Scripture

Deu 18:15-19: "“The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brethren — him you shall heed — just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ And the LORD said to me, ‘They have rightly said all that they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not give heed to my words which he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him."

Acts 3:19-20,22-23: "Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, … Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet from your brethren as he raised me up. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul that does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’"


Introduction

In the Old Testament, God used men to relay His message to humanity. In every age under the Old Covenant, there were men whom God appointed to speak His instructions and covenant to His people. These men were called prophets.

According to The Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible by Kevin Vanhoozer, regarding ethics in the prophets:
“The prophets always came with a particular word for a particular time, but always reminded the people of the story and the covenant. They were not social reformers skilled in the craft and compromise of politics; they were messengers of God.”1
According to this definition, prophets were simply messengers of God. Their words were given for a specific purpose and time. In Deuteronomy 18:15–19, the Lord Himself declared that He would raise up a prophet from among the Israelites. This prophet would speak the very words of God — words placed directly into his mouth. The question is: Who is this prophet that came from the Lord according to our text? It is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. There are two main reasons why Jesus Christ is the ultimate prophet:

I. He Is the Fulfillment of Prophecy

A. Jesus Christ claimed fulfillment from the book of Isaiah.

In Luke 4:21, when Luke records Jesus reading from Isaiah 61:1–2 in the synagogue at Nazareth and claiming its fulfillment in Himself, he shows us what Jesus indeed thought of Himself.2
In Luke 4:18, Jesus reads the portion of Isaiah describing a prophet upon whom the Spirit of the Lord rests — one who proclaims good news to the poor, releases the captives, and gives sight to the blind.3 This prophecy was clearly fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ, which is why He boldly declared in Luke 4:21 that “today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

B. Jesus Christ fulfilled God’s promise of a prophet.

When Jesus said that He did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets but to fulfill them (Matthew 5:17), He revealed that He not only fulfilled the Law but also the prophecy concerning Himself.
In our key text, Deuteronomy 18:15–19, God promised to raise up a prophet from among the Israelites — one who would call for repentance and deliverance. This promise was fulfilled in Acts 3, where Peter declares that Jesus is the prophet whom Moses foretold. The book of Acts serves as clear proof of the prophetic office of the Lord Jesus Christ.

II. He Spoke Filled with the Spirit and with Truth

A. A Prophet Filled with the Spirit
Prophets are the messengers of the Lord — the mouthpieces of God to His people. God used them to declare messages of deliverance and judgment to Israel and also for Gentiles concerning future events.4
Jesus, the Son of God, was anointed by the Spirit and declared by the Father as His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased (Matthew 12:18). Even as the Son of God, He came as a man filled and anointed by the Holy Spirit to fulfill His prophetic mission.

B. A Prophet Filled with Truth
Jesus’ words of encouragement, warning, and judgment about the coming end are completely true. His words are not only filled with the Spirit but also grounded in truth — because He is the Truth (John 14:6).
Just like the prophets of the Old Testament who spoke the words of the God of truth, Jesus — the ultimate prophet — spoke words that must be heard, trusted, and obeyed.
In Matthew 24:35, Jesus declared:

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” This reveals the eternal and indestructible truth of His message.


Conclusion

Clearly, Jesus Christ is the ultimate prophet — the true Messiah whom the Jews had long awaited. His messages of repentance from sin (Luke 13:3), warning about hell and judgment (Mark 9:43–48), love and deliverance (Luke 4:18), and His words of forgiveness, hope, and fulfillment on the cross (Luke 23:34, 43, 46; John 19:26–30; Matthew 27:46) all demonstrate His divine prophetic office. These messages must not be neglected, for they are true, Spirit-filled, and come directly from the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity — worthy of our worship.
As He commanded, the only way to God is through Jesus Christ alone. If you repent and place your faith in Him, He will save you, forgive your sins, declare you righteous, adopt you as His child, and grant you eternal life (Ephesians 2:8–9; John 3:16; John 3:36).



Reference:

1 Kevin Vanhoozer, “Ethics in the Prophets”, Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible, (2005)
2Dunn, James D. G. “Jesus’ own self-estimate” in Jesus the Prophet. The Furrow 32, no. 8 (1981): 487–95. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27661194.
3Dunn, James D. G. “The first Christian’ view of Jesus ” in Jesus the Prophet. The Furrow 32, no. 8 (1981): 487–95. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27661194.
4BLB app, “Outline for Biblical usage”