“And his disciples asked him, saying: ‘Why then do the scribes say that Elias must come first?’ But he answering, said to them: ‘Elias indeed shall come, and restore all things. But I say to you, that Elias is already come, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they had a mind. So also the Son of man shall suffer from them.’ Then the disciples understood, that he had spoken to them of John the Baptist.”
Amongst those that studied the Law, there was inspiration from the prophet Malachi that Elijah would return to earth and come before Christ to bring harmony to Israel: “Behold, I will send you Elias the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers: lest I come, and strike the earth with anathema” (Malachias 4:5-6); Thus was Elias magnified in his wondrous works… Who art registered in the judgments of times to appease the wrath of the Lord, to reconcile the heart of the father to the son, and to restore the tribes of Jacob” (Ecclesiasticus 48:4-10). The disciples then wonder at this, given that they just saw Elijah on the mountain, but he then departed, instead of remaining to be a herald of Jesus’ glory. The scribes also would have held to this teaching, saying that if Jesus was the Christ, then Elijah would have come to bring this harmony to God’s people, and this was a proof in their minds against Jesus: “These things they thought, and were deceived: for their own malice blinded them” (Wisdom 2:21). What Jesus answers then seems contradictory to those who thought that Jesus was come to lead Israel as a glorious earthly king like David: “And the multitudes that went before and that followed, cried, saying: ‘Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest’” (Matthew 21:9). To the one that has been taught things divine: “These things saith the Holy One and the true one, he that hath the key of Daivd; he that openeth and no man shutteth; shutteth, and no man openeth” (Apocalypse 3:7), this then makes sense, for it refers to Christ’s second coming, before which Elijah will come in his proper person, to teach the Jews and turn their hearts to the fathers that are the Apostles: “And I will give unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in sackcloth” (Apocalypse 11:3). This is because love flourishes in harmony rather than discord, because though discord gives an opportunity for charity to be practiced, this is akin to tuning an instrument before it is played, to bring the one note that is out of tune into harmony with the others, be this in one’s family, social group, or self: “Give praise to the Lord on the harp; sing to him with the psaltery, the instrument of ten strings” (Psalm 32:2), which is both literal and figurative, with the latter indicating the uprightness of the heart and the harmony of those that sing God’s praises together. The greatest artwork one can make is in the beauty of their life, which is a masterpiece that expresses in a cultivated fashion the elegance of true love: “All the glory of the king’s daughter is within in golden borders, clothed round about with varieties” (Psalm 44:14), and the ministries of both John the Baptist at Christ’s first coming and the coming of Elijah before the second bring about a blank canvas on which this portrait can be painted. Therefore, they come in the same spirit, to bring the unjust to repentance: “And the people asked him, saying: ‘What then shall we do?’ And he answering, said to them: ‘He that hath two coats, let him give to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do in like manner’” (Luke 3:10-11), before Christ brings them into the divine romance: “My beloved put his hand through the key hole, and my bowels were moved at his touch” (Canticle 5:4). The Pharisees, scribes, and Romans, however, did not heed St. John the Baptist’s call to justice and the call to spiritual beauty, instead beheading him: “And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison” (Matthew 14:10). Now, while Herod and Herodias, representing Rome, beheaded John, the religious leaders consented to it, harboring resentment for his piercing words: “Ye brood of vipers, who hath shewed you to flee form the wrath to come?” (Matthew 3:7), and Jesus then prophesies about His coming death, that Herod, Pilate, the Pharisees, scribes, and Romans would all consent and collaborate to crucifying Him, a sign that “All have sinned, and do need the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), and showing how universally rejected both Jesus and a love of righteousness are: “Hear this, ye princes of the house of Jacob, and ye judges of the house of Israel: you that abhor judgment, and pervert all that is right” (Micheas 3:9), therefore you are called to be the one that consoles His Sacred Heart: “And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him” (Luke 22:43) through a deep, caring love of Him that manifests in powerful emotions, spontaneous acts of love, a beautifully upright life, and care for others through what one has, which is indicated by Mary at Jesus’ feet: “And standing behind at his feet, she began to wash his feet, with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment” for the tears represent the heart that feels strongly, the wiping of the feet with the hair is tending to Christ’s members with what one has, the ointment that is fragrant being the beauty of one’s virtue, and the kisses the little acts of love that enkindle the fire of love. Happy, Theophila, is the one that possesses the goodness indicated by St. John the Baptist, but happier still is the one that, not forsaking this goodness, understands the romance in the Song of Songs and loves God in such a manner, for such a soul is hard to find: “Who shall find a valiant woman? Far and from the uttermost coasts is the price of her” (Proverbs 31:10); “There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and young maidens without number. One is my dove, my perfect one is but one, she is the only one of her mother, the chosen of her that bore her. The daughters saw her, and declared her most blessed: the queens and concubines, and they praised her” (Canticle 6:7-8).