Malachi 4:1-6 – December 23, 2020
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the LORD of hosts. “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. 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.”
I know it’s often hard to imagine when a plan is executed flawlessly. I mean when is the last time you put together a complex plan that didn’t have any snags, pivots, or punts. Often, it’s plan a and if that doesn’t work, plan b, and if that doesn’t plan c. But imagine flawlessly executing plan A, and being so sure it will work that you don’t even make a plan b or c.
Today we’re going to read about one of the plans God put in place in order for Jesus to come to earth. So if you haven’t read Malachi 4:1-6, go ahead and do that now.
The book of Malachi was written after the people of Israel had returned from exile. They had hoped to rebuild Israel into the kingdom God desired but quickly became corrupt and sinful and failed to follow God the way he was to be followed. And so God used Malachi to show them their error, the expose their broken hearts, and to tell them how it would be fixed. And then silence. 400 years of God not speaking through prophets, priests, and kings.
But if you paid attention to the reading, you would know that the Messiah, the “sun of righteousness” will come after the next prophet Elijah comes.
So when we meet John the Baptist in Matthew 3, Mark 1, Luke 1, and John 1, our minds should be reminded of this promise in Malachi 6.
God’s plan was carefully enacted so that you and I can have assurance that Jesus was who he says he was. And if Jesus was who he claimed to be, that means you and I have the ability to hear from God again.
Just like the 1st century world, our world is clouded in darkness. We look out and see pain, suffering, injustice, and corruption and think, why would God allow something like this? But the truth is that God is working his plan for the redemption of his people through the person of Jesus. Sure, he could come as a mighty warrior, eradicating sin and injustice, but that lacks mercy. Instead, he comes as a tiny child, the king of shepherds, the humble servant, who will one day, 33 years from his birth, bring healing through outstretched arms.