Mark 6.4: And Jesus said to them, ” A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” (ESV)
The truth of verse four above is spoken in the Bible for the first time by Jesus. This truth is also recorded in Matthew, Luke and John, all reflecting slight variations in the words actually spoken by Jesus, but the truth thereof clearly apprehended. This is a truth that Jesus teaches from the fact that he is God, and also from his knowledge of the people of Israel’s repeated response and reactions to the prophets in the Old Testament.
Overwhelmingly Israel would not listen to these prophets. In Matthew 23 Jesus recites a history of abuses Israel meted out to the prophets of God recorded in the Old Testament.
Additionally, it is true that Jesus was and is “The Prophet”, who was to come into the world. In John 6.14 the people who had been miraculously fed by Jesus recognized Jesus as this prophet. In Acts 3.22 and following Peter confirmed that Jesus is this prophet, who was prophesied of by Moses recorded in Deuteronomy 18.15 and following.
The people of Nazareth responded to Jesus in a similar way to Israel’s response to the prophets of old. Rejection. Unbelief. Jesus taught this enduring truth and it endures to this very day. I believe that the spiritual gift of prophecy still exists today, as it is properly understood in the New Covenant. Certainly no one is writing new scripture today. And I do not believe there are prophetic interpretations of scripture such that an individual can prophetically advocate how we must interpret some particular verse of scripture in the Bible. But I do believe that from time to time revelations can be and are spoken prophetically for unique, specific applications.
I believe the gift of prophet in the New Covenant is primarily for the purpose of preaching Jesus Christ and what the Bible means, based upon the traditional grammatical and historical methods of study and interpretation, together with an application for our lives which penetrates deep within us, all in keeping with 1 Corinthians 14.3. And I would say that for anyone who has this gift, certainly expect that person not to be accepted and honored within the context of verse four above. Expect non-acceptance and disputation to be directed towards such an individual within the people groups Jesus taught about in this verse.