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*H For behold the day shall come kindled as a furnace: and all the proud, and all that do wickedly shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall set them on fire, saith the Lord of hosts, it shall not leave them root, nor branch.
Ver. 1. Furnace. At the day of judgment, the difference between the just and the wicked will plainly appear. W. — This sense is most generally given, as well as to those words where our Saviour speaks of the signs of the destruction of Jerusalem and of the end of the world together. Mat. xxiv. 3. Lu. xxi. 5. Yet the prophet may also allude to the punishment of the Jews by the Romans, when all were assembled at the Passover, (C.) a scourge which the Christians escaped by retiring to Pella. Eus. Hist. iii. 5. — Proud. Sept. "strangers." C. — Branch. No hope shall remain. M.
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Luke
1:78
Through the bowels of the mercy of our God, in which the Orient from on high hath visited us:
*H But unto you that fear my name, the Sun of justice shall arise, and health in his wings: and you shall go forth, and shall leap like calves of the herd.
Ver. 2. Wings. The sun is represented with wings, to imply celerity. The appearance of the Lord will be most acceptable to the virtuous. C. — Look up, for your redemption is at hand. Lu. xxi. 28. — Herd. Prot. "stall." Heb. marbek, (H.) "fattened;" though some explain it of oxen treading out corn: they would not however leap, nor fatten so much. C.
*H And you shall tread down the wicked when they shall be ashes under the sole of your feet in the day that I do this, saith the Lord of hosts.
Ver. 3. Ashes, burnt in Jerusalem. H. — Christians rejoiced in the execution of divine justice. The Jews were not allowed to approach the new city, Elia. S. Jer.
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Exodus
20:1
And the Lord spoke all these words:
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Deuteronomy
5:1
And Moses called all Israel, and said to them: Hear, O Israel, the ceremonies and judgments, which I speak in your ears this day: learn them, and fulfil them in work.
*H Remember the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, the precepts, and judgments.
Ver. 4. Law. This must be your guide and comfort. No more prophets shall appear before the Baptist. C.
* Summa
*S Part 4, Ques 38, Article 1
[III, Q. 38, Art. 1]
Whether It Was Fitting That John Should Baptize?
Objection 1: It would seem that it was not fitting that John should baptize. For every sacramental rite belongs to some law. But John did not introduce a new law. Therefore it was not fitting that he should introduce the new rite of baptism.
Obj. 2: Further, John "was sent by God . . . for a witness" (John 1:6, 7) as a prophet; according to Luke 1:76: "Thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest." But the prophets who lived before Christ did not introduce any new rite, but persuaded men to observe the rites of the Law. as is clearly stated Malachi 4:4: "Remember the law of Moses My servant." Therefore neither should John have introduced a new rite of baptism.
Obj. 3: Further, when there is too much of anything, nothing should be added to it. But the Jews observed a superfluity of baptisms; for it is written (Mk. 7:3, 4) that "the Pharisees and all the Jews eat not without often washing their hands . . . and when they come from the market, unless they be washed, they eat not; and many other things there are that have been delivered to them to observe, the washings of cups and of pots, and of brazen vessels, and of beds." Therefore it was unfitting that John should baptize.
On the contrary is the authority of Scripture (Matt. 3:5, 6), which, after stating the holiness of John, adds many went out to him, "and were baptized in the Jordan."
_I answer that,_ It was fitting for John to baptize, for four reasons: first, it was necessary for Christ to be baptized by John, in order that He might sanctify baptism; as Augustine observes, super Joan. (Tract. xiii in Joan.).
Secondly, that Christ might be manifested. Whence John himself says (John 1:31): "That He," i.e. Christ, "may be made manifest in Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water." For he announced Christ to the crowds that gathered around him; which was thus done much more easily than if he had gone in search of each individual, as Chrysostom observes, commenting on St. John (Hom. x in Matth.).
Thirdly, that by his baptism he might accustom men to the baptism of Christ; wherefore Gregory says in a homily (Hom. vii in Evang.) that therefore did John baptize, "that, being consistent with his office of precursor, as he had preceded our Lord in birth, so he might also by baptizing precede Him who was about to baptize."
Fourthly, that by persuading men to do penance, he might prepare men to receive worthily the baptism of Christ. Wherefore Bede [*Cf. Scot. Erig. in Joan. iii, 24] says that "the baptism of John was as profitable before the baptism of Christ, as instruction in the faith profits the catechumens not yet baptized. For just as he preached penance, and foretold the baptism of Christ, and drew men to the knowledge of the Truth that hath appeared to the world, so do the ministers of the Church, after instructing men, chide them for their sins, and lastly promise them forgiveness in the baptism of Christ."
Reply Obj. 1: The baptism of John was not a sacrament properly so called (_per se_), but a kind of sacramental, preparatory to the baptism of Christ. Consequently, in a way, it belonged to the law of Christ, but not to the law of Moses.
Reply Obj. 2: John was not only a prophet, but "more than a prophet," as stated Matt. 11:9: for he was the term of the Law and the beginning of the Gospel. Therefore it was in his province to lead men, both by word and deed, to the law of Christ rather than to the observance of the Old Law.
Reply Obj. 3: Those baptisms of the Pharisees were vain, being ordered merely unto carnal cleanliness. But the baptism of John was ordered unto spiritual cleanliness, since it led men to do penance, as stated above. _______________________
SECOND
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Matthew
17:10
And his disciples asked him, saying: Why then do the scribes say that Elias must come first?
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Mark
9:10
And they asked him, saying: Why then do the Pharisees and scribes say that Elias must come first?
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Luke
1:17
And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias: that he may turn the hearts of the fathers unto the children and the incredulous to the wisdom of the just, to prepare unto the Lord a perfect people.
*H Behold, I will send you Elias the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
Ver. 5. Elias. Sept. add, "the Thesbite;" and S. Jerom (in Mat. xvii.) says, that Elias shall indeed come and restore all things. — Dreadful. Christ's first coming was in all meekness; but he will judge in terror. Hence the prophet's meaning is not that S. John, but that Elias shall come before the great day of the Lord. W. — Yet we may understand it of Christ coming into the world to preach, and again to judge. His first coming proved terrible to the perfidious Jews, whose ruin presently ensued. The destruction of Jerusalem was a figure of that which the world shall experience. C. — This shall be preceded by the preaching of Elias. N. Alex. Diss. vi. — This interpretation seems very striking and natural, though the prophet may have had the first coming of Christ and the ruin of the city chiefly in view. Our Saviour testifies that the Elias whom the Jews expected was already come. Mat. xi. 14. and xvii. 11. Lu. ix. 8. C.
*H 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.
Ver. 6. Heart, &c. By bringing over the Jews to the faith of Christ, he shall reconcile them to their fathers, viz. the patriarchs and prophets, whose hearts for many ages have been turned away from them, because of their refusing to believe in Christ. C. — The antipathy of Jews and Gentiles shall cease. Both shall enter the Church of Christ. Is. xi. 13. The Baptist strove to ameliorate the manners of the people, and to bring all to Christ, who reconciles all seeming contradictions in the Scriptures. He came to put an end to all dissensions. C. — Yet the wicked will still have war. Mat. x. 35. H. — Christ will convert those Jews at last, (Rom. xi. 26. C.) who have not yet opened their eyes. Their fathers, the apostles and first converts, have long ago shewn them the example. H. — Anathema. In the Heb. cherem, that is, utter destruction. Ch. — Sept. "entirely," (C.) or "suddenly;" αρδην. S. Jer. Deut. vii. 26. — This passage intimates that the ruin of Jerusalem is threatened. If people should be converted, would that stop the general conflagration? C. — Some of our crafty adversaries have inferred from the above explanation of anathema, that the Church means heretics to be destroyed: but her kingdom is not of this world: she speaks only of the soul, and exercises a spiritual power. H.