The Messenger is the Message Text: Proverbs 13:17
Introduction: The Weight of Words
We live in an age drowning in messages. We are bombarded, pinged, notified, and updated from the moment we wake until the moment we collapse into bed. We have more means of communication than any generation in human history, and yet, we have less and less of any real substance to say. Our words have become cheap, disposable things. We fire off texts, emails, and social media posts with little thought for their trajectory or their impact. But the book of Proverbs, being the treasury of divine wisdom that it is, will not let us get away with such a low view of communication. In God's economy, words have weight. They are not neutral. They are instruments of either life or death, construction or demolition, healing or havoc.
The world thinks that the message is the only thing that matters. "Just give me the data," they say. "Cut to the chase." But God, who is a personal God, a God in relationship, knows that the messenger is inextricably bound up with the message. You cannot separate the two. A corrupt messenger will inevitably corrupt the message, and a faithful messenger will ensure that the message arrives with all its power intact. This is not just a matter of practical advice for the ancient world of kings and couriers. This is a fundamental principle of reality. It governs everything from our family conversations to our international diplomacy, and most importantly, it governs how the gospel of Jesus Christ is to be carried into the world.
Solomon, in his distilled wisdom, gives us a sharp, two-sided coin. On one side, we have the wicked messenger who brings ruin. On the other, the faithful envoy who brings health. This is a proverb about representation. Every time you speak for someone else, whether you are representing your boss in a meeting, your family at a gathering, or your God in the world, you fall into one of these two categories. There is no third way. You are either building up or tearing down. You are either a conduit of chaos or a channel of healing. This proverb forces us to ask: when I am sent, what is the outcome?
The Text
"A wicked messenger falls into evil, But a faithful envoy brings healing."
(Proverbs 13:17 LSB)
The Corrupt Courier (v. 17a)
We begin with the first half of the verse:
"A wicked messenger falls into evil..." (Proverbs 13:17a)
The word for "wicked" here points to something fundamentally corrupt, twisted, and unreliable. This is not just a messenger who gets the address wrong or shows up late. This is a messenger whose character is bent. And because his character is bent, his mission will be bent. He is not a neutral delivery service. His wickedness is an active ingredient in the process.
How does a messenger act wickedly? He might be lazy, failing to deliver the message at all. He might be malicious, intentionally altering the message to cause strife. He might be a coward, softening a hard but necessary word to save his own skin. He might be a flatterer, embellishing the message to curry favor. He might be a gossip, delivering a private message to a public audience. In all these ways and more, his personal corruption infects the task he was given.
And notice the consequence. He "falls into evil." The Hebrew word for evil here is broad; it means calamity, trouble, mischief, or ruin. The first and most obvious victim of his wickedness is himself. A king who discovers his message has been mangled will not be pleased with the messenger. An employer who loses a deal because of a faithless representative will show that man the door. The wicked messenger, in his foolishness, thinks he can get away with it, but his sin finds him out. The trouble he creates for others boomerangs and lands squarely on his own head. He falls into the very pit he dug for others.
But the damage is never contained to just the messenger. When a wicked messenger is sent, the one who sent him is misrepresented. The one who was to receive the message is deceived. Relationships are fractured. Plans are ruined. The evil he falls into is a splash zone, and everyone gets wet. Think of the serpent in the garden. He was a wicked messenger. He took the word of God, twisted it slightly, and delivered a damnable lie. And in so doing, he fell into evil, bringing the entire human race down with him into ruin.
The Trustworthy Ambassador (v. 17b)
The contrast could not be more stark. Solomon now shows us the other side of the coin.
"But a faithful envoy brings healing." (Proverbs 13:17b LSB)
The word for "faithful" here means trustworthy, reliable, and firm. This is a man of integrity. His character is solid. The word for "envoy" is a step up from "messenger." It carries the weight of a trusted ambassador, one who is not just carrying a note, but who is entrusted to represent the mind and heart of the one who sent him. He understands the spirit of the message, not just the letter.
This faithful envoy understands his task. He knows he is not the author of the message. His job is not to edit it, improve it, or apologize for it. His job is to deliver it accurately, truthfully, and with the right demeanor. He is loyal to the one who sent him. His personal feelings, his reputation, his comfort, they are all secondary to the faithful execution of his duty. This requires diligence, courage, and wisdom.
And look at the result. He "brings healing." The Hebrew word is marpe, which means health, restoration, or a remedy. Where the wicked messenger brought calamity, the faithful envoy brings wholeness. He delivers a message of reconciliation, and a fractured relationship is mended. He brings a word of warning, and disaster is averted. He carries a word of truth, and confusion is replaced with clarity. He is an agent of shalom. The message gets through, and because it gets through, things are made right.
This is because the sender and the receiver can trust him. The sender knows his words will not be twisted. The receiver knows that what he hears is the truth. Trust is the foundation of all healthy communication, and the faithful envoy is the pillar that holds it up. He doesn't just deliver a message that might contain a remedy; his very faithfulness is part of the remedy itself. His reliability is a healing balm in a world of deceit.
The Great Envoy and His Ambassadors
Like every proverb, this one finds its ultimate fulfillment and deepest meaning in the person and work of Jesus Christ. God the Father, desiring to bring healing to His broken and rebellious creation, sent a messenger. But He did not send just any messenger. He sent His only Son, the ultimate Faithful Envoy.
Jesus is the perfect messenger because He is the message. He is the Word made flesh (John 1:14). He did not just speak the truth; He is the Truth (John 14:6). He perfectly represented the Father's heart, saying only what the Father told Him to say (John 12:49). He delivered the Father's message with absolute faithfulness, even when it led Him to the cross. He did not soften the demands of righteousness, nor did He pull the punch on the coming judgment. He delivered the whole counsel of God.
And what was the result of His mission? He brought healing. The word "salvation" itself means health, wholeness. Through His faithful work, He heals our relationship with God, which was broken by sin. He heals our souls, which are sick with corruption. He is the Great Physician, and His gospel is the ultimate marpe, the final remedy for the calamity that the wicked messenger brought into the world. The faithful envoy, Jesus, brings the healing that swallows up the evil into which the first wicked messenger, Satan, had fallen.
But the story does not end there. Because now, this Great Envoy has sent us. The apostle Paul puts it this way: "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us" (2 Corinthians 5:20). We have been given the ministry of reconciliation. We have been entrusted with the most important message in the history of the world. And this proverb comes to us now as a solemn charge. What kind of messengers will we be?
Will we be wicked messengers? Will we be lazy, keeping the message to ourselves? Will we be cowards, editing out the parts about sin and repentance and hell because we fear the reactions of men? Will we be malicious, using the truth as a club to beat people with instead of a balm to heal them? If we do, we will fall into evil. We will bring ruin upon ourselves and do great damage to the cause of the one who sent us.
Or will we be faithful envoys? Will we deliver the message as it was given to us, in all its truth and grace? Will we speak of both the holiness of God and the love of God? Will we represent our King well, not just with our words, but with our lives? If we are faithful, we will bring healing. We will be instruments in the hands of God to mend broken lives, to reconcile enemies, and to bring the health of the gospel to a world sick and dying in its sin. The choice is before us every day. Be faithful. The message is life, and the world is desperate for healing.