SS Outline 9.13.2026
Week 20 — Systematic Theology
The Offices of Christ
“Christ”
•“Christ” translates Mashiach, Anointed One. Ask: Who was anointed in Israel? Priests (Ex 29:7; Lev 8:12), kings (1 Sam 16:13), prophets (1 Kgs 19:16). Jesus's anointing: Luke 4:18; Acts 10:38 (the Spirit at the Jordan).
•No Israelite held all three. Melchizedek was king and priest; David was king and prophet; the three converge only in Christ.
•What is wrong with us that one office cannot fix? LBCF 8.10: ignorance needs a prophet, alienation needs a priest, inability and enemies need a king.
•Why is Jesus a Prophet, Priest, & King? Because sinners are ignorant, alienated, and helpless, the one Mediator holds three offices.
Prophet: He speaks the Father’s words
•Definition: One who receives God's revelation and delivers it (Ex 7:1, Moses "as God" and Aaron his prophet)
•Read Deut 18:15, 18, & Acts 3:22–23; Peter names Jesus as the prophet like Moses.
•Jesus claims the office (Luke 13:33), speaks only what the Father commanded (John 12:49–50), teaches with authority (Matt 7:29); the crowds recognize it (Luke 7:16).
•What sets him above every prophet: they said, “Thus says the LORD”; he says, “Truly, I say to you.” Heb 1:1–2 and John 1:18 make him both messenger and message.
•Christ’s prophetic ministry runs through all history. He spoke in the OT prophets by his Spirit (1 Pet 1:11), on earth in person, after the ascension through the apostles (John 14:26; 16:12–14; Acts 1:1, “began to do and teach”), and now through preaching and the Spirit’s illumination. Payoff: preaching is Christ exercising his prophetic office
•Liberal theology keeps this office and drops the other two. A teacher-only Jesus leaves you better informed and still condemned; the prophet's message is that you need a priest.
Priest: He represents you before God, and is doing so now
•Contrast with the prophet: the prophet faces the people for God; the priest faces God for the people. Read Heb 5:1 and draw out the four marks: taken from among men (his true humanity, tying back to the natures lesson), appointed by God (5:4–5, he did not seize it), active before God on behalf of men, offering sacrifice for sins.
•OT prediction: Ps 110:4 (a priest by oath, outside Levi, forever); Zech 6:13 (a priest on a throne, two offices in one person); Isa 53.
•Only Hebrews calls him “priest” (3:1; 4:14; 5:5; 6:20; 7:26; 8:1), yet the priestly work runs through the whole NT (Mark 10:45; John 1:29; Rom 3:24–25; 1 Cor 5:7; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 John 2:2).
•The priestly work has two parts: sacrifice and intercession.
•Intercession: Rom 8:34; Heb 7:25; 9:24; 1 John 2:1
•Scope: the elect only, and all the elect, including those not yet converted (John 17:9, 20). Pastoral picture: Luke 22:31–32, “I have prayed for you,” spoken before Peter’s failure.
King: Two thrones, one Mediator
•Distinction: as Son, He shares God’s dominion by nature; as Mediator, a kingship was conferred on him (Ps 2:6; Acts 2:36; Phil 2:9–11), which is what we see.
•Spiritual kingship over the church. Read Luke 1:32–33. Called spiritual because of its realm (the hearts and lives of believers), its means (Word and Spirit, John 18:36–37), and its end (salvation). Gathering, governing, protecting, and perfecting the church;
•Kingdom of God, two senses: strictly, believers; broadly, all who sit under the gospel’s proclamation, including the mixed visible church (Matt 13:24–30, 47–50).
•Present and future: present now (Matt 12:28; Luke 17:21; Col 1:13), consummated at his return (Matt 7:21; 1 Cor 15:50; 2 Tim 4:18); the same kingdom, later visible and perfect; and it never ends (Dan 2:44; 2 Sam 7:16).
•Universal kingship. Read Matt 28:18 and Eph 1:22, “head over all things to the church.” He steers nations and history toward his redemptive purpose and the church’s protection.
•The one hard text, one sentence: Luke 1:33 says no end; 1 Cor 15:24–28 says he delivers the kingdom to the Father. Reformed reading: the universal mediatorial kingship, granted for the church’s warfare, is handed back when the last enemy falls; the spiritual kingship over his people is forever. Put the two verses side by side on the board.
•Inability and enemies need a king who subdues both.
Which office do you functionally deny?
•LBCF 8.10: ignorance → prophet, alienation → priest, inability → king.
•Name three distortions and ask them to locate themselves silently: the teacher-only Jesus (every church that reduces him to a moral example); the pardon-only Jesus (wants the priest on Sunday and resists the king on Monday); the crown-only Jesus (wants him ruling the nation while evading his rule over one’s own habits).
•One memory verse per office: Deut 18:18; Heb 7:25; Eph 1:22.
The Offices of Christ
“Christ”
•“Christ” translates Mashiach, Anointed One. Ask: Who was anointed in Israel? Priests (Ex 29:7; Lev 8:12), kings (1 Sam 16:13), prophets (1 Kgs 19:16). Jesus's anointing: Luke 4:18; Acts 10:38 (the Spirit at the Jordan).
•No Israelite held all three. Melchizedek was king and priest; David was king and prophet; the three converge only in Christ.
•What is wrong with us that one office cannot fix? LBCF 8.10: ignorance needs a prophet, alienation needs a priest, inability and enemies need a king.
•Why is Jesus a Prophet, Priest, & King? Because sinners are ignorant, alienated, and helpless, the one Mediator holds three offices.
Prophet: He speaks the Father’s words
•Definition: One who receives God's revelation and delivers it (Ex 7:1, Moses "as God" and Aaron his prophet)
•Read Deut 18:15, 18, & Acts 3:22–23; Peter names Jesus as the prophet like Moses.
•Jesus claims the office (Luke 13:33), speaks only what the Father commanded (John 12:49–50), teaches with authority (Matt 7:29); the crowds recognize it (Luke 7:16).
•What sets him above every prophet: they said, “Thus says the LORD”; he says, “Truly, I say to you.” Heb 1:1–2 and John 1:18 make him both messenger and message.
•Christ’s prophetic ministry runs through all history. He spoke in the OT prophets by his Spirit (1 Pet 1:11), on earth in person, after the ascension through the apostles (John 14:26; 16:12–14; Acts 1:1, “began to do and teach”), and now through preaching and the Spirit’s illumination. Payoff: preaching is Christ exercising his prophetic office
•Liberal theology keeps this office and drops the other two. A teacher-only Jesus leaves you better informed and still condemned; the prophet's message is that you need a priest.
Priest: He represents you before God, and is doing so now
•Contrast with the prophet: the prophet faces the people for God; the priest faces God for the people. Read Heb 5:1 and draw out the four marks: taken from among men (his true humanity, tying back to the natures lesson), appointed by God (5:4–5, he did not seize it), active before God on behalf of men, offering sacrifice for sins.
•OT prediction: Ps 110:4 (a priest by oath, outside Levi, forever); Zech 6:13 (a priest on a throne, two offices in one person); Isa 53.
•Only Hebrews calls him “priest” (3:1; 4:14; 5:5; 6:20; 7:26; 8:1), yet the priestly work runs through the whole NT (Mark 10:45; John 1:29; Rom 3:24–25; 1 Cor 5:7; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 John 2:2).
•The priestly work has two parts: sacrifice and intercession.
•Intercession: Rom 8:34; Heb 7:25; 9:24; 1 John 2:1
•Scope: the elect only, and all the elect, including those not yet converted (John 17:9, 20). Pastoral picture: Luke 22:31–32, “I have prayed for you,” spoken before Peter’s failure.
King: Two thrones, one Mediator
•Distinction: as Son, He shares God’s dominion by nature; as Mediator, a kingship was conferred on him (Ps 2:6; Acts 2:36; Phil 2:9–11), which is what we see.
•Spiritual kingship over the church. Read Luke 1:32–33. Called spiritual because of its realm (the hearts and lives of believers), its means (Word and Spirit, John 18:36–37), and its end (salvation). Gathering, governing, protecting, and perfecting the church;
•Kingdom of God, two senses: strictly, believers; broadly, all who sit under the gospel’s proclamation, including the mixed visible church (Matt 13:24–30, 47–50).
•Present and future: present now (Matt 12:28; Luke 17:21; Col 1:13), consummated at his return (Matt 7:21; 1 Cor 15:50; 2 Tim 4:18); the same kingdom, later visible and perfect; and it never ends (Dan 2:44; 2 Sam 7:16).
•Universal kingship. Read Matt 28:18 and Eph 1:22, “head over all things to the church.” He steers nations and history toward his redemptive purpose and the church’s protection.
•The one hard text, one sentence: Luke 1:33 says no end; 1 Cor 15:24–28 says he delivers the kingdom to the Father. Reformed reading: the universal mediatorial kingship, granted for the church’s warfare, is handed back when the last enemy falls; the spiritual kingship over his people is forever. Put the two verses side by side on the board.
•Inability and enemies need a king who subdues both.
Which office do you functionally deny?
•LBCF 8.10: ignorance → prophet, alienation → priest, inability → king.
•Name three distortions and ask them to locate themselves silently: the teacher-only Jesus (every church that reduces him to a moral example); the pardon-only Jesus (wants the priest on Sunday and resists the king on Monday); the crown-only Jesus (wants him ruling the nation while evading his rule over one’s own habits).
•One memory verse per office: Deut 18:18; Heb 7:25; Eph 1:22.
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