A Life in Exile

The voice of the Lord is about to go silent. There will be no prophets, angels, or miracles for over four hundred years. Judea will be under foreign rule, first by the Greeks, then Egyptians, and finally the Syrians, before Pompey takes Jerusalem for the Roman Empire in 63 B.C. Where is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Where is the Promised Messiah?

Our final post in this year of lessons from the Old Testament in the New is found in the book of Malachi. Though the days would be silent, a messenger was coming, and Malachi made it clear the type of messenger he would be.

“See, I am going to send my messenger, and he will clear the way before me. Then the Lord you seek will suddenly come to his temple, the Messenger of the covenant you delight in—see, he is coming,” says the Lord of Armies. But who can endure the day of his coming? And who will be able to stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire and like launderer’s bleach. He will be like a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. (Malachi 3:1-3 CSB)

Distinguishing between the righteous and the wicked.

The prophecy of Malachi was all about the judgment to come upon the wicked. It was time for Judah to choose. Would they give allegiance to the God of Creation or continue to follow the idols of the nations around them? They would have four hundred years to change their ways, and then a man would come with one final call to repentance. Why? Because he was preparing the way for the Lord’s Anointed.

Mark begins his gospel with reference to these haunting words from Malachi. He got it, and he knew who that messenger was.

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way. A voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord; make his paths straight!

John came baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. John wore a camel-hair garment with a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.

He proclaimed, “One who is more powerful than I am is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the strap of his sandals. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1:1-8)

Mark, in his simplistic, easy-to-understand manner, began his account by tying a string of connection to the final prophecy in the Hebrew Scripture. That messenger the Lord said he would send has come, and his name was John. What was his message? The same as that of the prophet Malachi: Repent and turn to the Lord.

John came to prepare the hearts of the people for the person and message of the Messiah. He made it clear to the readers that John was the fulfillment of the prophecy of the final Old Testament prophet. John would serve as the final prophet before the Messiah’s entrance into his earthly ministry. It was time for the people to listen.

Jesus acknowledges the role John played in God’s great plan.

This prophecy is also mentioned in the gospels of Matthew and Luke, but not in the same way. It’s later, as Jesus is fully into his ministry of proclaiming the Kingdom and healing. Many are beginning to follow him, so the crowds are growing. During this, John the Baptist heads out to confront King Herod for taking his brother’s wife. It might seem that he’s gone off message, but not really. John was about calling the Jews to repentance, and he did not differentiate between rich or poor, powerful or lowly.

Herod was not pleased, however, and threw him into jail, where he kept him for some time. Those who had been following John’s ministry had stayed close to him. John may have wondered what was keeping Jesus from bringing in his Kingdom, or he may have wanted to encourage his own disciples to focus on the One he came to proclaim; but, in either case, he sent his followers to Jesus to ask if he was truly the one to come. Jesus told them to go back and tell John what they had seen and heard.

“The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news, and blessed is the one who isn’t offended by me.” (Luke 7:22b-23)

When they headed back to John, Jesus then turned to the crowds and spoke about his cousin, John.

“What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothes? See, those who are splendidly dressed and live in luxury are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written:

See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way before you.

I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John, but the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” (Luke 7:24b-28)

Jesus himself puts a knot in that string from Malachi’s prophecy four centuries earlier. John the Baptist is that messenger who prepared the way. He is a great man in God’s Kingdom, and yet, the least in God’s Kingdom is just as great when we take up the mantel to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

God’s way of righteousness.

John had a very specific role to point people to God’s way of righteousness—a righteousness made clear by the Law and the Prophets. The people had forgotten and neglected God’s Word; they had turned to crooked paths. John was helping them to repent and return to the straight path of the Lord. This would be the path on which the Messiah would come and make all things new.

This message has been accepted and rejected over the centuries. In fact, at the moment when Jesus first spoke of how John was a fulfillment of the prophecy, there was a reaction in the crowd. Luke gives it within a parenthetical commentary.

(And when all the people, including the tax collectors, heard this, they acknowledged God’s way of righteousness, because they had been baptized with John’s baptism. But since the Pharisees and experts in the law had not been baptized by him, they rejected the plan of God for themselves.) (Luke 7:29-30)

Which side are you on? Have you acknowledged God’s way of righteousness, made available through faith in Christ Jesus or have you rejected the plan of God for yourself? This is the ultimate lesson of the Old Testament in the New Testament—Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father, no one comes to have new life without him. Choose God’s way and be made righteous in him.

Grace and Peace

If you missed the last Learning from the Past post, click HERE, or start the series from the BEGINNING.