{"id":22059,"date":"2023-01-23T08:53:04","date_gmt":"2023-01-23T13:53:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=22059"},"modified":"2023-01-23T09:03:28","modified_gmt":"2023-01-23T14:03:28","slug":"22059","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=22059","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-embed-handler wp-block-embed-embed-handler wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Hillsong UNITED - Not Today (Lyrics) | Let the devil know not today\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2uaQjEz3flM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Jesus as Prophet<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>Sunday, January 22nd, 2023&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>This week\u2019s meditations focus on Jesus as prophet. Albert Nolan (1934\u20132022) was a South African theologian and anti-apartheid activist inspired by Jesus\u2019 prophetic identity.&nbsp;<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In their speculations about who Jesus was, his contemporaries agreed that, whatever else, he was a prophet (Mark 8:27\u201328; Luke 7:16). Some might have thought that he was a false prophet, but he clearly spoke and acted like a prophet. And that is surely how Jesus saw himself (Luke 4:24). He does not seem to have ever contradicted anyone who referred to him as a prophet. In its basic inspiration, therefore, Jesus\u2019 spirituality was like that of the Hebrew prophets.\u2026&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jesus spoke, as most prophets do, for or on behalf of God. In fact he seems to have done so more confidently and boldly than any other prophet.\u2026 Where did Jesus derive this unshakeable assurance that he could speak so directly for God?\u2026&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prophets experience not only a<strong> special calling from God, but also a special closeness to God that enables them to understand God\u2019s \u201cfeelings\u201d and \u201cthoughts\u201d about what is happening or will happen in the future.<\/strong> It is this mystical experience of union with God that enables them to speak on God\u2019s behalf.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In reading the gospels, the general impression we get is that Jesus was very much a man of action: preaching, teaching, healing, and confronting the religious and political leadership. What we do not always notice is that <strong>behind, and in support of, all these activities was a life of constant prayer and profound contemplation.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Nolan points to the contemplative spirituality that infused Jesus\u2019 prophetic action:&nbsp;<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jesus seems to have taken <strong>every possible opportunity of getting away to a quiet and lonely place for prayer and reflection. \u201cIn the morning, while it was still very dark,<\/strong>\u201d Mark 1:35 tells us, \u201c[Jesus] got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed\u201d (see also Mark 6:46 and Luke 4:42). Luke 5:16 says he did this regularly. Before choosing his twelve apostles, he spent the whole night in prayer, we are told (Luke 6:12).\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What interests us here is the<strong> powerfully simple way in which prophecy and mysticism form an inseparable whole in the life and spirituality of Jesus.\u2026\u00a0Traditionally \u2026\u00a0prophets were mystics and mystics were prophets. Any idea that one could be a prophet calling for justice and social change without some experience of union with God was unthinkable.<\/strong> <strong>Equally unthinkable was any idea that one could be a perfectly good mystic without becoming critically outspoken about the injustices of one\u2019s time.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Nolan views Jesus as ultimately calling all of us to be prophets.&nbsp;<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyone who wishes to take Jesus seriously would have to be prepared to become a prophet and a mystic. In the history of Israel before Jesus, prophets were rare individuals. Jesus\u2019 aim was to open up the spirit of prophecy to everyone.\u2026 Then too we can all become courageous enough to speak out like prophets.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Prophecy Is Love Manifested<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>In a teaching for the CAC\u2019s Living School, Dr. Barbara Holmes invites the students to reflect on Jesus\u2019 prophetic tasks:&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What did Jesus the prophet do? As a prophet, Jesus performed miracles, exercised authority over nature and spiritual entities, walked on water, turned water into wine. As a prophet, Jesus healed. As a prophet, Jesus fed the hungry. As a prophet, Jesus taught prophetically.\u2026 He <strong>sat at the feet of elders, but he also taught with his heart: hearing the whispers of the Holy Spirit and allowing it to speak through him<\/strong>. You know <strong>teaching, if not anointed, is just the ego strutting and repeating information. Teaching prophetically goes beyond facts and material, and it reaches into the unutterable and allows silence and Spirit to do the teaching.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jesus also exercised spiritual gifts.\u2026 Prophecy is a spiritual gift. Paul wrote about the gift of prophecy in his letter to the Romans. And he said, \u201cWe have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us \u2026 prophecy in proportion to faith\u201d (Romans 12:6). And although prophecy is mentioned more than any other gift in the Bible, it\u2019s also stated that prophecy will pass away, and the only thing left will be love.\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prophecy comes to life as love. <strong>Jesus the prophet is love manifested<\/strong>. We also can be love manifested in the world.\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As Christians, <strong>Jesus is the prophet who guides us.<\/strong> And this is what I want to share with you. You don\u2019t have to eat locusts [John the Baptist] or lay on your side in rags [Ezekiel]. Perhaps <strong>all it requires is the willingness to offer your life \u201ca living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God<\/strong>\u201d [Romans 12:1]. All we have to do is recognize that the time has come to make full use of our gifts, that we are the embodiment of a new order. We\u2019re following the example set by the prophet Jesus. During his time, Jesus was the embodiment of a new order, he was a fulfillment of the prophecy of those who had gone before.\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because Jesus has come and truly overturned and overcome the systems of the world, he beckons us to do likewise. You see, the system says, \u201cIt can\u2019t be done. You cannot walk on water. Gravity wins.\u201d The system says that \u201creligion is of no use except to placate the people, and you\u2019d better put your money in growth mutual funds.\u201d Jesus says there\u2019s another way, the prophetic way, and even now Jesus beckons, saying, \u201cStep out on the water, come.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, you may be thinking, \u201cHow am I going to walk on water? I don\u2019t even know how to swim.\u201d Well, we offer our gifts to God and our neighbors, that\u2019s how we walk on water. Your gift may be prayer or art or business or teaching, but <strong>the prophetic call will hone your gifts so that your very lives are a prophetic witness to the world.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-6-500x377.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22063\" width=\"781\" height=\"589\" srcset=\"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-6-500x377.png 500w, http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-6-300x226.png 300w, http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-6-768x579.png 768w, http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-6-1536x1158.png 1536w, http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-6.png 1788w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 781px) 100vw, 781px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jesus as Prophet Sunday, January 22nd, 2023&nbsp; This week\u2019s meditations focus on Jesus as prophet. Albert Nolan (1934\u20132022) was a South African theologian and anti-apartheid activist inspired by Jesus\u2019 prophetic identity.&nbsp;&nbsp; In their speculations about who Jesus was, his contemporaries agreed that, whatever else, he was a prophet (Mark 8:27\u201328; Luke 7:16). Some might have [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22059"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22059"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22059\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22067,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22059\/revisions\/22067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}