Jesus Christ is more than a prophet; He is God’s Son, True and better Israel, and the prophesied King who will reign on David’s throne forever. When Jesus opens His mouth, God speaks, for Jesus is fully God and fully man. Jesus the Son shares the ultimate revelation of God the Father through His perfect life, authoritative teaching, atoning death, and victorious resurrection.
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son (Hebrews 1:1–2a, emphasis added)
Jesus is the Ultimate Word from God
While idols often have mouths but cannot speak (Psalm 115:1–8; Jeremiah 10:1–10), we worship the Creator of the universe who does speak and has chosen to reveal Himself progressively to sinful humanity.[1]
God first revealed Himself through the prophets, using many of them to write the Old Testament Scriptures. God’s revelation to and through the prophets was fragmented, incomplete, varied, and anticipated a greater revelation. That greater revelation has come through Jesus Christ (see Luke 24:44; John 5:39–40; 1 Peter 1:10–11).
Jesus Christ is more than a prophet; He is God’s Son, True and better Israel, and the prophesied King who will reign on David’s throne forever. When Jesus opens His mouth, God speaks, for Jesus is fully God and fully man. Jesus the Son shares the ultimate revelation of God the Father through His perfect life, authoritative teaching, atoning death, and victorious resurrection.
All of history led up to the incarnation of Jesus Christ, and the rest of history flows from it, until its culmination when Jesus returns “to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him” (Hebrews 9:28). The new covenant ushered in by Jesus makes the old obsolete (Hebrews 8:13; Jeremiah 31:31–34). Thus, the revelation we have in Jesus Christ is final and definitive. No other revelation is needed; no greater revelation is possible. We don’t need prophets, priests, or kings like in Old Testament times because we have the ultimate Prophet, Priest, and King, Jesus Christ.
To underline this point, the author to the Hebrews continues in 1:2b–4, describing the identity of God’s Son.