Albert Barnes Commentary Deuteronomy 18:15-19

"Jehovah thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; according to all that thou desiredst of Jehovah thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of Jehovah my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. And Jehovah said unto me, They have well said that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him." — Deuteronomy 18:15-19 (ASV)

The ancient fathers of the Church and most modern commentators have regarded our Lord as the prophet promised in these verses. It is evident from the New Testament alone that the Messianic interpretation was the accepted one among the Jews at the beginning of the Christian era (compare the marginal references, and John 4:25); nor can our Lord Himself, when He declares that Moses wrote of Him (John 5:45–47), be thought to have any other words more directly in view than these—the only words in which Moses, speaking in his own person, gives any prediction of this kind.

But the verses seem to have a further, no less evident if subsidiary, reference to a prophetic order that would stand from time to time, as Moses had done, between God and the people; an order that would make known God’s will to the people; and that would, by its presence, make it unnecessary either for God to address the people directly, as at Sinai (Deuteronomy 18:16; compare Deuteronomy 5:25 and following), or for the people themselves, when lacking counsel, to resort to pagan superstitions.

In fact, in these words, Moses promises both a prophetic order and the Messiah in particular as its chief—a line of prophets culminating in one eminent individual. And to the degree that we see the characteristics of the prophet most perfectly exhibited in our Lord, we must also regard the promise of Moses as most completely fulfilled in Him.