December 23
1st Reading: Malachi 3:1-4; 4:5-6 -- RSVCE ( 3:1-4; 23-24 -- NAB)
Shortcoming of Priests (Continuation)
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(The oracle of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi.)
[1] ”Behold, I send my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord
whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; the messenger of the cove-
nant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. [2] But
who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?
“For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; [3] he will sit as a refiner and
purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and
silver, till they present right offerings to the LORD. [4] Then the offering of Judah
and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in for-
mer years."
[4:5] "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day
of the LORD comes. [6] And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children
and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a
curse."
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Commentary:
2:17-3:5. As at the start of the book, the question raised here is a fairly general
one: What is the point of keeping the Law if those who do evil are the ones who
have success in life? The question focuses on rewards in this life only (cf. 2:17),
but the prophet’s reply extends beyond that: he announces a day of judgment
when priests and ritual will be purified (3:3-4) and the oppressed will receive jus-
tice (3:5); on the day of the Lord, God will set everything right.
However, the force of the oracle lies not so much in the fact of divine judgment
as in the mysterious way in which that day is announced (3:1-2). We are told
that the Lord of hosts himself will come to His temple, and his coming will strike
fear into the hearts of men. The passage, in fact, seems to be speaking about
three different personages--the messenger who will precede the coming of the
Lord and who later on, in the epilogue, is identified as the prophet Elijah (cf. 4:5);
the Lord himself; and the angel (literally the “messenger”) of the Covenant (3:1).
In mentioning the first (the messenger who prepares the way: 3:1) the prophet
may have in mind the sort of protocol used by kings who had a herald announce
their arrival. This personage’s role is similar to that described in Isaiah 40:3ff.
However, a little further on there is the “messenger of the covenant”. It is not
clear what this means; it could be the Lord himself; a further messenger,
whose role is similar to that of Moses, that is, a mediator of the Covenant; or,
finally, the messenger mentioned earlier, the herald, who is now being given a
new role. No clear interpretation can be established beyond doubt.
The New Testament will resolve this question of interpretation. The Synoptic
Gospels (cf. Mk 1:2) and Jesus himself (Mt 11:7-15; cf. Lk 7:24-30) identify the
first messenger, the one who prepares the way, with Elijah, and sees his fulfill-
ment in the person of John the Baptist. This makes Jesus the Lord who comes
to his temple. The Church reads it that way when the liturgy of the feast of the
Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (cf. Lk 2:22-40) includes Malachi 3:1-4 as
a first reading. But as can be seen from many passages of the New Testament
(for example, the episode of the Transfiguration: Mt 17:1-13 and par.), Jesus is
also the mediator of the New Covenant.
In the tradition of the Church, the ambiguity here is seen as a way of indicating
the two-fold coming of the Lord-in the humility of the flesh, and in the glory and
splendor of the End: “We proclaim the coming of Christ: he comes not once, but
twice, and the second coming will be more glorious than the first. The first was
a time of suffering; in the second, however, he will wear the crown of divine king-
ship. Almost everything in the life our Lord Jesus Christ has two meanings. He
was born twice: once, of the Father, from all eternity; and then, of the Virgin, in
the fullness of time. He comes twice, too: be came first in silence, like rain fal-
ling on wool; and he will come again in glory. First, he was wrapped in swad-
dling clothes and laid in a manger; when he comes again, he will be robed in
light. First, he shouldered the cross, without fear of suffering; when he comes
again, he will come in glory, surrounded by the hosts of angels. Let us consider
not only the life of the Lord, but also his future coming [...]. Because of his great
mercy, he was made man to teach men and persuade them; when he comes
again, all men, whether they want to or not, will be made subject to the power
and authority of the King. The words of the prophet Malachy refer to both of
these events” (St Cyril of Jerusalem, "Catecheses Ad Illuminandos", 15, 1-2).
Gospel Reading: Luke 1:57-66
The Birth and Circumcision of John the Baptist
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[57] Now the time came for Elizabeth to be delivered, and she gave birth to a son.
[58] And her neighbors and kinsfolk heard that the Lord had shown great mercy
to her, and they rejoiced with her. [59] And on the eighth day they came to cir-
cumcise the child; and they would have named him Zechariah after his father,
[60] but his mother said, "Not so; he shall be called John." [61] And they said
to her, "None of your kindred is called by this name." [62] And they made signs
to his father, inquiring what he would have him called. [63] And he asked for a
writing tablet, and wrote, "His name is John." And they all marvelled. [64] And
immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, bles-
sing God. [65] And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were
talked about through all the hill country of Judea; [66] and all who heard them
laid them up in their hearts, saying "What then will this child be?" For the hand
of the Lord was with him.
[80] And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilder-
ness till the day of his manifestation to Israel.
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Commentary:
59. Circumcision was a rite established by God under the Old Covenant to mark
out those who belonged to His chosen people: He commanded Abraham to in-
stitute circumcision as a sign of the Covenant He had made with him and all his
descendants (cf. Genesis 17:10-14), prescribing that it should be done on the
eighth day after birth. The rite was performed either at home or in the synagogue,
and, in addition to the actual circumcision, the ceremony included prayers and
the naming of the child.
With the institution of Christian Baptism the commandment to circumcise ceased
to apply. At the Council of Jerusalem (cf. Acts 15:1ff), the Apostles definitely
declared that those entering the Church had no need to be circumcised.
St. Paul's explicit teaching on the irrelevance of circumcision in the context of the
New Alliance established by Christ is to be found in Galatians 5:2ff; 6:12ff; and
Colossians 2:11ff.
60-63. By naming the child John, Zechariah complies with the instructions God
sent him through the angel (Luke 1:13).
64. This miraculous event fulfills the prophecy the angel Gabriel made to Zecha-
riah when he announced the conception and birth of the Baptist (Luke 1:19-20).
St. Ambrose observes: `With good reason was his tongue loosed, because faith
untied what had been tied by disbelief" ("Expositio Evangelii Sec. Lucam. in loc.").
Zechariah's is a case similar to that of St. Thomas, who was reluctant to believe
in the resurrection of our Lord, and who believed only when Jesus gave him clear
proof (cf. John 20:24-29). For these two men God worked a miracle and won their
belief; but normally He requires us to have faith and to obey Him without His wor-
king any new miracles. This was why He upbraided Zechariah and punished him,
and why He reproached Thomas: "Have you believed because you have seen Me?
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe" (John 20:29).
80. "Wilderness": this must surely refer to the "Judean wilderness" which stret-
ches from the northwestern shores of the Dead Sea to the hill country of Judea.
It is not a sand desert but rather a barren steppe with bushes and basic vegeta-
tion which suit bees and grasshoppers or wild locusts. It contains many caves
which can provide shelter.
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase
The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
[참고: 이 파일은 저서명 "가톨릭 교회의 말씀 전례에 따른 성경공부 해설서"(엮은이: 소순태, 출판사: 가톨릭출판사)의 각주의 연장으로 마련되었습니다].