(Audio)
Their staff of bread he shattered,
in his zeal he reduced them to straits;
By the Lord's word he shut up the heavens
and three times brought down fire.
How awesome are you, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds!
It isn't altogether surprising that they didn't notice the similarities between John the Baptist and Elijah. He did dress like Elijah. "Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey" (see Matthew 3:4 and Second Kings 1:8). But he didn't perform signs like Elijah. People noticed that difference but paid less attention to the words of John, which were "as a flaming furnace" just as Elijah. Rather than signs, his call to repentance was meant to "turn back the hearts of fathers toward their sons, and to re-establish the tribes of Jacob."
John the Baptist provided the opportunity for the people to prepare for the coming of Jesus. He spoke of the deeper problems of the heart that needed to be cleared away. He did no signs, because he existed only to point toward the sign of Jonah revealed in Jesus Christ.
He 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.
God always delivers on his promises. He gives us what we need and helps us to prepare. But our expectations are often quite human. We want the special effects and distractions. We are less ready for the purification of heart that will allow us to see him more clearly when he comes.
What messengers is the LORD sending to us ahead of his coming at Christmas? Perhaps they aren't promising miraculous things. Perhaps they are telling us to hone in on the very simple opportunities we have before us to love one another. I doing so, truly doing so, we love Jesus himself.
May your help be with the man of your right hand,
with the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
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