Commentators (well, evangelical commentators, anyway) widely understand Deuteronomy 18:15 as a messianic prophecy. The expectation of the ‘second coming of Moses’ was current in Jesus’ day. Someone even asked John the Baptizer if he was ‘the Prophet.’ It’s understandable that John was thought of like that: after all, he summoned the people back to the Jordan, in a way enacting a new Exodus through the practice of baptism. (John was a prophet of renewal, calling Israel to be faithful again to her history and to her identity as God’s treasured possession.)
I find the progression of Matthew’s Gospel most interesting: it begins with John’s call to repentance (Exodus), brings Jesus into the wilderness for trial and testing, specifically about whether He will trust the Lord’s purposes for Him (Israel in the wilderness), and the next thing we know, He’s on a mountain, teaching about identity in the Lord and the way that identity is lived out (Sermon on the Mount/Deuteronomy). In other words, it sure seems that Matthew wants us to see Jesus as the ‘prophet like Moses.’
Now, some care is called for. Jesus is not a new lawgiver. He’s the Savior, who fulfills Israel’s vocation on behalf of mankind. Frankly, it’d be a disservice if we saw Moses only as a lawgiver! I think it’s important that we keep this in mind: Israel is not some law-driven, legalistic thing. One of the themes we have uncovered throughout our reading of the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) has been that Israel’s vocation, her calling—from Abraham onward—is to carry God’s promise of blessing for the nations to its completion. The story of Israel is not primarily about laws and obscure regulation; it is primarily about the Lord setting aside a peculiar people to fulfill His promises to the world.
Given our reading the last few months, it would be easy to see Israel only as a bunch of rules-bound legalists, a real "do this and live" kind of people. That would mean losing sight of the promise to Abraham and the calling of Israel to be God's 'peculiar people' for the salvation of the world. True, there were times in her history--a lot of them--when Israel lost track of her unique mission and acted like a bunch of rules-bound legalists. But the presentation of Jesus as a prophet like Moses reminds us that there was always more going on with Israel than just 'rules.' Salvation was always at stake in her life--salvation for all mankind.
Given our reading the last few months, it would be easy to see Israel only as a bunch of rules-bound legalists, a real "do this and live" kind of people. That would mean losing sight of the promise to Abraham and the calling of Israel to be God's 'peculiar people' for the salvation of the world. True, there were times in her history--a lot of them--when Israel lost track of her unique mission and acted like a bunch of rules-bound legalists. But the presentation of Jesus as a prophet like Moses reminds us that there was always more going on with Israel than just 'rules.' Salvation was always at stake in her life--salvation for all mankind.
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