Matthew 3: Jesus is anointed by the Holy Spirit

 Saul and David were anointed by oil when the Samuel laid his hands on them; thus they were Messiah, "anointed". The point is that the Holy Spirit was with Saul when he was anointed and so with David.
Jesus is our Messiah, but how was he anointed?
We read:

13-14 Jesus then appeared, arriving at the Jordan River from Galilee. He wanted John to baptize him. John objected, “I’m the one who needs to be baptized, not you!”
15 But Jesus insisted. “Do it. God’s work, putting things right all these centuries, is coming together right now in this baptism.” So John did it.
16-17 The moment Jesus came up out of the baptismal waters, the skies opened up and he saw God’s Spirit—it looked like a dove—descending and landing on him. And along with the Spirit, a voice: “This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life.”

It is not written that this was the anointment, but in this passage, the Spirit declared how the Lord loves Jesus, and called Him, his son. Jesus is very precious to the Father and the Father was showing his love on baptism. Jesus was delighted on doing the Father's will.

We, as "little Christ", know that our Father loves us. May we delight on doing his will because we know that his will is good.

Matthew 2: Baby Jesus is recognized by scholars from east but not by the Judean authorities

In Matthew 2, scholars from east recognize that the Messiah, the king of the Jews, was born and they came to worship Him. Perhaps, these scholars were influenced by the Jews in Babylon exile. They brought gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh. Interestingly, the scholars from Judea  (ex: priests) knew the place where Jesus would be born but they were unable or unwilling to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. Some priests could join the east scholars to identify the Messiah, but they didn't.
Herod was the king settled by Rome. He wanted to preserve his power, thus he was afraid of the Messiah; so afraid that he was eager to kill Him. We read:

16-18 Herod, when he realized that the scholars had tricked him, flew into a rage. He commanded the murder of every little boy two years old and under who lived in Bethlehem and its surrounding hills. (He determined that age from information he’d gotten from the scholars.) That’s when Jeremiah’s revelation was fulfilled:
A sound was heard in Ramah,
    weeping and much lament.
Rachel weeping for her children,
    Rachel refusing all solace,
Her children gone,
    dead and buried.


Baby Jesus is protected by the Lord who instructed Joseph how to proceed to protect Him.
The power belongs to the Messiah, but some men can do everything to be in power.

Matthew 1: Emanuel - the Lord is with us

The newest book of old testament is taken as Malachi, 5 centuries before Jesus. In this period, it seemed that the Lord has silenced. Many prophets in old testament were claiming that there will come the "day of the Lord" when Israel would be restored, and the evil doers would be punished. The kingdom of the Lord would be governed by the son of David. Jesus came but many Jews didn't understand the connection to the old testament prophecies, thus, Matthew is a book that shows how the prophecies were fulfilled. It begins showing Jesus as the son of Abraham and son of David.

Jesus was born in a very peculiar way: He was born by the Holy Spirit and not by a human father. Matthew does not go into details about the implications of being born by the Holy Spirit, but it must be related to the fact that Jesus lived without sin and all other human beings have sinned.

The Lord is the One who writes the story of mankind, but not only that: He takes care of individuals too as he took care of Joseph. If Joseph were a mere robot in the hands of the Lord, it would not be necessary to reveal him the work of the Spirit. So, in Matthew 1 we see a great picture of the Lord dealing with the story of mankind, and also, a picture of the Lord dealing with one man, Joseph. The Lord is the One who loves mankind but He also is the One who loves me in particular. The Lord is with us, but He is in particular with me.

Malachi 4: The day of punishment is coming

We read:

1-3 “Count on it: The day is coming, raging like a forest fire. All the arrogant people who do evil things will be burned up like stove wood, burned to a crisp, nothing left but scorched earth and ash—a black day. But for you, sunrise! The sun of righteousness will dawn on those who honor my name, healing radiating from its wings. You will be bursting with energy, like colts frisky and frolicking.

Many passages in Old Testament refers to the day of the Lord, a day of punishment for the arrogant and day of joy for the righteous.

The Old Testament ends with:

5-6 “But also look ahead: I’m sending Elijah the prophet to clear the way for the Big Day of God — the decisive Judgment Day! He will convince parents to look after their children and children to look up to their parents. If they refuse, I’ll come and put the land under a curse.”

Reading the New Testament, Jesus says that Elijah refers to John, the Baptist. So, we may understand that he is the one who clears the way for the Big Day of God; but did we see a day of punishment? Jesus was punished by our sins but all the arrogant people seemed to have a victory on that day; so it wasn't a day of punishment. Thus, this prophecy is uncompleted. We still hope that the day of the Lord as day of punishment, we hope for the second coming of Jesus.

Malachi 3: How can I offend the Lord?

Malachi warns that the people has been offending the Lord, but they reply: "How can we offend Him? Is it possible that we mere humans offend Him?". The people is accused of stealing the Lord when they don't take care of the levites, widows, orphans and foreigners that should be sustained from their tithes. The people is accused of speaking rude words against the Lord when they envy the unbeliever who is not obliged to serve Him. The Lord is offended when his people sees the Lord as a demanding God instead of recognizing Him as the Lord of Grace.
Malachi ends the Old Testament. In this last chapter we read:

1 “Look! I’m sending my messenger on ahead to clear the way for me. Suddenly, out of the blue, the Leader you’ve been looking for will enter his Temple—yes, the Messenger of the Covenant, the one you’ve been waiting for. Look! He’s on his way!” A Message from the mouth of God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
2-4 But who will be able to stand up to that coming? Who can survive his appearance?

In the New Testament, this messenger is taken as the John, the Baptist while Jesus is the Lord who live among us. Interestingly, only reading Malachi, it seems that the Lord comes to punish. "Who can survive his appearance?"
I have many doubts about how the prophecies of Old Testament are fulfilled in the New Testament, but the story is not yet finished. Some prophecies will be fulfilled in the second coming of Jesus.

Malachi 2: Does God love sinners?

Malachi preaches against the priests because they sin against the Lord.
Malachi preaches against the men because they divorce from their wives to marry idolatrous women.
So, how can we say that the Lord loves sinners? We read:

17 You make God tired with all your talk.
“How do we tire him out?” you ask.
By saying, “God loves sinners and sin alike. God loves all.” And also by saying, “Judgment? God’s too nice to judge.”

Malachi goes against the preaching that God loves sinners, thus He won't punish anyone. Malachi is warning: the Lord will punish, so repent before it is too late.

Malachi 1: God loves Jacob/Israel but not vice-versa

Malachi is a prophet that lived around 100 years after exile. The second temple is already built. It is composed of questions. It begins with a statement to the people in post exile:

1 A Message. God’s Word to Israel through Malachi:
2-3 God said, “I love you.”
You replied, “Really? How have you loved us?”

Perhaps, we should expect as an answer something like: "I have made you return from exile, I was with you rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, etc.". Instead, the Lord answers that He, in his power, has chosen Jacob instead of Esau; however that is not because Jacob has been more faithful. In fact:

6 “Isn’t it true that a son honors his father and a worker his master? So if I’m your Father, where’s the honor? If I’m your Master, where’s the respect?” God-of-the-Angel-Armies is calling you on the carpet: “You priests despise me!

Here, Malachi discusses how the chosen people has despised the Lord: when they present defected animals as sacrifices.


It makes me think that I believe that the Lord has chosen me and loved me; however, it is common that I believe on it intellectually. May the Spirit of the Lord rebuke me and lead me back to Him whenever it is necessary.