The next words are: And they
asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not” It seems to me
that the Jews could have had doubts about this for two years, that is, whether
John was Elijah. For, first of all, just as at that time the Christ was
expected, so also Elijah; for the Hebrews were not ignorant of the prophecy of
Malachi the prophet: Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the
great and terrible day of the Lord comes. And although this promise truly
and really pertains to the second coming of the Lord, as St. Augustine clearly
teaches in book 20 of The City of God, nevertheless the Scribes and
Pharisees taught that it pertained to the first coming, as can be gathered from
Matthew. In that place the Apostles ask the Lord: Then why do the scribes
say that first Elijah must come? Therefore, since during the time of John,
Elijah was expected, and John was famous throughout Palestine, not without good
reason did the Jews suspect that, if he is not the Christ, then he is at least
Elijah.
Moreover, there was so much
similarity between John and Elijah that the Jews could easily accept John for
Elijah. Elijah dwelt in the wilderness, and so did John; Elijah wore camel’s
hair, and so did John; Elijah was a prophet, but only by speaking in a new way,
because he did not prophesy in writing, and John did the same; with great
freedom Elijah denounced King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, and John with no less
freedom chastised King Herod and Herodias; because of Jezebel Elijah suffered
many things from Ahab, and because of Herodias John was beheaded by King Herod.
And just as Elijah according to the prophecy of Malachi was to precede the
second coming of the Lord, so according to the same prophet John would precede
the first coming. (“Sermon Seven: On the Same Third Sunday of Advent,” in Sermons
of St. Robert Cardinal Bellarmine, S. J., 3 vols. [trans. Kenneth Baker; Keep
the Faith, Inc., 2016], 1:74)
