And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
And he shall go before him - i:e., before "the Lord their God" just spoken of; showing that Messiah, before whom John was to go, as a herald to announce his approach and as a pioneer to prepare his way, was to be "the Lord God of Israel" manifested in the flesh (Isaiah 40:3; Malachi 3:1). So Calvin, Olshausen, etc.
In the spirit and power of Elias - i:e., after the model of that distinguished reformer, and with like success, in "turning hearts." Strikingly indeed did John resemble Elias: both fell on evil times; both witnessed fearlessly for God; neither was much seen except in the direct exercise of their ministry; both were at the head of schools of disciples; the result of the ministry of both might be expressed in the same terms - "many (not all, nor even the majority, but still many) of the children of Israel did they to the Lord their God."
To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children This, if taken literally, with Meyer and others, denotes the restoration of parental fidelity, the decay of which is certainly the beginning of religious and social corruption. In this case it is just one prominent feature of the coming revival put for the whole.
And the disobedient to the wisdom of the just But this next clause, "And the disobedient to the wisdom of the just" - which seems designed to give the sense of the preceding one, rather suggests a figurative meaning: 'He shall bring back the ancient spirit of the nation to their degenerate children.' So Calvin, Bengel, etc. Thus prayed Elijah, "Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again" (1 Kings 18:36-37).
To make ready a people prepared for the Lord, х hetoimasai (G2090) Kurioo (G2962) laon (G2992) kateskeuasmenon (G2680)] - rather, 'to make ready for the Lord a prepared people;' prepared, that is, to welcome Him. Such preparation for welcoming the Lord is required, not only in every age, but in every soul.
Remarks:
(1) Works such as Jesus performed and Teaching such as poured from His lips, as He walked up and down Judea and Galilee, in the days of His flesh, could not but be carried on the wings of the wind, especially after He rose from the dead, ascended up into heaven, and at the Pentecostal festival made His handful of adherents proclaim, in the tongues of all the nationalities then assembled at Jerusalem, the wonderful works of God. These Jewish strangers and proselytes would carry them to their homes, and the first preachers-and every Christian would be more or less a preacher-would tell the tale to all who had ears to hear them. Of such astonishing tidings eager listeners would take notes; and digests, more or less full, would be put into circulation. For lack of better, such summaries would be read aloud at prayer-meetings and other small assemblies of Christians; and of these a few would be pretty full, and, on the whole, pretty correct narratives of the Life, Acts, and Sayings of Christ.
To such it is that our Evangelist here refers, and in terms of studied respect, as narratives of what was 'on sure grounds believed among Christians, and drawn up from the testimony of eye-witnesses and ministers of the word.' But when he adds that it seemed good to him also, having traced down all things with exactness from its first rise, to write a consecutive History, he virtually claims, by this Gospel of his own, to supersede all these narratives. Accordingly while not one of them has survived the wreck of time, this and the other canonical Gospels live, and shall live, the only worthy vehicles of those life-bringing facts which have made all things new. Apocryphal or spurious gospels-such as sprang up in swarms at a later period to feed a prurient curiosity and minister to the taste of those who could not rise to the tone of the canonical Gospels-have not altogether perished: but those well-meant and substantially correct narratives here referred to, used only while better were not to be had, were by tacit consent allowed to merge in the four peerless documents which, as one Gospel, have from age to age, even from the very time of their publication, and with astonishing unanimity, been accepted as the written charter of all Christianity.
(2) The diversity which obtains among these Four Gospels is as beautiful a feature of them as their inner harmony. Each has an invaluable character of its own which the others want. And although a comparison of the four different streams of narration with each other, with the view of tracing out the unity of incident and discourse, and so shaping out as perfectly as possible. The Life of Jesus, has been the laudable, and delightful, and fruitful occupation of Biblical students in every age; one cannot but feel, the longer he studies these matchless productions, that every detail of them is so much fresher just where it lies than in any combination of them into one, that every such attempt as Tatian's DIATESSARON (about A.D. 170 AD), and that of Professor White of Oxford (1803) - that is, one continuous History woven out of the text of the Four Gospels-is a mistake. Let that river, the streams whereof make glad the city of God, flow, like the river that watered the garden of Eden, in its four crystal streams and in their own native beds, until that which is perfect is come, when that which is in part shall be done away.
(3) How beautiful is the spectacle of husband and wife, in advancing years, when "joint-heirs х sungkleeronomoi (G4789)] of the grace of life," and "their prayers [together] are not hindered" (1 Peter 3:7) by misunderstandings or inconsistencies! (Luke 1:7; Luke 1:13).
(4) When God has any special blessing in store for His people, He usually creates in them a longing for it, and yet withholds it from them until all hope of it is dying within them. By this He makes the blessing, when at length it comes, the more surprising and the more welcome, an object of deeper interest and dearer delight (Luke 1:7).
(5) The most cheering visitations of Heaven are accustomed to come to us in the discharge of duty. It was when Elijah "still went on and talked" with Elisha, who was to succeed him in office, that the chariots and horses of fire appeared to take him up to heaven (2 Kings 2:11): more gloriously still-when Jesus had led His disciples out "as far as to Bethany, and lifted up His hands and blessed them-it came to pass, while He blessed them, He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven" (Luke 24:50-51). So here; it was "while Zacharias was executing the priest's office in the order of his course, burning incense in the temple of the Lord, and the whole multitude of the people were praying without," that the angel of the Lord appeared to him with the glad announcement of a son who should usher in and prepare the way of Christ Himself (Luke 1:8-11).
(6) If the heart is ready to sink when the thin partitions between heaven and earth are, even in a small degree, (6) If the heart is ready to sink when the thin partitions between heaven and earth are, even in a small degree, rent asunder, how re-assuring is it to find such exceptional visitations only confirming the teaching of Moses and the prophets, and strengthening the expectations built upon them! (Luke 1:13-17).