Word to the Wise
Saturday, December 16, 2017 - 2nd Week of Advent - Sat
[Sir 48:1-4, 9-11 and Matt 17:9a, 10-13]How awesome are you, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds! Whose glory is equal to yours? You were taken aloft in a whirlwind of fire, in a chariot with fiery horses. You were destined, it is written, in time to come to put an end to wrath before the day of the Lord, to turn back the hearts of fathers toward their sons, and to re-establish the tribes of Jacob. Blessed is he who shall have seen you and who falls asleep in your friendship. [Sirach]
Elijah stands as one of the giants in the Old Testament, and his reputation is continued in the gospels. He is prominent in the accounts of the Transfiguration and in today's gospel scripture where the disciples ask, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" The scribes would certainly have been aware of the words of the prophet, Malachi 3:23: "Now I am sending to you Elijah, the prophet, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and terrible day; he will turn the heart of fathers to their sons, and the heart of sons to their fathers.... The scribes also would have known the words from Sirach, quoted above, which more or less repeat Malachi. Jesus identifies the second Elijah as John the Baptist and points out what happened to John the Baptist as an ominous sign of what would happen to him [Jesus].
All of this points to the complexity of the "messianic hopes" of Jesus' time. If one did not accept John the Baptist as the Elijah who was to return before the day of the Lord, then certainly one might question how Jesus could possibly be the messiah. Some people thought Jesus was Elijah or even John the Baptist! How could someone who was crucified by the Romans be a Messiah? There were others who had made the same claim and met the same end.
The Advent and Christmas seasons begin to respond to that question as we once more gather the words of the prophets and begin to tell the story of Jesus, the Messiah. Behind and around that manger scene there are forces of opposition (Herod and others). The child is endangered from the very beginning. Easter will eventually come, but right now we can celebrate the birth of new life in the person of the Christ-child. AMEN