Longing for the Messiah: From Elijah to Jesus
June 20, 2024 - Thursday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
Sirach 48:1-14
There is a Jewish tradition, which seems to have developed around the Middle Ages, that looks forward to the coming of Elijah during the Passover celebration of the Jewish liberation from slavery in Egypt. The people keep the doors open and prepare a special cup of wine, all in hope that Elijah will come and announce the messianic era of God's blessing.
Our first reading comes from the Book of Sirach, written around 196 to 175 BC, nearly 700 years after the ministry of Elijah. In the excerpt that we hear today, its author, Jesus the son of Sirach, summarizes the ministry of Elijah. In the author's view, no other prophet could compare with Elijah, and he considers blessed those who would live to see him coming back to prepare the way of the Lord. The author references the book of Malachi, where Elijah is told "to turn the heart of fathers to their sons, and the heart of sons to their fathers" (Malachi 3:24; see Sirach 48:10).
The statement "Blessed is he who shall have seen you" (Sirach 48:11) and the longing for the coming of the Messiah challenge our attitude towards the second coming of Christ. Saint Paul was hoping to see Christ returning before his death. Saint John ended his Revelation with a cry of the Spirit and the Church directed to Christ, "Come" (Rev. 22:17). At the Eucharist, we proclaim the mystery of faith that includes three statements: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. Do we long for Christ's coming as the Jewish people have longed for Elijah's?
Not so long ago, a Catholic woman in a certain country learned that there is a community that daily prays for the coming of Jesus Christ. She was shocked. She could not imagine how someone could pray for the coming of the end of the world. Thus, we do not open doors or prepare a cup of wine in eager expectation of Christ's coming. Yet, if Elijah's coming would usher the nation into the messianic era of God's blessing, Christ's coming will fulfill God's plan of salvation, ushering the entire creation into a new heaven and a new earth where death and sin are no more.
The Aramaic word "Maranatha" appears only once in the New Testament, at the end of Paul's letter to the Corinthians (see 1 Cor. 16:22). The word is usually translated as "Come, Lord," but according to grammarians, it can also be translated as "Our Lord has come." On the other hand, the book of Revelation ends with a cry for the coming of Jesus: "Come, Lord Jesus!" (Rev. 22:20). When the Lord Jesus came for the first time, he brought so many blessings to the world. Imagine what will happen when He comes again. Let us then long for His coming more than our Jewish brothers and sisters longed for the coming of Elijah. Then, humanity and the entire creation shall be blessed indeed.