Luke 1:17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children… whom John closely resembled in — 1. The endowments of his mind. 2. The habits of his life. 3. The exercise of his ministry. (C. Simeon.)How, and in what sense, was Malachi's prediction of the Messenger fulfilled in John the Baptist? To this question the New Testament furnishes a singularly full and abundant reply. It really seems as though, not only the mind of the Baptist, but also the minds of all who speak of him, were steeped in the prophecy of Malachi, and saturated with it. There is hardly a word said of or by him which does not take new meaning and force so soon as we read it in the light of Malachi's lamp. In St. Matthew's Gospel (chap. Matthew 3.), we have our fullest account of the Baptist's appearance and ministry. We are there told that his first word, his master-word, was "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand"; that is, "Take a new view; get a new mind; think; think back on your habits and ways, and mend them; for the King, long promised to your fathers, is about to appear." This was the very mission which Malachi ascribed to the messenger of the Lord. John's peculiar mode of life, as described in the same chapter, tends to the same conclusion (Matthew 3:4). Doubtless John assumed these outward marks of resemblance to the great Tishbite, in order to call attention to the inward resemblance between them as a sign that he had come "in the spirit and power of Elijah." The same reason for a sad and austere life existed in both cases. The "preacher of repentance" should himself be a penitent. Elijah and John, each in his turn, came forth as a personification of repentance, showing the people, in his own conduct, what their conduct should be. Both these austere voices from the wilderness called men to repent, both sought to "turn the hearts of men back again" to God. (Samuel Cox, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. |
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