Did Jesus fulfill the promise to replace Moses?
“I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak all that I command him.” – Deuteronomy 18:18
Was Jesus the prophet that God promised in Deuteronomy 18?
In Matthew 5:17, Jesus claimed that he came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. Then six times in Matthew 5, Jesus states, “Moses said…but I say,” placing himself above the revered prophet.
In John, Jesus compared his crucifixion to the bronze serpent of Moses (John 3:14-15) and told the religious leaders that if they believed Moses, they would believe him (John 5:45-47).
While discussing manna, Jesus claimed to be the bread of life (John 6:26-58). During his final Passover celebration, Jesus claimed the bread was his body and the cup was his blood (Matthew 26:26-30). Paul claimed that Jesus was the rock that the Israelites drank from when Moses struck it (1 Corinthians 10:1-4; Exodus 17:6).
Nearly every author of the New Testament compared Moses with Jesus.
The author of Hebrews wrote, “Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses…” (Hebrews 3:3-6).
Two things separated Jesus from Moses: his incomparable moral life and his resurrection. Without Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection, there’s no valid explanation for how he could claim to have fulfilled the prophecy of Moses, let alone surpassed his status.
Moses instituted the Passover; Jesus is the sacrificial Lamb of God. Moses offered manna; Jesus is the bread from heaven. Moses miraculously provided water from the rock; Jesus is that rock.
