Luke 1:39-56; Malachi
3:1-6
In the Name of the Father and of the
+ Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Malachi lived
near the end of the 5th century BC, about one hundred years
following the prophet Zechariah and the return of the Jewish exiles to Israel
from captivity in Babylon. The temple complex had been rebuilt in Jerusalem,
and the the priesthood and the sacrificial system had been reinstated in the
temple. Malachi, whose name means Messenger
of the LORD, was the last of the Old Testament prophets, and he proclaimed
a specific Word from the LORD to the people of Israel: Repent! Repent from your
sensual, selfish, and careless ways, and return to the LORD, before it’s too
late. Malachi proclaimed the LORD’s unchanging love and faithfulness to Israel,
and he prophesied that the LORD would send His Messenger to prepare the way
before His sudden coming to His temple to judge His people. Though Malachi was
himself a Messenger of the LORD, the Messenger of whom he prophesied of was
still yet to come. Then the LORD was silent. No prophet prophesied in Israel
for four hundred years – until John the Baptist.
Then, another
messenger of the LORD, the angel Gabriel, appeared to Zechariah the priest as he
burned incense in the temple and proclaimed to him that he and his wife
Elizabeth, who was barren, would conceive and bear a son whose name would be
John. The angel proclaimed to Zechariah that his son would “be filled with the
Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb” and that he would “turn many of the
children of Israel to the Lord their God” “to make ready for the Lord a people
prepared.” John would continue the prophetic ministry of Malachi, and of all
the prophetic messengers of the LORD. However, John would be the final Word
before the coming of the Messiah. John would be the prophesied Messenger of the
LORD who would come to prepare the way before the coming of the Lord.
Elizabeth did
indeed conceive and bear a son, and when Zechariah, who had been stricken mute
because he did not believe the Word the LORD delivered through His messenger
Gabriel, indicated that the boy’s name would be John, his mouth was opened and
he praised God for keeping His promise to raise up a “horn of salvation … in
the house of His servant David,” and that his own son would be called the
“prophet of the Most High; for [he would] go before the Lord to prepare His
ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their
sins.”
Indeed, John
began preparing the way for Jesus long before he donned camel’s hair and lived
in the desert wilderness eating locusts and honey, for in the sixth month of
his mother’s pregnancy, filled with the Holy Spirit, John leapt for joy in the
presence of Jesus while both he and his Lord were in their mother’s wombs. Indeed,
Elizabeth herself was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry
concerning her cousin Mary, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the
fruit of your womb!” And, Elizabeth proclaimed the reason that Mary was
blessed, for she “believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken
to her from the Lord.”
Yes, truly
this is why the Church and all Christians venerate Mary – for her faith. The
Church does not venerate Mary because the LORD chose her to be the Mother of
His Son. The Church does not venerate Mary because she was sinless, or holy, or
in view of her faith. But, the Church venerates Mary because of her faith,
because she believed the Word of the LORD spoken through His angelic messenger saying,
“Lord, may it be to me as you have said, according to your Word.” Mary is, for
the Church, the very icon of the kind of faith we are each called to – faith
that trusts and believes and clings to the LORD and His Word and promise even
when it seems ridiculous and impossible to human reason and wisdom. Thus, Mary
is an icon of the Church as both the Mother of all Christians born again through
the womb of the baptismal font, nourished upon the sustaining milk of the Word and Sacraments,
and the Bride of Christ, having a one-flesh union with Her Bridegroom and
Savior Jesus Christ.
Mary confessed her own lowliness and humility in her song the Magnificat saying, “My soul
magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has looked
on the humble estate of His servant.” Mary viewed herself as an instrument,
even a magnifying glass, showing forth the goodness of the Lord and His Light
and grace, mercy, compassion, and forgiveness. These were not things for Mary
to give or to dispense to others, but that which she, herself, was the humble
recipient of. Further, Mary confessed her own need for a savior in Jesus
Christ, the source and cause of her unassailable faith and hope. “For behold,
from now on all generations will call me blessed; for He who is mighty has done
great things for me, and holy is His Name.” The reason all generations call
Mary blessed is because of the many things the Mighty One, the LORD, has done
for her: “His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation. He
has shown strength with His arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of
their hearts; He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted
those of humble estate; He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich
he has sent away empty.” THESE are the reasons that Mary, the Mother of God,
gives for her blessedness! She is completely meek and mild and self-effacing.
She stands in awed wonder of her awesome, loving, and merciful God. She is
everything that Eve, our Mother, failed to be. Mary is truly a symbol and type
of the Church of Jesus Christ, from whom all Christians are born again of the
Holy Spirit through the water and the Word of Holy Baptism and are nourished
and strengthened, sustained, and protected in faith through the Word and
Blessed Sacraments. Mary treasured all these things and pondered and kept them
in her heart throughout her life. So must you, her children.
“Behold, I
send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you
seek will suddenly come to His temple.” John the Baptist was this Messenger of
the LORD, and he prepared the people for the coming of Jesus by preaching
repentance unto the forgiveness of sins and by pointing them to Jesus, the
Messiah, who is God’s forgiveness in human flesh and blood, born of Mary. John
began this holy work while in his mother’s womb, pointing to the temple made
without human hands, Jesus, conceived by the Holy Spirit in the virgin womb of
Mary.
“For I the
LORD do not change,” declared the prophet, “therefore you, O children of Jacob,
are not consumed.” Thanks be to God our LORD for His faithfulness, mercy, love,
grace, compassion, and forgiveness, because of which He sent His messenger John
to preach repentance and turn hearts to Jesus that they might be forgiven their
sins. “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed
His people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His
servant David, as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old, that
we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; to
show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the
oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from
the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear in holiness and
righteousness before Him all our days.”
In His
faithfulness and mercy, the LORD has provided us a Savior, our Lord Jesus
Christ. He is both Redeemer and King and Judge. How will you receive Him?
Hearken to the Messenger of the LORD still, and be turned in repentance that
you may not be consumed. For, the LORD has favor for the meek and the mild and
for those who empty themselves of all pride and self-righteousness. Truly, they
are blessed who have nothing, for they will receive all.
In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.
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