Prophets & prophecy

“A prophet mighty in deed and word”

How did the people who knew Jesus describe him while he was alive? Again and again in the Gospels, the word they use is “prophet”. This topic gathers those words.

1The question

How did Jesus’s own followers and the crowds describe him?

2What Christians believe

Christians agree that many people, including his followers, called Jesus a prophet. They answer that this was the first stage of understanding. After the resurrection the disciples came to see him as far more: Peter confesses him as “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16).

Christians point out that Jesus himself asked his disciples who they thought he was, and was not satisfied with the answer that he was “one of the prophets” (Matthew 16:14–17).

3What the texts say

The crowds

And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people.
Luke 7:16 · KJVRead in context →
Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.
John 6:14 · KJVRead in context →
And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
Matthew 16:14 · KJVRead in context →

A woman at the well

The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
John 4:19 · KJVRead in context →

Two disciples after the crucifixion

And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people:
Luke 24:19 · KJVRead in context →
But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done.
Luke 24:21 · KJVRead in context →

4What scholars say

Geza Vermes (Jesus the Jew, 1973) argued that Jesus is best understood as a Galilean prophet and holy man, close to figures like Honi the Circle-Drawer and Hanina ben Dosa, who were remembered for their prayers and miracles.

Dale C. Allison (Jesus of Nazareth: Millenarian Prophet, 1998) presents Jesus as a prophet who announced the coming kingdom of God.

Scholars agree that “prophet” is one of the most common ways people describe Jesus in the Gospels, and that the disciples on the road to Emmaus still describe him this way after his death.

5The Islamic perspective

Muslims speak of Jesus in the same terms as his followers did: a messenger of God, given scripture and made a prophet:

He spake: Lo! I am the slave of Allah. He hath given me the Scripture and hath appointed me a Prophet,
Qur’an 19:30 · PickthallRead in context →
The Messiah, son of Mary, was no other than a messenger, messengers (the like of whom) had passed away before him. And his mother was a saintly woman. And they both used to eat (earthly) food. See how We make the revelations clear for them, and see how they are turned away!
Qur’an 5:75 · PickthallRead in context →

For Muslims, the words of the disciples in Luke 24:19, “a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people”, are a perfect description of Jesus. They see no need to add to it.

6Objections and responses

“The disciples spoke this way before they understood the resurrection.”

Response: Luke 24:19 is spoken after the crucifixion, by disciples who had followed Jesus closely. Muslims see their words as the memory of those who knew him, before later beliefs were added.

“Jesus was not satisfied with being called ‘one of the prophets’ (Matthew 16:14).”

Response: Jesus praised Peter for saying he was the Christ, the Messiah, which Muslims also believe. Being the Messiah and a prophet go together. The question is not whether he was more than an ordinary prophet, but whether he was more than a man.

7Conclusion

Both sides agree that the crowds, a Samaritan woman and his own disciples called Jesus a prophet. Christians see this as the beginning of a faith that later recognised him as divine. Muslims see it as the truest description of who he was.

Read Luke 24:13–27 and notice how the two disciples describe Jesus.

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