Wednesday of Populus Zion

The Lord God is coming to his temple. The Messenger of the new covenant is returning to his people. But the prophet Malachi asks, “Who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears?” (Mal 3:3). The answer is no one. The coming of the Messenger of the covenant reminds us that we have failed to live as God would have us. We have broken our promises. No one is righteous—no not one. Not one of us can stand before God on the strength of his righteous deeds or holy living. He is pure and holy, that is to say, He is without sin, and we are not.

The first response to the coming of Christ is terror. God is coming to you, and you are not ready to receive him. At our core, we are haunted by this fear of being unprepared, so much so that it seeps even into our dreams. You are supposed to host a dinner, but your house is not clean. The day of the exam arrives, and you don’t know the material. For pastors, the dream is always stepping into the pulpit and having nothing prepared to say. But these are mere shadows of the dread that lies at the core of our being: The Messenger of the covenant returns, and we have broken our promises to him. The Judge of all comes to take his seat and we have no strength to stand before him.

“I will come near you for judgment,” says the Lord, “and I will be a swift witness against [all sinners]” (Mal 3:5). “Well, that’s it for us,” we might say, “judgment day is finally upon us.” But who is this Messenger of the covenant who comes to us? It is our Lord Christ. And what covenant does he announce? “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Mt 26:28). The old covenant was written in stone: Keep the laws of God and be blessed. Break the laws of God and be cursed. But the new covenant is written with the blood of Jesus, poured out freely for lawbreakers and sinners, that is, poured out for you.

Jesus did indeed come near to us for judgment—but not in the way we expected or deserved. He who had committed no sin, became sin in our place. He came near us, took our sin upon himself, was judged and found guilty in our place, and was condemned and executed in our place. Look to the bloody cross of Christ, and see the judgment of God upon all sin. Behold the messenger of the new covenant! Here is the heart of God the Father turned toward his children, toward you. In this moment every debt owed to God was paid, every sin was forgiven, every covenant breaker was declared righteous in the eyes of the Lord.

The new covenant is not conditional. It’s doesn’t depend on what you will do for God. It depends solely on what Jesus has already done for you. His blood shed for you and for many is the currency of this new covenant, and on this basis, God the Father has announced that you righteous. His holy wrath has been turned away from you. Your sins have been removed. Your heart has been purified. You have been declared worthy to stand before the righteous Judge, now, on the Day of Judgment, and for all eternity. The Messenger of the new covenant comes, not with a message of condemnation and terror, but one of forgiveness and joy!

Who can stand in the day of his coming? You can and you will—not according to your own works, but according to the the new covenant, signed and sealed with the blood of Jesus. Amen.