The One Infallible Prophet

John the Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus. About six months after he began his public ministry, Jesus came to him, and received baptism at his hands. In the descent of the Holy Spirit and the voice from heaven, John was assured that this was indeed the promised Messiah. After Jesus returned from His forty days of temptation in the wilderness, John pointed Him out to the assembled multitude, and said, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” John 1:29. A little later, he was led to say of Jesus, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” John 3:30. John was faithfully fulfilling the supremely sacred closing of his lifework, as Jesus, whom he introduced to the human race, was entering upon His glorious mission.AGP 164.2

“In Jesus Christ Himself the prophetic office reached its highest stage of development, as He stood in a more intimate relation than any other being to His heavenly Father and spoke His word entirely and at all times. In the Christian congregation the office of prophecy is again found, differing from the proclamation of the gospel by the apostles, evangelists, and teachers.” “The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia,” Vol. IV, art., “Prophets,” p. 2464.AGP 164.3

Christ was that great Prophet of whom Moses, through the prophetic gift, said, “The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto Him ye shall hearken.” Deuteronomy 18:15.AGP 164.4

Jesus was recognized during His public ministry as a “great prophet.” Note the clear evidence: “The multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth.” Matthew 21:11. “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. It was thus that His disciples described Him: “Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people.” Luke 24:19. Referring to Himself, Jesus said unto them, “A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country, and in his own house.” Matthew 13:57.AGP 165.1

To this relationship, Dean Stanley in his “History of the Jewish Church,” Volume 1, pages 378,379, bears this clear testimony:AGP 165.2

“It was ‘in the days of Herod “the king”’ that the voice of a prophet was once more heard. We shall never understand the true appearance of the Baptist, or of Him whose forerunner he was, nor the continuity of the Old and New Testaments, unless we bear in mind that the period of the Christian era was the culminating point of the prophetic ages of the Jewish church. ‘The word of God came unto John the son of Zachariah,’ as it had come before to Isaiah the son of Amoz. ‘The people counted him as a prophet.’ ‘He was a prophet; and more than a prophet.’ In appearance, in language, in character, he was what Elijah had been in the reign of Ahab. And yet he was only the messenger of a Prophet greater than himself. The whole public ministry of our Lord was that of a prophet. He was much more than this. But it was as a prophet that He acted and spoke. It was this which gave Him His hold on the mind of the nation. He entered, as it were naturally, on an office vacant but already existing. His discourses were all, in the highest sense of the word, ‘prophecies.’”