Elijah has come and gone

Ecclesiasticus 48:1-4.9-12, Mt. 17:10-13. Elijah certainly caught the imagination of the Jews, because he was taken up from earth in a whirlwind (2 Kgs 2:11); and Jewish tradition expected his return to preach repentance and renewal before the great messianic age would come. While John the Baptist imaged more austere and stern aspects of Elijah, Jesus saw in him the role of Elijah and the persecuted prophet who ushers in the day of the Lord. Elijah came as a symbol of the 'longed-for' transformation of Israel through God’s exceptional intervention. Today’s first sees Elijah’s greatest legacy as re-establishing unity within the families and tribes of Israel, but unity was and is a most difficult goal to achieve. In today's Gospel, Jesus identifies John the Baptist as prophet Elijah, whose return was expected just before the coming of the long awaited Messiah.

When Jesus affirms that Elijah has come and gone in the person of John the Baptist, He means by implication, the Messiah has already come. He is in their midst to correct their notion of the Messiah as warlord who will save the nation from the Roman tyranny. The Jews refuse to see in Jesus the awaited Messiah because they see in Him a weak man with poor parents in a humble hamlet. Their misguided thought made them to lose sight of the essential task of Elijah: to be the person pointing to Christ. Biased mindset and misguided thought is one of the problems that could prevent us from recognising the reality around us. Thus, Jesus changed their idea of a Messiah and introduced the idea of a Messiah as one who brought the crown out from the cross, success from failure and victory out of what is considered a defeat. Thus, what is required to have a new vision, new insight and a new way of seeing things is the change of mindset because nobody reaches expected heights in life without a correct and transformed mindset.

May the Lord teach us to be receptive to the message of Christ as we prepare the glorious coming of His reign! Amen!! Be safe and happy weekend!!!