MALACHI’S ESCHATOLOGICAL FIGURES’ ARRIVAL MOTIF IN THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

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STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM AND HYPOTHESIS

Writers consciously or unconsciously employ literary styles in their writing; their writing styles reflect what they want to deliver. Every writer, in a sense, has specific, characteristic writing skills. Therefore, a careful investigation of literary form helps to determine the intention of a writer. The relation of the form and content of a text seems to be indispensable. For instance, though no relationship seems to exist between the Book of Malachi and the New Testament, the significant role that the Book of Malachi plays in the New Testament is overlooked frequently. In fact, many key themes in Malachi occur in New Testament.1 More specifically, Thomas L. Brodie, in his article, “A New Temple and A New Law,”2 argues that a relationship exists between Luke in the New Testament and the Chronicler’s history in the Old Testament. According to him, Luke’s emphasis and focus on the Temple and the Law is evidence that Luke rewrote the Chronicler’s history, just as the Chronicler reworked the history of Israel in the Books of Chronicles. James A. Brooks points out the following quotations from and allusions to the Book of Malachi in the Gospel of Luke as well: Mal. 1:6 in Luke 6:46; Mal. 1:11 in Luke 13:29; Mal. 3:1 in Luke 1:17; Mal. 3:12 in Luke 1:48; Mal. 4:2 in Luke 1:78 and Mal. 4:5 in Luke 9:8.3 Malachi seems to influence Luke’s writing more than any other Gospel. #OUTLINE Chapter one and two of this investigation contain the statement of the problem and hypothesis, methodology and a survey of research history.
Chapter three and four are main sections of the thesis. Chapter three will examine the passages that contain the themes of YHWH’s eschatological figures in the Book of Malachi. The historical setting will be included. The passages at issue will be exegetically and theologically examined. Chapter four will deal with Malachi’s eschatological figures in Luke. The chapter will present how the themes or motifs of Malachi’s eschatological figures contribute to the shaping of the Gospel of Luke. The study will show some theological parallels regarding the eschatological figures between the two books. Luke’s meaningful allusions to Malachi will be investigated. This chapter will corroborate that Malachi greatly influences Luke. Chapter five will examine the themes of eschatological figures in other Gospels. Chapter six will conclude the thesis.

A SURVEY OF RESEARCH HISTORY AND

THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY The relationship between the Old Testament and the New Testament is inseparable. Even though fundamental differences exist between the two Testaments, “There is much continuity in recurring concepts and ideas.”7 The two Testaments tell one story of God’s work of salvation through Christ for all his people. Quotations of, references to and allusions to the Old Testament in the New Testament indicate this continuity. Therefore, the quotations of and references to the Old Testament in the New Testament should be studied hermeneutically, but it seems that the quotations and references cause hermeneutical debate. In his book, The Uses of the Old Testament in the New, Kaiser asks, “Have the New Testament writers fairly cited the Old Testament quotations according to their real truth-intention and original writer’s meaning in their attempt to show that the Messiah and many of the events in the first century A.D. church had indeed been anticipated by the O.T. writers?”8 His question can be simply addressed: Did the New Testament writers give added meanings or different meanings to Old Testament texts? Or did they use the Old Testament texts properly? Speaking on this point, Richard N. Longenecker states, “It [the NT use of the OT] involves a number of important theological issues as to the relation of the two Testaments . . . the nature of prophecy, and the meaning of fulfillment.

THE IDENTITY (or IDENTIES)12 OF THE ESCHATOLOGICAL MESSENGERS

The Malachi’s eschatological messengers’ arrival motif can be dealt with in two ways: (1) who are the figures? And (2) what are their roles? This survey focuses on the identities of the eschatological messengers in Malachi 3 and 4. Mal. 3:1 and 4:5-6 introduce God’s messengers including Elijah. This work will deal with how Luke regards Malachi’s eschatological messengers in his Gospel. Then it will treat scholars’ understanding regarding Luke’s use of the motif. Mal. 3:1, which is the key verse for this study, invites different interpretations, and a premature conclusion about the meaning of Malachi 3 should be avoided.13 Mal. 3:1 refers to three figures other than the speaker (YHWH): “My messenger,” “the Lord,” and “the messenger of the covenant.” This verse raises a question as to whether these figures indicate three different persons, two persons or the same person. Though most scholars agree on certain basic points about the identities of the figures, they have different views.

Walter Wink (John the Baptist in the Gospel Tradition. SNTSMS 7,

Cambridge: University, 1968) In his book, John the Baptist in the Gospel Tradition, Wink discloses his understanding of how Luke views John the Baptist. He evaluates Conzelmann’s treatment of John the Baptist as well by affirming that Luke contains nothing of John’s role as Elijah II. Wink believes that Luke does not use Elijah typology. He argues that “neither John nor Jesus fulfills anything as ‘new Elijahs,’” but that “Luke uses Elijah purely as a basis for comparison.”54 Elijah I is the prophet par excellence of the Old Testament, and Jesus is compared to him.55 In Luke 4:24-27, Jesus is presented as being similar to Elijah I. Furthermore, Wink accepts P. Dabeck’s analysis parallels between Jesus and Elijah I, but he denies Elijah-Jesus typology, and he argues that Luke uses the Elijah I-Elisha narratives to illustrate Jesus’ teaching.56 Luke portrays Jesus as a greater prophet than Elijah. Whether or not Elijah-typology is used in Luke depends on the definition of “typology.” Wink does not deny that Luke 1:17 refers to Mal. 4:5-6, but he claims that this verse does not identify John with Elijah II.
According to him, Luke considers John to be a prophet like Elijah I.57 Luke refuses to identify John with Malachi’s Elijah who will restore all things, because John cannot restore all things, and at the end of history, Jesus will restore all things.58 In conclusion, Wink somewhat agrees with Conzelmann on his understanding of Luke 7:27. Though he accepts the position that Luke willingly quotes the passage in Mal. 3:1, he asserts that even Luke 7:27 must be understood in the light of Luke 1:17.59 According to him, Luke has developed “an Elijah-midrash based on the account of Elijah in the Books of Kings.” 60 Wink believes that Luke rejects the eschatological Elijah motif, because in Luke, “when John the Baptist and Jesus came, all things were not ‘restored’, the Kingdom did not come, the fathers were not turned to the sons.”61 On the contrary, Luke includes Malachi’s eschatological Elijah motif. When Jesus and John the Baptist came, the Kingdom of God already began.

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Fredrick W. Danker (Luke. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1987)

The following words expose how Danker interprets Luke’s perspective about the role of John the Baptist: “The traditional association of John with Elijah is maintained (1:17) but in such a way that John is not made a forerunner of Jesus but of ‘the Lord their God.’ He is to go before ‘Him’—this demonstrative points to the preceding reference to God, and he is to do this in the ‘spirit and power of Elijah.’”63 Similar to Conzelmann and Wink, Danker also holds the view that Luke deletes Mark’s association of John the Baptist with Malachi’s Elijah.64 Danker argues that Luke dissociates John the Baptist from Malachi’s apocalyptic Elijah-typology, but he asserts that Luke associates Jesus with Elijah I. 65 Danker, unlike Wink, contends that Jesus-Elijah I typology is found frequently in Luke. He also seems to think that Luke links Elijah II with Jesus, because Jesus restores all things (Acts 3:21).66 Unfortunately, this view fails to explain the sense of Luke 7:27 in which Luke associates John the Baptist with Malachi’s eschatological Elijah

TABLE OF CONTENTS :

SUMMARY AND ABSTRACT
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
- 1.1.STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM AND HYPOTHESIS
- 1.2.OUTLINE
CHAPTER II A SURVEY OF RESEARCH HISTORY
- 2.1. THE IDENTITY (or IDENTITIES) OF THE ESCHATOLOGICAL MESSENGERS
  - 2.1.1. Scholarship on the Number and Interrelation of the Figures in Mal. 3:
  - 2.1.2. Scholarship on the Identity (or Identities) of Malachi’s Eschatological Figures in Luke
  - 2.1.3. Scholarship on Malachi’s Eschatological Figures in the New Testament
- 2.2. THE ROLES OF THE ESCHATOLOGICAL MESSENGERS
  - 2.1.1. “Preparing the Way of the Lord” Theme in Mal. 3:
  - 2.1.2. “The Lord’s Coming to His Temple” Theme in Mal. 3:
  - 2.1.3. “The Messenger of the Covenant” Theme and“the Covenant” Theme in Mal. 3:
  - 2.1.4. “The Day of the Lord” Theme
- 2.3. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
CHAPTER III MALAHI’S ESCHATOLOGICAL FIGURES: AN EXAMINATION OF MAL. 3:1-5; 4:
- 3.1. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
- 3.2. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BOOK OF MALACHI
  - 3.2.1. Literary Characteristics
  - 3.2.2. Thematic Characteristics
- 3.3. YHWH’S MALAA’K IN THE BOOK OF MALACHI
- 3.4. AN EXEGETICAL AND THEOLOGICAL EXAMINATION OF MAL.3:
  - 3.4.1. The Older Old Testament Passages in Mal. 3:
  - 3.4.2. Examination of Mal. 3:
- 3.5. A BRIEF EXAMINATION OF MAL. 3:
- 3.6. A BRIEF THEOLOGICAL EXAMINATION OF MAL. 4:
- 3.7. CONCLUSION
CHAPTER IV MALACHI’S ESCHATOLOGICAL FIGURES’ ARRIVAL MOTIF IN THE GOSPEL OF LUKE
- 4.1. INTRODUCTION: THE PROBLEM
- 4.2. A BRIEF SURVEY OF THE USE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT N THE NEW TESTAMENT
  - 4.2.1. The Traditional Jewish Hermeneutical Approach
  - 4.2.2. Some Other Approaches
- 4.3. MALACHI’S ESCHATOLOGICAL FIGURES’ARRIVAL MOTIF IN LUKE
  - 4.3.1. Luke’s Literary Structure in the Light of Malachi’s Eschatological Figures’ Arrival Motif
- - 4.3.1.1. The Infancy Narrative (Luke 1:5-2:40)
  - 4.3.1.2. The Beginnings of the Ministries (Luke 3:1-4:44)

4.3.2. Prophetic Fulfillment
- 4.3.2.1. Typological Prophetic Fulfillment by Quotation
- 4.3.2.1.1. The Arrival of Malachi’s Eschatological
Figures in General
- 4.3.2.2. Typological Prophetic Fulfillment by Allusions
- 4.3.2.2.1. John as Malachi’s Eschatological Elijah
Literal Prophetic Fulfillment
- 4.3.2.3.1. The Lord in Mal. 3:1 vs. Jesus as the Lord in Luke
- 4.3.2.3.2. The Lord’s Arrival to His Temple in Mal.3 vs
- Jesus’ visit to the temple in Luke
- 4.3.2.3.3. The Way of the Lord in Malachi vs
- the Way of the Lord in Luke
4.3.3. Allusions Including Parallelism or Analogy
- 4.3.3.1. Thematic Parallels
  - 4.3.3.1.1. The Day of the Lord in Malachi vs the Day of the Lord in Luke
- 4.3.3.1.2. The Covenant in Malachi vs. the Covenant in Luke
4.3.3.2. Structural and Thematic Parallel
- 4.3.3.2.1. Malachi’s Oracle and John’s Preaching in Luke
4.3.3.3. Simple Allusions
4.3.3.4. Other Minor Allusions
4.4. CONCLUSION
CHAPTER V MLACHI’S ESCHATOLOGICAL FIGURES’ ARRIVAL MOTIF IN MARK, MATTHEW AND JOHN
- 5.1. MARK
  - 5.1.1. Mark’s Quotation
  - 5.1.2. Mark’s Elijah-John Identification
  - 5.1.3. The Way of the Lord in Mark
  - 5.1.4. Jesus’ Visit to the Temple
  - 5.1.5. Public Misunderstandings about John, Jesus and Elijah
  - 5.1.6. Conclusion
- 5.2. MATTHEW
  - 5.2.1. The Identity and Mission of Jesus
  - and of John the Baptist in Matt. 3:
  - 5.2.2. Matthew’s Quotation from Mal. 3:1 in 11:
  - 5.2.3. Elijah in the Transfiguration (17:1-8)
  - 5.2.4. Elijah-John Identification and Another Future Elijah (17:9-13)
  - 5.2.5. Jesus’ Visit to the Temple (21:12-17; 21:23-23:39)
  - 5.2.6. Misunderstandings about Jesus and Elijah (16:14; 27:46-47)
  - 5.2.7. Conclusion
- 5.3. JOHN
  - 5.3.1. The Identity of John the Baptist with Respect to Jesus
  - (1:6-8, 19-23; 3:26-30)
  - 5.3.2. The Identity of Jesus with Respect to John the Baptist
  - 5.3.3. Jesus’ Visit to the Temple (2:13-22)
  - 5.3.4. The Way of the Lord
  - 5.3.5. Conclusion
- 5.4. CONCLUSION
CHAPTER VI CONCLUSION
- 6.1. SOURCES OF LUKE
- 6.2. LITERARY AND THEMATIC APPROACHES TO LUKE
- 6.3. MALACHI’S ESCHATOLOGICAL FIGURES’ ARRIVAL MOTIF
  - 6.3.1. Luke’s Literary Structure
  - 6.3.2. Prophetic Fulfillment
  - 6.3.3. Allusions and Parallels
- ANNEXURE (Malachi’s Motifs in Luke)
- BIBLIOGRAPHY