KJV Malachi 1:6  A son honoureth his Father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name.

NASB Malachi 1:6 A son honours his Father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honour? And if I am a master, where is My respect?’ says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name. But you say, ‘How have we despised Your name?’

The prophet Malachi charged the nation of Israel with six grave crimes against God. He begins in Chapter 1 by indicting them for their Despising of His Name, and he concludes in Chapter 3 by charging them with Defrauding Him of His Due. In between these, he lays bare the bankruptcy of the nation in the additional four indictments.

In this first charge against the nation, Malachi, through the Spirit, touches on two of the relationships which Israel, nationally, had with Jehovah. Though not enjoying the individual Father-son relationship that New Testament believers enjoy, God was a “Father” to the nation (Ps 89:26; 103:13). As a Father, He was worthy and deserving of honour.

The nation also had a place as servants of the Living God and was to serve with an eye to pleasing Him (Lev 25:55). Yet here, once again, they failed. Their service was not with singleness of eye nor with pure motive.

Enter another Son, another Servant! He was the ultimate Son — the quintessential Servant. Did He honour His Father? Did He serve with an eye to pleasing God? To ask these questions is to answer them. In truth, heaven answered them for us.

Consider first the Son and His relationship to the Father. Heaven was opened twice to own, “This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well-pleased.” In John 8:49, the Lord Jesus owned, “I honour My Father.” How did He display this honour? He always set the Lord before Him (Ps 16:8), never seeking His own glory or honour but ever directing men to honour the Father. He never – amazing truth – sought His own will but came down to do the Father’s will. It was His purpose in coming, His meat, and His delight. No word could have been spoken better; no motive have been more pure. His was a life that always put His Father first.

What about His “fear” as a Servant? When Scripture speaks of the “fear of God,” it is referring to a desire to please God. In the New Testament, the idea is embodied in the word “godliness,” a favourite from Paul’s pen.

Did God own His “fear” in a public manner as He did the honour He brought as a Son? Yes. Listen to the words of Hebrews 5:7 – “Who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared.” Though the word is not exactly the same as “godliness” or “fear,” it is from the same root and conveys the same truth. God owned, in the resurrection of Christ, that He was a Servant/Son Who had pleased Him in every movement of His life.

God has always found everything His heart desired in His Son. No one else could possibly satisfy the infinite heart of God apart from the Son. And the great truth in which we can exult is that God has saved us to share His enjoyment in His Son with us eternally.

Consider:

Think of other relationships the Lord Jesus has toward His Father such as Steward, King, Prophet, etc, and how He has fulfilled and perfected each.