Malachi-Healing Will Come!
Many people of Judah had witnessed or heard of the message of John the Baptizer to repent and wait for the Messiah. Now there was Jesus. John needed to know or perhaps knowing needed to ask publicly of Jesus, “Are you the Messiah?” Jesus answer to John’s messengers was, “tell John what you see. I have healed the blind, the deaf, the lepers, raised the dead and preached the good news.” With that answer, the messengers returned to John.
Jesus then began to speak to the people concerning John the Baptist explaining that John is the Elijah who is to come and the messenger foretelling the arrival of the Messiah. In doing so Jesus identifies himself as the promised Messiah, the one prophesied in the last messianic prophecy of the Old Testament, given in Malachi 4:2a “But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.” Malachi by inspiration paints the word-picture of the Sun of Righteousness rising with healing in its wings. Called by the sorcerer Balaam as the Star out of Jacob, by Isaiah a Great Light and the Light of the Gentiles, Malachi presents Jesus as the Sun, the Great Light to rule, to heal, to be the new covenant. As the sun gives energy and life to the earth, so Jesus heals our wounds, gives us sight, cures our deafness and restores our souls. He sun has risen, healing has come.
Question of the week: When did Malachi live and prophesy?
Answer: Biblical scholars generally date Malachi’s ministry to the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, around 430 B.C. Tradition suggests that Malachi ministered during the period that Nehemiah returned to Babylon before returning again for a second `
