Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace
that was to be yours made careful
search and inquiry, inquiring about the person or time that the Spirit of
Christ within them indicated, when it testified in advance to the sufferings
destined for Christ and the subsequent glory.
The work was done by the prophets. Peter is not preaching something new or different. He is not diverting from the faith of their
fathers and mothers. That is the
argument he is making for the Diaspora Jews.
What is this careful search and inquiry?
My mind jumps to the prophet Isaiah about this. A lot of the prophetic passages tying into
the life of Jesus are drawn from there.
I think of Christmas, Jesus as Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. I
think of the passage of the Suffering Servant “by his stripes (whipped stripes)
we are healed.”
This goes to the nature of prophesy. The Old Testament prophets were not simply
the mouth-pieces of God, serving as divine gramophones of whatever God wanted
the people to hear. No, their role was
to interpret and present God’s message to the people at the various times of
their faith. Sometimes they presented
tragedy (Lamentations of Jeremiah), sometimes judgment (Nathan to King David),
sometimes they presented their own stories of mistrust and avoidance of God (Jonah).
One thing they had in common was a concern for the
Hebrews, God’s Chosen People, and what was needed for their continued blessing
and grace from their God. Such is the
reason behind the New Testament as well.
We don’t simply call them prophets because they were not carrying God’s
message, but rather they demonstrating God’s greatest message, Jesus, to the world,
interpreting Jesus and his ministry for the needs of the world.
And each one, in their own time and circumstances, carried God's message to the people in the language and culture of their time and place. It is from there, that Peter looks back on their work that points to the Risen Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment