Malachi 3:1-7b; Malachi 4:1-6
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
The name Malachi is derived from the Hebrew word mal’âḵ, which means herald, messenger, or angel. Following their return from exile in Babylon, the rebuilding of Jerusalem and her walls and the temple of the LORD, still there remained sinful corruption among the children of the LORD, particularly among the priesthood who had become lax in their service and sacrifices and degenerate in their lifestyle, divorcing their first partners and marrying pagan wives. Additionally, the people failed to pay their sacred tithes to the LORD causing the Levites to suffer for want and need. Because of this, the LORD sent Malachi to herald a message of both Law and Gospel. The Law proclaimed that Israel and Judah would face sorrow and suffering the result of their sinful rebellion, idolatry, and apostasy. The Gospel, however, proclaimed that the LORD still loved His children and that He would use their sorrow and suffering to discipline them and to make them pure and holy before Him, and that He would send them a Savior, the Messiah, who would accomplish this for them.
“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me.” While the Hebrew word for messenger is the same as for the name Malachi, the prophet is not the referent here. The messenger Malachi was sent to proclaim was not himself, but one who would prepare the way for the coming of the LORD. For the LORD God of Israel and Judah and of the Gentiles was coming in the flesh to visit His people, and as servants would prepare the road the king would travel upon, filling in the potholes and leveling the rough and high places before him so that his chariot could ride free and smooth, so would this messenger prepare the hearts of the people to receive their LORD. The messenger would do this by preaching repentance for the forgiveness of sins, a turning away from sin and a return to the LORD, His Word, and Commandments. The preaching of the Law must crush and level our mountains of pride and self-righteousness, while the preaching of the Gospel must fill in the valleys and pits of hopelessness and despair that sin and guilt has driven us into.
That messenger would be John the Baptist. The LORD compared John the Baptist to the great prophet Elijah: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.” Indeed, there were many similarities between John and Elijah: Both men preached a message of repentance and warned of coming destruction. Both men dressed in camel’s hair and lived in the wilderness. Both men spoke powerfully against kings and had powerful enemies. They were both the LORD’s messengers preparing the way for His coming. They were tasked with the vocation of preaching the Law so that men should repent before the LORD’s coming and so meet Him in faith to their great blessing rather than meet Him in sin and unbelief to their destruction. Repentance is marked by a changing of the heart towards God and towards our fellow men: “And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”
The prophecy of the messenger, of Elijah, is a Messianic prophecy accepted and believed by Christians and Jews alike. Indeed, to this very day observant Jews leave an empty chair at their seder tables for Elijah, hoping for the coming of the Messiah “next year in Jerusalem.” The faithful remnant in John’s and Jesus’ day were still watching and waiting for the coming of Elijah. They even asked John himself, “Are you Elijah?” John denied it saying, “I am not.” Nonetheless, Jesus said of John, “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.” “For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
John’s message was clear and simple, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” After John’s death, Jesus took up that exact same message. John was not the Messiah, but he was the messenger sent to prepare His way. John was not Elijah the prophet, for Elijah had been taken up to heaven in a whirlwind and later appeared with Jesus and Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration before Jesus’ Passion. John was not literally Elijah, but he came in the spirit and the power of Elijah and he proclaimed the same message, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is near.”
Whether the Scripture calls it the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven, they both refer to the same thing, to the same person, to Jesus the Christ who is God as a man come to visit His people. Jesus is the promised Messiah whose way John the Baptist prepared. John and Jesus together are the fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy. Jesus is the LORD who was sought by the faithful who came suddenly to His temple. That is precisely what Simeon and Anna confessed when Mary and Joseph presented the infant Jesus in the temple in Jerusalem. Simeon confessed, “my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” Likewise, Anna “began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.” Those who receive Him in faith will be filled with joy; they will go out leaping like calves from the stall. But those who remain arrogant and evil will be set ablaze and become like stubble and ashes under their feet.
Law and Gospel: O Lord, how shall I meet you? The LORD has sent His messengers to prepare your hearts to receive Him in faith. Whether it is Elijah, or John, or Paul, or your pastor, the message remains the same: “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” The kingdom of God is at hand in the person of Jesus, the Word of God made flesh and dwelling among us. We meet Him in faith when we hearken to His Word and live our lives according to it. We meet Him in faith when we repent of our sins and receive His absolution. We meet Him in faith when we eat and drink His body and blood in His Supper and commune with Him, a foretaste of the communion we will enjoy with Him forever in heaven.
“But, who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?” The answer to that question is that no one can endure that day, “For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fuller’s soap.” When the Messiah comes He will purify His people of their sins and make them holy before the LORD, imputing to them His own righteousness. He will make the offering of His people pleasing to the LORD once again. This is what the LORD has done for His people in Jesus Christ. The day of His coming was first most His incarnation, when Gabriel announced to Mary that she would conceive and bear a son who would be the Son of God. Then the Word of God became flesh and made His dwelling amongst us. However, the day of His coming was also the day that Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan. Then heaven was opened to Him as the Father proclaimed Jesus to be His only-begotten Son with whom He is fully pleased, and the Holy Spirit fell upon Him and remained with Him. And the day of His coming was also the day of Jesus’ death upon the cross. There the Son of God bore the full weight of His Father’s wrath against our sin so that it was no more for those who believe and are baptized into Jesus Christ.
Still, Christ is coming again, and still we must be prepared for His coming. Even as we remember His first advent as the Babe of Bethlehem, which we celebrate at Christmas, we are preparing for his second advent when He will come as King and Judge on the Last Day. We prepare for that day still by hearing and remaining in His Word, by receiving His gifts, and by loving and serving all with the gifts He has given us. This preparation happens daily, weekly, and annually until He comes that we might be prepared for our redemption and go out to meet Him when He comes in glory like calves leaping from their stalls. Behold!
In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment