The Vision of Cornelius the Centurion
Gerbrand van den Eeckhout
1664
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
From: Malachi 3:1-4
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 covenant 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 former years."
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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 justice (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 fulfillment 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 kingship. 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: he came first in silence, like rain falling on wool; and he will come again in glory. First, he was wrapped in swaddling 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).