Year 2, Week 29, Day 1 Bible Reading Observations

Year 2, Week 29, Day 1

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of Malachi 4; Luke 1.

Today’s reading concludes the Book of Malachi and completes our reading of the Old Testament. Malachi 4 speaks of a dreadful day of judgment to come, but points to Elijah coming beforehand: “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” (Malachi 4:5-6). The coming of Elijah, whom the Gospels say is John the Baptist (see Luke 1:17), would serve to turn hearts back to a posture of faithfulness to the LORD. Today’s reading also starts the Book of Luke and begins our reading of the New Testament. Luke’s Gospel account is a carefully researched, historically accurate, letter to a man named Theophilus in order to document the early life, adult ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ: “Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses…it seemed good to me…to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught” (Luke 1:1-4). Of the four Gospels, Luke’s account is the longest in terms of actual word count. Coupled with the fact that the Gospel of Luke is written to be joined to the Book of Acts, (which is the second longest word count in the New Testament), and the Books of Luke/Acts comprise over a fourth of the New Testament. Only Luke’s and Matthew’s Gospel accounts provide us the historical details of Christ’s birth: “In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin…And the virgin’s name was Mary…“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus” (Luke 1:26-31).

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading was the clear connection between Jesus and the focused anticipation long announced in the Old Testament: “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:23-33). Gabriel’s announcement to Mary, not only explained how she would come to be with child, but also who this child would be. Gabriel highlights the significance of Jesus. John the Baptist would be, “will be great before the Lord” (Luke 1:15), but Jesus would be greater, “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:32a). John the Baptist would prepare the way for the Lord, but Jesus is the Son of God, for “Most High” means that he comes from heaven: “Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High” (Genesis 14:18-20). Jesus is being described as God. The Old Testament had anticipated that the One who was to come would be God: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

Mary’s son, the Son of the Most High, would sit on David’s throne: “And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David” (Luke 1:32b). Jesus, who is God, but also sent by God, would be the Davidic king, the One who would fulfill the promise of a descendant of David who would rule forever: “He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son…And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever” (2 Samuel 7:13-14,16). Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist saw the Davidic fulfillment as well: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David” (Luke 1:69). As the Old Testament Scriptures made clear, the arrival of Jesus means the arrival of a King, who would reign forever: “the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion from this time forth and forevermore” (Micah 4:7b); but also a King whose reign would have no limits: "And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:14).

Mary’s son, the Son of the Most High, would also fulfill the promises to Abraham as Mary exclaims in her song of praise: “He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever” (Luke 1:54-55). All that God promised to Abraham (see Genesis 12:1-3), was beginning to come to fruition in Jesus Christ: “He remembers his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations, the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac, which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant” (Psalm 105:8-10). Once again, Zechariah acknowledges this connection to Abraham as he prophecies after John the Baptist was born: “to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies” (Luke 1:72-74). Luke orients us to Jesus by linking Him to the Old Testament Scriptures. Jesus, the Most High God, is also the offspring of Abraham, as well as the son of David—the One who fulfills all of God’s promises.

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe