Malachi
“Behold, I send My messenger, 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. Malachi 3:1
It’s hard to imagine anyone, especially a Christian, being taken by surprise when Christmas comes. Maybe the day sneaks up on you a little faster than you want, but you look forward to it far in advance, and advertisements will remind you of its coming sometime prior to Halloween. Of course, we sadly know that so many are not really prepared for Christmas. So many are not ready to meet the Lord, the Messenger of God’s covenant of grace.
The same was true at the first Christmas. God would send John the Baptist to prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah through the preaching of repentance and remission of sins. The majority of God’s people had fallen asleep and were not watching for the coming of the Day of the Lord. Everyone was surprised when the Savior finally came. Only by the grace of God did a handful of people have hearts ready to receive their King. Two of these were Simeon and Anna, who fulfilled part of Malachi’s prophecy by seeking the Lord in His temple through devout and sincere worship. They delighted to hold the baby Messenger of the covenant in their arms.
The second coming of Jesus will surprise everyone, too. Our Savior pleads with us here to stay spiritually awake until He comes again, though the wait may be long (it’s already far longer than the four hundred years between Malachi and the first Christmas). We know it will be sudden, but that’s no excuse for being unready. We have the same message that prepares our hearts for His coming. Prepare your heart. Seek Him. Delight in Him. Behold, He is coming!
Come, Desire of nations, come. Fix in us Your humble home. Amen.