Jesus: The Sun of Righteousness

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver

"But unto you that fear My name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall" (Malachi 4:2)

The day of salvation is a day in which the saved are strong, willing and able. They "grow up" and with holy vigor run the race set before them as calves from the stall. Those who were once dead are quickened and given an abundance of life. Those who were once in darkness are given the light of life and walk in it. Those who once had gone astray are granted repentance and thus, turn from their wicked ways to serve the living God. They are those were once as a valley of dry bones having been slain by sin, yet in the day of salvation they rise up as an exceedingly great army. In all of this, the redeemed of the Lord are a display to all men and all principalities and powers in heavenly places that the Sun of Righteousness has risen with healing in His wings.

Jesus Governs the Day. As "the Sun" we can see that Jesus has been given dominion. On the fourth day God created the "lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night" (Gen 1:14). The sun is "the greater light" that was given to "rule the day" (Gen 1:16). The sun was created as a depiction of Jesus. Jesus, as "the Sun" is seen as a governor. He declared, after His resurrection and prior to His ascension, "all power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth" (Mt 28:18). As the "Exalted One" (Ps 89:19), the government of God and the kingship of the kingdom of God has been given unto Him (Isa 9:6).

Jesus is not just "the Sun" but "the Sun of RIGHTEOUSNESS" that is, He is the source of righteousness, the strength of righteousness, and His righteousness endures for ever. Jesus' rule is righteous. He establishes His kingdom "with judgment and with justice" (Isa 9:7). The sceptre of His kingdom "is a right sceptre" (Ps 45:6). Everything He does is righteous and all of those who submit to His rule are righteous as well, for He makes them righteous. They are the "children of the light" and "the children of the day" (1 Th 5:5).

Jesus is the Illuminator. The sun and the moon, you recall, were made to "be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth" (Gen 1:15). The sun gives light. Even so, the Sun of Righteousness gives light to those in the earth. Jesus said, "I am the Light of the world, he that followeth after Me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life" (Jn 8:12). Men stumble in darkness but walk circumspectly in the light. They are able to properly navigate around dangers and toward helps.

Darkness, in the Scriptures, is always associated with confusion, sin, and death. Those cast out of the kingdom of heaven are cast into "outer darkness" (Mt 8:12; 22:13) where these things abound. The "works of darkness," being unfit for the kingdom of heaven, are "unfruitful" and worthy of reproval (Eph 5:11). The most profound work of darkness was the crucifixion of the Lord's Christ where opportunity was given to "the power of darkness" (Lk 22:53). Those who perform such works show their distance from the God of heaven, who is Light. They are under "the power of Satan" (Acts 26:18) and their works testify to this. They love darkness rather than light (Jn 3:19) and therefore stay away from the light lest their deeds be made manifest.

Light, in the Scriptures, is always associated with understanding, righteousness, and life. The children of God, are children "of the light" and "of the day; we are not of the night, nor of darkness" (1 Th 5:5). These people come to the Light so that their deeds can be manifest as being wrought in God. They walk in the light and have fellowship with God. Their works testify of this communion with the Light.
Jesus is the Sun of Righteousness that "Greater Light." He is one who shines out of darkness.
He is "the True Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world" (Jn 1:9). Where darkness is also associated with ignorance, light is associated with understanding. "He that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes" (1 Jn 2:11). But "we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ" (1 Jn 5:20). God has caused this light of understanding to shine in our hearts "to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor 4:6). Thus, we have been illuminated (Heb 10:32) and the eyes of our understanding have been enlightened (Eph 1:18) and will continue to be as Jesus continues to shine in our hearts.

Jesus, the Sun of Righteousness, causes darkness to disseminate and light to spring forth. Where He has been it is rightly said "those who sat in darkness have seen a great light" (Mt 4:16; Lk 1:79). Jesus does not allow men to remain in darkness but calls them out of it "into His marvelous light" (1 Pet 2:9). They walk with Him and please the Father. I praise God that He "divided the light from the darkness" (Gen 1:4).

Jesus is the Source of Strength. "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men" (Jn 1:4). Just as the sun is the source of all energy in the earth, so Jesus is the source of all life or energy God-ward. No man cometh unto the Father, either initially or ultimately, but by Jesus (Jn 14:6). He is the source of all strength to "come unto" or "draw nigh" unto God.

The light that emanates from Jesus to men is the product of His abundant life. "Because I live," He says, "ye shall live also" (Jn 14:19). When the Sun of Righteousness heals men they are strengthened to do the things that God requires them to do. When they "skip about like calves from the stall" (NASB), they "do righteousness" and no longer are slaves to sin. Their feeble knees are strengthened, their hands are lifted up, and they run with endurance the race set before them. They are healed!

The reason that believers are able to say "no" to Satan and "yes" to God is that they have been healed by the Sun of Righteousness. The light that He gives them is the source of spiritual life and strength. The rays of this Sun enable them to be "strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man" (Eph 3:16) and "according to His glorious power" (Col 1:11). Their strength is attibuted to Him. In other words, if the Sun of Righteousness didn't arise, no calves would go forth skipping about. If men are not healed by Him, they will not do righteousness (1 Jn 3:7). But alas, He is come and those who come to Him are healed. They are made alive and made strong.

Healing That Endures. Jesus is a healer. The Scripture declares that 'by His stripes we are healed' (1 Pet 2:24). This healing is not the healing of the body. (Although we do not doubt that He does this.) While the healing of the body is marvelous in our eyes it is only a delaying of inevitable death. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Only a changed body will be fit to inhabit the eternality and glory of heaven. The Lord will provide this body for those that love Him. Jesus' work is not about simply healing a body that is later to be destroyed but healing the soul that will endure forever in a body that endure for ever.

Jesus heals by granting us repentance, giving us a new heart, giving us a new mind, making us willing, and causing us to walk in His statutes. As a result of the Sun of Righteousness healing us, it is not said "ye were sick and now we are healthy" but rather, "ye were as sheep going astray, but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls" (1 Pet 2:25). This kind of healing will not eventually end in death; it will endure unto eternal life.

Jesus governs the day. He illuminates those in darkness. He provides strength to the weak. He heals those who are wounded. If you can be found among that number of "them that fear the Lord" you can have everlasting consolation and good hope because Jesus, the Sun of Righteousness, has arisen and He has done so with healing in His wings!