Bible
Study: Sirach 48, 1 to 11 and Matthew 17, 9 to 13.
There are
certain names we Africans give to our children that indicate our belief in
re-incarnation. We have Yoruba names like Babtunde meaning “the father has come
back”, Yetunde or Yewande meaning “the mother is back”, Babajide “the father
has woken up again.’ As such reading through today’s scripture passages, one
might be tempted to assume that when Jesus Christ was speaking of John the
Baptist as the Elijah that is to come, he was referring to this idea of
re-incarnation. But that is not the case.
There is
really no such thing as re-incarnation. Every man is born to live once and die
once. We do not continue to live forever and we cannot return to life after we
have died and faced judgement. As the book of Hebrews put it, “…it is appointed
for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment.” Hebrews 9:27.
Amongst
the prophets of Old Testament times, none was as dramatic as Elijah. As the
book of Sirach describes in today’s first reading, Elijah arose like a fire.
There was no one in the whole of Israel who did not hear about him. He made
such a great impact that his fame was spoken of with fear, even kings trembled
before him. Elijah was the one who said there would be a famine and for three
whole years, God shut the heaven and rained not a single drop on earth and he
was the one who said, there would be rain and it rained again.
At the end
of his life, Elijah did not really die a normal death and was not buried. As we
read in 1 kings 2 verse 11, Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. In his
greatness, there was then a belief among the people that Elijah would return
again before the Messiah comes. This belief was so strong that the people were
convinced that unless Elijah comes back, the promised Messiah would never come.
John the
Baptist was not a re-incarnation of Elijah rather his personality was symbolic
to the role and expectation of Elijah. John the Baptist was like Elijah in
every way, it was not the case that he carried Elijah’s face or had the same
genes with Elijah. So Jesus was saying that for those who believe Elijah has to
come before the Messiah arrives, the Messiah is already here and that Elijah
you are expecting is concretely represented in the person of John the Baptist.
In the
end, it is for us to know that Jesus by his birth and life came as a fulfilment
of all the promises, hopes, beliefs and expectation of the peoples of old. In
Jesus, we see a God who never fails. A God whose promises must surely come to
pass.
Let us
Pray: Lord Jesus, deepen my trust in you. Amen.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith.
It is well with you. God bless you. Happy Weekend
Fr. Abu.
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