Word to the Wise
Saturday, December 16, 2023 - 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 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] "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. [Matthew]
Jesus and John the Baptist did not meet the expectations of the Jewish leadership of their time. The words in the first scripture for today from the Book of Sirach refer to the belief among some Jews of Jesus' time that the Messiah would be preceded by the return of Elijah the prophet. Jesus points to John the Baptist as the fulfillment of that prophecy. John the Baptist denied that he was Elijah in person, Elijah appeared with Moses at the Transfiguration, and some thought Jesus himself was Elijah.
What comes through historically and theologically is that Jesus was not what most people expected in a Messiah, despite his miracles and preaching. The son of a carpenter from Nazareth simply did not fit the image(s) that the scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, and Elders had in mind. Their "big picture" of God's plan of deliverance did not have room for someone like Jesus, or even like John the Baptist.
The baby Jesus in the manger will be the same one who preaches the Sermon on the Mount that will challenge many of the ways we live our lives. As we gaze in wonder at the manger scene and celebrate the birth of Jesus and join in the adoration and proclamation, are we ready for what Jesus will teach us when he grows up? Will he be a disappointment because of our expectations and ways of doing things? Or will he, indeed, be the one who will bring us deliverance through his life, death and resurrection? AMEN