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NASB | John 1:21 They asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" And he *said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 1:21 They asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" And he said, "I am not." "Are you the [promised] Prophet?" And he answered, "No." [Deut 18:15, 18; Mal 4:5] |
Subject: prophecies of a prophet to come |
Bible Note: "that prophet." The Jews evidently had prophecies of a prophet to come, apart from Christ, and apart from Elias (Christ, Elias, and "that prophet" are three distinct figures in prophecy – verse 25). He cannot have been any of the famous Old Testament prophets, or they would have used the name. What do we know about "that prophet?" The people confused him with John the Baptist, so presumably "that prophet" was expected to be some kind of forerunner. "That prophet" was expected in the future, just as the Christ was expected (though Christ is more important than any prophet). Many people assume that "that prophet" referred to Christ, since Jesus once noted that Moses saw his day. Moses did indeed make a bold statement about a prophet being raised up, in Deuteronomy 18:15. But we must always look at scripture in context. In that chapter, Moses was talking in general terms only. He mentions "a prophet" who is raised up by God, and also "the prophet" who speaks falsely (Deuteronomy 8:18-20). Clearly these are general truths about any prophet. Jesus fulfilled the tests of a true prophet, just as Moses and Peter and Joseph Smith did. (Although there are always those who claim to follow God, the Dathans and Abirams, the Pharisees, and even some self-righteous people today who call themselves Christian, who will claim that true prophets are false prophets.) So Moses was simply referring to the obvious fact that God uses prophets – a fact that most modern day churches seem to have forgotten. It is possible that Christ was referring to that exact prophecy when he spoke about Moses' prophecy – after all, Moses said there would be true prophets, and Jesus, besides being the son of God, was also a messenger from God – a prophet. It is also possible of course that Jesus was referring to some other statement of Moses (now lost), or simply indicating that the entire Mosaic law was a schoolmaster to bring people to Christ, as Paul said. Either way, Moses confirmed that God uses prophets, and the Jews were looking forward to "that prophet", someone quite separate from the expected Messiah. Presumably than "that prophet" is another reference to the prophet mentioned earlier, whose name would be Joseph. |
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Questions and/or Subjects for John 1:21 | Author | ||
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Ray | ||
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Makarios | ||
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Ivory313 | ||
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sweet | ||
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gbennett76 | ||
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Hank | ||
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Emmaus | ||
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gbt1997oct | ||
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Emmaus | ||
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tobi6334 | ||
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Mary Ann D |