Another episode selected from the series “Gospel Red Herring: Spiritualizing the Text”.
Jesus is discussing His cousin, John the Baptist, and quotes Malachi 3:1. There’s not much controversy here over what that means. Malachi has been hammering the Jewish leadership for straying from the intent of the Law of Moses. They did so while talking endlessly about the Messiah coming to set things aright, and restoring their importance in the world as in the days of King David. So Malachi begins chapter 3 by quoting God, with a warning there would be a messenger who would prepare the way. Jesus said that was the reference to John the Baptist.
That being the case, Jesus obviously refers to Himself as the Messiah for whom the Messenger came to prepare the path. John called for repentance. Jesus preached the same message: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” In the minds of most people, that meant the long sought restoration of the House of David. Jesus fulfilled that little part about being of the House of David, but He offered none of the earthly political changes the Jews were seeking since before Malachi. Thus, Malachi mentions the ultimate and final Messenger of the Covenant, the Messiah, whom they were so longing to see. Jesus was saying that was Himself.
Then Malachi goes on to warn the Jews they were not ready for Him, so it was rather odd they should claim to desire it. But He would purify the nation, as it were, and how painful it would be! Jesus did make things painful, in that He pointed out how utterly mistaken the Jewish leaders were about the Law. His teaching was a correction of their false, Hellenized and literalist interpretation, and the heretical Talmudic extensions. As they missed the point in Malachi’s day, so they were far worse in Jesus’ day. Malachi notes that if they were to embrace the teaching of this Messenger of the Covenant, they would be able to offer sacrifices God would accept. Was it God who moved away from the ancient covenant? No, it was the Jews.
But somehow, most evangelicals want to jump from John the Baptist directly to Jesus in His Second Coming. That does violence to Malachi’s message. There is nothing in Malachi’s words to justify that, nor in the words of Jesus as He explained that the passage was all about the Jewish nation of His day. When Jesus taught the Law, it was the Law as God had given it. That’s not part of some eventual Second Coming, but it was His ministry during those three years on earth back around 30 AD. Does anybody want the blessings of the Covenant? They are available only in Jesus Christ, in particular His teaching of the Law — love God and respect your neighbor. Do that and you’ll have, as Malachi promised in his eleventh verse, God rebuking whatever on earth devours the provisions and blessings He promised so very long ago. Indeed, Jesus would have called to mind the whole passage from Malachi 3 and 4. It prophesied what He did that very day.
Evangelicals exert all their efforts in denying the moral necessity behind the Law Covenants. That’s in part because it demands far more work than simply basking in their current cultural mythology. The Law of God makes severe demands on us to completely move outside our Western culture. Pushing all this into the Second Coming excuses them from the real work of the gospel message. Doesn’t it look like the evangelicals are spiritualizing the text here?
