Word to the Wise
Saturday, December 11, 2021 - 2nd Week of Advent - Sat
[Sir 48:1-4, 9-11 and Matt 17:9a, 10-13]"Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" [Jesus] said in reply, "Elijah will indeed come and restore all things; but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased. So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands." Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.
The scribes were relying on the prophet Malachi [3:23] who foretold that the prophet Elijah would return before "the day of the Lord." The first scripture for today from Sirach is almost a hymn to Elijah, also relying on the same belief. So, the disciples ask Jesus about this and learn that Elijah had indeed come in the person of John the Baptist!! They (the disciples) simply did not recognize him as such. Herod and others did not either, with lethal results for John the Baptist. Jesus ominously predicts his own fate would be similar.
The theme of "promise and fulfillment" is not just rosy biblical sentiment. The "infancy narratives" of the Gospels According to Matthew and Luke contain ominous hints about Jesus' future. {the story of the slaughter of the infants in Matthew and the story of the "presentation in the temple" in Luke].
Today, there is a similar challenge of recognition. And those who speak about Jesus as the fulfillment of God's promises can expect hostility at times. Our baptismal call becomes flesh in the Incarnation when we celebrate Christmas, but it becomes flesh in our proclaiming, like the shepherds and magi, the birth of Christ. AMEN