And he will prepare the way before Me.
And the Lord, whom you seek,
Will suddenly come to His temple,
Even the Messenger of the covenant,
In whom you delight.
Behold, He is coming,”
Says the LORD of hosts. (NKJV)
This verse got me extremely excited because I never knew Malachi had prophesied the coming of both John the Baptist and Jesus Christ.
I was overjoyed to read this verse because this was written 400 years before Christ, and it was fulfilled.
The title of "My Messenger" deserves special notice because there were so many people stamped with this mark - Malachi, the one who wrote the book, John the Baptist, the one who would prepare the way for the Lord, and finally Jesus Christ, the one who would bring the covenant of God.
John the Baptist would be the messenger who will pave the way for the Lord. From reading Mark 1:1-5, John's arrival fulfils both Malachi 3:1 as well as Isaiah 40:3. John came baptising in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. And he also preached that there would come One after him, who would be mightier than him, and One who would baptise with the Holy Spirit - foretelling the arrival of Christ.
Isaiah 40:3-5 (NKJV)
3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“ Prepare the way of the LORD;
Make straight in the desert[a]
A highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be exalted
And every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough places smooth;
5 The glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
And all flesh shall see it together;
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
Jesus Christ would be the one bringing the covenant of God, one that would be confirmed and sealed in not only his preaching, but also his blood and his crucifixion and thereafter his resurrection.
Christ himself declared that He was the fulfillment of scripture about the coming Messiah in Luke 4:17-21, when he returned to his hometown of Nazareth.
Luke 4:17-21 (NKJV)
17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
18 “ The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,[a]
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.”[b]
20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
The scripture that Christ was citing in the above verses was Isaiah 61:1.
What a beautiful description of the ministry of Christ:
- To preach good tidings to the poor (telling them of the good news of an abundant eternal kingdom that is theirs to possess);
- To heal the brokenhearted (promising them the Lamb who will shepherd them and guide them to living waters and wipe away every tear from their eyes);
- To proclaim liberty to the captives (washing away all their sins by His blood and setting them free from the power of sin and the wages of sin in death and from all condemnation);
- To proclaim recovery of sight to the blind (bringing them from darkness into His marvellous light);
- To set at liberty those who are oppressed (freeing them from the bondages of spiritual entrapment and sin); and
- To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord (heralding the day of vengeance of the Lord, His second coming which will result in judgment).
What a wonderful hope we have in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by repenting of our sins and turning to Him!
References:
1. Matthew Henry's Commentary of the Bible
2. John Calvin's Commentary of the Bible
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