NOTES for Mal 4:2-6

The prophet Malachi says that Elijah will come to turn the hearts of children to their fathers and the hearts of fathers to their children. And for some reason Elijah must come for this... After all, it would seem that what could be more natural than love between children and parents? Yet each of us, if not in our own family, then in the families of friends, has surely encountered the fact that loving the closest and dearest people is hardest of all. It is in the family that the most cruel wounds are inflicted, because the closest person causes far more pain than a stranger. And the Lord wants to heal these relationships. One must prepare for the day of the Lord, and reconciliation in the family is one of the chief works He expects from us.

What do the prophet's words mean about Elijah, whom God will send to His people before the coming of the day of Yahweh, the "day of the Lord"? One could, of course, understand his words literally, as many did. Indeed, in the Books of Kings there is a mention that Elijah did not die, but was taken alive into heaven. Of course, the actual ascent of the prophet is described with no details: it says only that he went out to meet the chariot of Yahweh, which had descended from heaven, and disappeared from sight. He was seen no more, and from this it was concluded that Elijah had been taken into heaven alive. But is this what Malachi means? Elijah is remarkable not only because of the legend of being taken alive into heaven, but also because of his fiery denunciation of apostasy and other sins, both of the authorities and of the people.

He is an uncompromising and ruthless fighter for the purity of Yahwism. And while God was more likely to tolerate Elijah's ruthlessness, his uncompromising character was certainly pleasing to Him. This is not surprising: behind his uncompromising stance, sometimes manifested in a militant and irreconcilable form, stood the spiritual wholeness without which one cannot speak either of full spiritual life or of the path into the Kingdom. Of course, Elijah was not the only prophet who had such uncompromising character. And the prophet's words need not be understood as a prophecy about the return in the last days of Elijah himself.

Jesus does not accidentally point to John the Baptist as the Elijah whom the people were so awaiting in Gospel times, wanting to see an unquestionable sign of the Messiah's imminent coming. The issue was witness, which, like Elijah's witness in its time, was acceptable only to those who were ready to walk the spiritual path without looking back or to the sides. The Savior does not accidentally speak of John as a prophet who came, in His own words, "in the spirit and power of Elijah."

The issue, of course, is not outward resemblance and not physical strength. The issue is the breath, the "spirit," and the power of God, which allow a person to acquire the inner strength and wholeness so characteristic of both Elijah and John. The uncompromising character of both was only the consequence of this spiritual wholeness. For Elijah it helped him hear God through that "transparent silence" whose experience he lived through on Sinai; for John it helped him feel the breath of the Kingdom ready to enter the world and recognize the One who brought the Kingdom into the world. And it made both of them faithful witnesses: of God, of the Messiah, and of the Kingdom.

All the world systems of criminal and private laws are built, generally on the Old Testament. If it is not “eye for eye”, then in the spirit of the Law it is the immediate punishment without reprieve for the crime. The arguments of the defenders of the death penalty are based on this principle of reward while alive, if the conversation arrives to arguments. But with the prophet Malachi, we encounter completely with another Old Testament. This is the Testament of a total delegation to God of the power to render justice, execute or have mercy. This justice of mercy, which in another place is expressed by the words "Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense". It is not a shout "step aside a bit; I will walk here to execute". It is completely the opposite: " stop judging, live with mercy and truth, and I shall take care of the justice Myself".

The relevance and urgency of the story told by the prophet are hard to dispute. We ask ourselves the question "how can this be?" far too often, because life gives us countless opportunities for it. The world looks unjust; it lives by laws that seem not to require faith in God, humility before Him, or trust in His will. The question "what is all this for, if in any case the one who does not submit himself to God's laws is better off?" is sometimes very hard to answer even for oneself, and it is practically impossible to say anything to someone who, on the basis of that question, presents God with a bill.

And nevertheless, this is the simplest way to see the difference between the human and the divine, to see the difference in height between the human person and God. Yes, the one who does not bind himself by love for God may be better situated. But all the same one must make a choice: whether this security is worth life with God. We have the right to refuse every day, but do we need such a life? We want visible signs of God's presence in life, yet for some reason we try to measure grace in monetary terms, in career terms, in outward terms. To this He answers us that acquisition is fitting only in relation to the Kingdom of God (Matt. 6:33), which has no price.