Prophet, Priest, and King

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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Throughout Church History, however varying in degree, theologians have focuses on the offices of Jesus Christ as Prophet, Priest and King. The present is probably one of those period that doesn't emphasize them too much – at least, not the Prophet and King (even as Presbyterian and Reformed children recite them in their catechisms). It's probably time for us to take another look at them in detail. This is Belcher's aim, at least. As he says,

This book will address the work of Christ in light of the roles of Prophet, Priest, and King and will then draw out implications for the church.

A redemptive-historical approach— emphasizing Christ's fulfillment of the Old Testament —naturally lends itself to connecting with the roles, not just for Christ but also for his body, the church. This approach also has implications for preaching Christ from the Old Testament.

In the nation of Israel the roles of prophet, priest, and king are basically kept separate to define their meanings. But it is significant that these roles come together in both the description of Adam and Eve and the description of Israel's mission. Thus it makes sense that the Old Testament would begin to describe the coming future ruler as carrying out the combined roles (Ps. 110; Zech. 6: 11–13). 26 These are fulfilled in Christ, who is Prophet, Priest, and King during his earthly ministry. He fulfills them in his work of salvation and continues in these roles on behalf of his people in his ascension. The work of Christ lays the basis for restoring these roles to human beings in their service to God, to the church, and to the world.

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Disclaimer: I received this eARC from P&R Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for this post – thanks to both for this.
N.B.: As this was an ARC, any quotations above may be changed in the published work – I will endeavor to verify them as soon as possible.