Unmasked
Press the play button to watch the video above or press 'more' to read the transcript of the daily devotion below. Please read Hosea 14: 1-9 (use your own Bible or use the link above to access the in-App Bible).
It’s nearly Christmas. And that means that the season of escapist television is upon us. Soon we will be lazing around on our sofas, sipping Baileys and watching classics such as Strictly Come Dancing, DIY SOS, and Call the Midwife. One of my own favourites is The Masked Singer in which viewers have to guess the identity of a concealed celebrity by listening to their voice. The highlight of the show is the big reveal when the mask is removed and the celeb’s identity is finally made known.
Which is pretty much what happens in this passage of St Matthew’s Gospel. There is a big reveal. And in fact it is not just one mask that is removed, but two.
The first reveal is John the Baptist, the mysterious, ascetic preacher who by this stage has been locked up in prison for prophesying against King Herod. ‘What then did you go into the wilderness to look at?’ Jesus asks the crowd. And then he draws on one of the Twelve prophets, Malachi, to answer his own question. ‘See I am sending my messenger ahead of you.’
At Chapter 3 verse 1, Malachi looks to the day when the Lord will send a messenger ‘to prepare the way before me.’ Then at the end of the Book he names this messenger as Elijah who will arrive ‘before the great and terrible Day of the Lord’ (4:5). Here Jesus declares that Malachi’s prophesy is fulfilled. John the Baptist is that messenger. And so, for those who can accept it, John is Elijah.
But as Jesus unmasks John, He also unmasks Himself. For if the messenger has come, then it stands to reason that the day of the Lord has come also. And what is that Day? It is Jesus. In Him, God Himself has come in mercy and judgement to destroy sin and fill the world with unending light.
Christmas is nearly here. But it is still not too late to heed the teaching of the Messenger John and his call to repentance. Be ready and rejoice, for in the birth of the Christ-child the Day of the Lord is here.