to say,
‘Surely this is the Prophet who is to come
into the world’”
(John 6:14).
Another way that Moses was like Jesus is that he
held intimate conversations with God:
“The LORD would
speak to Moses face to face,
as one speaks to a friend”
(Exodus 33:11).
Jesus also had a special relationship to God:
“No one knows the Son
except the Father, and no one knows the
Father except the Son”
(Matthew 11:27);
“The Father knows me and I know the Father”
(John 10:15).
When Moses stood in God’s presence,
his face shone with a heavenly glory and had to be
covered with a veil
(Exodus 34:29–35), and this
reminds us of Jesus’ transfiguration, when
“His face shone like the sun”
(Matthew 17:2).
Another important way that Moses was like Jesus is that he constantly interceded for his people.
When the Israelites sinned, Moses was always standing by, ready to petition God on their behalf and plead for their
forgiveness.
After the blatant idolatry at the foot of Mt. Sinai involving the
golden calf, Moses interceded twice for the people
(Exodus 32:11–13, 30–32),
and his intercession was needed at other times, too
(e.g., Numbers 11:2; 12:13; 21:7).
Moses’ intercession was temporary, but our
Lord’s is everlasting.
“If anybody does sin, we have an
advocate with the
Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One”
(1 John 2:1).
Jesus is right now “at the
right
hand of God and is also interceding for us”
(Romans 8:34).
Jesus “always lives to intercede” for us (Hebrews 7:25).
Not only was Moses an intercessor for God’s people but, like Jesus,
he was willing to die for them. In Exodus 32:32,
Moses offers his life in exchange for sinners.
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down
one’s life for one’s friends,”
Jesus said (John 15:13), and
Jesus proved His love when He “laid down his life for us”
(1 John 3:16; cf. John 10:15).
Peter affirms
that Jesus is the prophet
like Moses
In one of
Moses’ final speeches,
he gave this
messianic prophecy:
"The Lord your God will raise up for you
a prophet like me from among you,
from your fellow Israelites.
You must listen to him”
(Deuteronomy 18:15).
The prophet whom Moses foretells bears these qualities:
He will be raised up by God,
He will come from among the Israelites,
He will be like Moses,
and He will be
worthy of being heard and obeyed.
The prophet who fulfills these words
is
Jesus Christ,
the
prophet like
Moses.
On the banks of the Jordan River, the Jews questioned
John the Baptist
about who he was and why he was baptizing.
Their question
“Are you the Prophet?”
(John 1:21)
shows that they were looking for the fulfillment of Moses’ prophecy. John plainly informed them that he was not the Prophet but pointed them to the One who was: “
Among you stands one you do not know.
He is the one who comes after me,
the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie” (verses 26–27).
John’s description of the Messiah as one “among you” recalls
Moses’ prediction
that God would raise up the
Prophet
“from among you”
in Deuteronomy 18:15.
The very next day,
John specifically
identifies Jesus
as
the One they were waiting for
(John 1:29–31).
In his sermon at the temple,
Peter affirms
that Jesus is the prophet
like Moses
(Acts 3:22, quoting Deuteronomy 18:15). Stephen, addressing the Sanhedrin in Acts 7:37, also quotes
Moses and applies the prophecy to
Jesus Christ.
Jesus is like Moses in several ways.
Moses was both
a prophet and a lawgiver, and
Jesus is, too.
Jesus was widely recognized as a
prophet who
spoke the Word of God
(Matthew 21:46),
and He gave commandments for His followers to obey
(John 13:34; 15:12, 17; Galatians 6:2).
Both Moses and Jesus mediated a covenant between
God and men—Moses the
Old Covenant (Exodus 34:27; Acts 7:44),
and
Jesus the New
(Luke 22:20; Hebrews 9:15).
Both Moses and Jesus were born during perilous times,
and both narrowly escaped a king bent on murdering babies
(Exodus 1:22 and Matthew 2:16–18).
Both Moses and Jesus had a connection to Egypt
(Exodus 2:1–4 and Matthew 2:13–14).
Moses was the (adopted) son of a king (Exodus 2:10), and
Jesus is the Son of the Most High
(Luke 1:32).
Moses spent forty years
as
a shepherd
(Exodus 3:1),
and Jesus is the Good Shepherd (John 10:11, 14).
Both Moses and Jesus were known for their meekness
(Numbers 12:3 and Matthew 11:29).
Moses and Jesus were alike in that they both led God’s people out of captivity.
With great power, Moses led the Israelites out of
physical bondage and slavery in Egypt,
and Jesus, with even greater power,
led God’s elect out of spiritual bondage and slavery to sin.
Moses stood before Pharaoh and said,
“'Let my people go”
(Exodus 5:1).
Jesus came “to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and . . .
to set the oppressed free” (Luke 4:18).
“In Christ Jesus
the law of the Spirit of
life has set you free
from the law of sin and death”
(Romans 8:2).
Moses was also like Jesus
in that he performed miracles--
not all prophets did.
Several of the miracles of Moses bear a
resemblance to Jesus’ miracles,
most notably the provision of
bread in the wilderness
(Exodus 16:35),
which is comparable to Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000 (John 6:1–13).
In fact, after Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes, the
people’s thoughts ran immediately to
Moses’ prophecy:
“After the people saw the sign Jesus performed,
they began to say,
‘Surely this is the Prophet who is to come
into the world’”
(John 6:14).
Another way that Moses was like Jesus is that he
held intimate conversations with God:
“The LORD would
speak to Moses face to face,
as one speaks to a friend”
(Exodus 33:11).
Jesus also had a special relationship to God:
“No one knows the Son
except the Father, and no one knows the
Father except the Son”
(Matthew 11:27);
“The Father knows me and I know the Father”
(John 10:15).
When Moses stood in God’s presence,
his face shone with a heavenly glory and had to be
covered with a veil
(Exodus 34:29–35), and this
reminds us of Jesus’ transfiguration, when
“His face shone like the sun”
(Matthew 17:2).
Another important way that Moses was like Jesus is that he constantly interceded for his people.
When the Israelites sinned, Moses was always standing by, ready to petition God on their behalf and plead for their
forgiveness.
After the blatant idolatry at the foot of Mt. Sinai involving the
golden calf, Moses interceded twice for the people
(Exodus 32:11–13, 30–32),
and his intercession was needed at other times, too
(e.g., Numbers 11:2; 12:13; 21:7).
Moses’ intercession was temporary, but our
Lord’s is everlasting.
“If anybody does sin, we have an
advocate with the
Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One”
(1 John 2:1).
Jesus is right now “at the
right
hand of God and is also interceding for us”
(Romans 8:34).
Jesus “always lives to intercede” for us (Hebrews 7:25).
Not only was Moses an intercessor for God’s people but, like Jesus,
he was willing to die for them. In Exodus 32:32,
Moses offers his life in exchange for sinners.
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down
one’s life for one’s friends,”
Jesus said (John 15:13), and
Jesus proved His love when He “laid down his life for us”
(1 John 3:16; cf. John 10:15).
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