The unique character of righteousness in this text is that it will bring about “healing” for all the wounds inflicted by the unrighteous and the world.
The key word in this pericope is righteousness. On the Day of the Lord, righteousness will be as clear as the sun shining in all its brilliance. Righteousness will be so evident that no place will be untouched by its light and truth. “The same idea is found in Psalm 37:6: “He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.” In Isaiah 58:8 we read: “Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.”[1]
The unique character of righteousness in this text is that it will bring about “healing” for all the wounds inflicted by the unrighteous and the world. This connection between “righteousness” and “healing” in Malachi will lead us toward the Gospel in this text. The healing will come by the Messiah whose healing as the vicarious suffering Servant of the Lord is the salvation God has in mind in our text.[2]
Before we get to the gospel handle for preaching this text, we would do well to take note that the appointed Gospel Lesson (Luke 21:5-36) speaks of the Day of the Lord just like our Malachi reading. Taken as a pair, it serves well to show the telescoping function of the prophets and the eschatological discourses of Jesus in the Gospels. Telescoping is when the word of the prophet is true when spoken but also true at some later point in time while also being a word spoken of Jesus and finally a word about the end of all things.
The Day of the Lord was realized eschatology for God’s people in the Old Testament, but it was also something Jesus would bring about in His earthly ministry, atoning death, and glorious resurrection. However, it was also something about the end of all time. Rather than give longform content to fill in how this is the case in Luke 21, suffice it to say that the Temple will not be able to give anything to people and the community will reject those whom Christ came to save, and He will come and make all things gloriously new and restored.
Now, how does that impending judgement connect to Malachi’s focus on righteousness? The judgement is righteous because God delivers His people from their persecutors and even from a world broken by sin through Jesus Christ. There is certainly no cause to “be terrified” (verse 9), because “not one hair of your head will perish” (verse 18). This leads to a middle of the line telescoping (Jesus’ coming as the Day of the Lord) example of the Day of the Lord which will bridge Malachi with the eschaton spoken of by Jesus in Luke 21.
The judgement is righteous because God delivers His people from their persecutors and even from a world broken by sin through Jesus Christ.
Through a turn of phrase, we get to Jesus as the center of our proclamation. The connecting idea is specifically from verse 2: “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.” So, with a little pun on sun/son we have a gospel handle. The Son of Righteousness (Jesus Christ) comes with healing in His wings.
Of course, we know Jesus is not a bird so how do we get there from here. There is an interesting explanation offered by C. van Gelderen in his commentary on Hosea 4:19. According to him, the figurative meaning of “wings” is not derived from birds but from a common practice among the Jews.[3] A person’s “wing” was also the fold in his garment (also refer to Numbers 15:38; 1 Samuel 15:27; 24:5, 6, 12; Jeremiah 2:34; Ezekiel 5:3; Hosea 4:19; Haggai 2:12; Zecheriah 8:23). “According to this interpretation, the shining sun of righteousness has a precious gift in the fold of his garment, namely, healing in the all-inclusive sense of the word.”[4] When you look at the word in Malachi for “wing,” כָּנָף it was a word whose semantic range included the idea of something being “in the lap of a Rabbi’s garment. More specifically the edge or wing of his prayer shawl.”[5] If you take that together with the context of Malachi, namely Malachi 3:6–15 which talks about robbing God, you have a very interesting connection into the story of Jesus and two miracles he performed in Capernaum.
These miracles are recorded in Mark 5:25–34, Matthew 9:20–22, and Luke 8:43–48. We will read these as a diatessaron or a harmony for the purpose of preaching. As Jesus is on his way to heal Jairus’ daughter, who is twelve years old, He is met by an anonymous and unclean woman who has suffered under physicians for twelve years and spent all her living in search for a healing (Luke 8:43). She desires to remain anonymous because of her unclean status and fear. She comes up behind Him, desiring to “touch the fringe of His garment” (Luke 8:44). She was bold because she “was not getting better but, rather, she was getting worse” (Mark 5:26). She said to herself, “If I touch even His garments, I will be made well” (Mark 5:28). She likely thought this because it was as clear to her as the sun shining in the sky that Jesus was Righteous and had healing power (Malachi 4:2; Mark 5:27). At best, she had faith in Jesus as the eschatological Messiah bringing in the Day of the Lord. At worst, she had faith enough to believe she could rob Jesus and get away with it!
In Mark 5:30, Jesus had perceived in Himself that power had gone out from Him. This is not because Jesus was a copper top and needed to recharge. It was because He was actually being robbed. She put her hand to the wing of His tallit and was trying to steal away with a miracle. Do you hear an echo of Malachi 3:8? “Will a person rob God?” She was robbing Jesus! She crept up behind Jesus to touch the κράσπεδον, the fringe, the edge, the wing, the tassel of His garment which is the word the Septuagint (LXX) uses in the Old Testament, that commands the Israelites to place “tassels” on the hems of their garments to remind them of God’s commands (צִיצִית Numbers 15:38–39; גְּדִלִים Deuteronomy 22:12). So, this was not just a command to wear a certain type of clothing. There is a twofold meaning here. This is the same Greek word also used in the LXX of Zecheriah 8:23 (for כָּנָף).[6] This miracle is a fulfillment of Zechariah 8:20-23. The miracle prophecy it fulfilled speaks of outsiders grasping the tassels of a Jew to entreat the favor of YHWH and learn about the true God in the process. She came believing that Zechariah 8:23 was true and it is as if she only had this little word from Malachi 4:2 tucked away in her heart. It was a belief that the scriptures were true.
But she would soon learn what kind of Messiah God had sent. She would not get away with this robbery, but Jesus was not going to keep her locked away in fear and shame. He immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched My garments?” And His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing around You, and yet You say, ‘Who touched Me?’” And He looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, and fell before Him and told Him the whole truth. This was her judgement day.
But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, and fell before Him and told Him the whole truth. This was her judgement day.
Now, Jesus appears to be lining up with her persecutors. Her entire world was crashing down around her. But listen to what He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your disease” (Mark 5:30–34). Jesus points her out so she might come back from the isolation of her status as unclean, and Jesus gives her back alive, whole and well again to the community she was persecuted by and cut off from. He heals her and gives her back her life with the people of God. They witness it and are amazed.
But there was also another miracle ahead, linked by the number twelve (Jairus’ daughters age and the number of years the woman suffered). Jesus would go on to raise Jairus’s daughter from the dead. He takes the hand of the young girl and, by His word of command to “arise” (Luke 8:54), He gives her back her life. “Arise” is the same Greek verb used for Jesus’ own resurrection. In this gospel account both people come into physical contact with Jesus and are saved.
The whole episode is the ministry and mission of Jesus in a microcosm. He heals and creates community. He takes the marginalized and brings them back into the heart of God. This happens all while He plans to go, die, and rise again so all those who have faith might have eternal life in Him. Jesus really is the center of the prophetic scriptures. He made a bridge between Malachi’s Day of the Lord and the End Times discourse of Jesus in Luke 21. These women serve as a perfect example of what both readings were talking about. What an amazing connection between this great Old Testament text and a real-life fulfillment in Jesus. The preacher can use the promise in Malachi to show a direct fulfillment in Jesus that points forward to what He planned to accomplish by His own death and resurrection for us which we will see realized on the last day.
Perhaps, the best structure for preaching this group of texts would be the Epic Structure (see link below).[7]
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Additional Resources:
Craft of Preaching-Check out out 1517’s resources on Malachi 4:1-6.
Concordia Theology-Various helps from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO to assist you in preaching Malachi 4:1-6.
Lectionary Kick-Start-Check out this fantastic podcast from Craft of Preaching authors Peter Nafzger and David Schmitt as they dig into the texts for this Sunday!
The Pastor’s Workshop-Check out all the great preaching resources from our friends at the Pastor’s Workshop!
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[1] Verhoef, Pieter A. The Books of Haggai and Malachi, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1987. 328.
[2] Verhoef, The Books of Haggai and Malachi. 330.
[3] van Gelderen, C. Het Boek Hosea. Commentary on the Old Testament. Kampen: Kok, 1953.
[4] Verhoef. The Books of Haggai and Malachi. 331.
[5] Jastrow, Marcus. A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature and II. London; New York: Luzac & Co.; G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1903. 651. Targum on 1 Kings 6:24; Zech. 8:23; Mets, B. 85a בכַנְפֵיה דרבו. LXX Septuagint Old Testament
[6] Just, Arthur A. Jr. Luke 1:1–9:50, Concordia Commentary Series. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 1996. 369.
[7] https://concordiatheology.org/sermon-structs/dynamic/narrative-structures/epic-form/
