And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
All Commentaries on Luke 1:17 Go To Luke 1
Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
He shall go before Him. John went before Christ 1. In his birth, for he was born six months before Christ 2. In his baptism, for he baptized before Christ did; yea, he even baptized Christ 3. In preaching, of repentance that he might prepare the way for Christ 4. By pointing out Jesus as the Messiah and Lamb of God who should take away the sin of the world 5. By suffering martyrdom before Christ 6. In descending to the fathers in limbus, and announcing to them that Christ would soon come and set them free.
In the spirit and power of Elias. As Elias did excel and in the end of the world will excel in a spirit steadfast and powerful for contending against Antichrist, so that he will convert Jews and others from him to Christ; so in the same powerful spirit John will excel, and by his preaching and holy example move the hardened Jews to repentance, and so prepare them for the baptism of Christ.
The spirit of power in John was like that in Elias; 1. In the austerity of his life 2. They both lived in solitude. And 3 , in poverty and contempt of the world 4. In zeal, and in fervour of preaching, by which both of them converted many Israelites to repentance, and Elias will again do so in the last days, according to the saying (Ecclesiasticus xlviii1), "Elias stood up like fire, and his word burned like a lamp." In the same way Christ says of John , "He was a burning and a shining light," S. John 5:35. 5. In fortitude and suffering: for as Elias contended against the priests of Baal, and their patrons Ahab and Jezebel, and again in the last days will contend against Antichrist and his followers and will suffer many things from them and at last be slain as a martyr; so John contended against Herod and Herodias, and being beheaded by them obtained the crown of martyrdom.
John here is rather compared to Elias in his future coming than in his past; because, as Elias will precede the second coming of Christ with great spirit and power, so likewise John with the same spirit, and power will precede the first coming of Christ. S. Ambrose says that he will go before Him "in the spirit and power of Elias, because Elias had great power and grace, so that he turned back the hearts of the people to faith, power of abstinence, and patience and the spirit of prophecy. Elias was in the wilderness; so also was John. . . . The one sought not the favour of Ahab; the other despised that of Herod. The one divided Jordan; the other brought men to the laver of salvation. The one was the forerunner of our Lord"s first advent, the other of His second," &c.
To turn the hearts of the fathers, &c. John did this when he urged them by word and example to imitate the faith and piety of their fathers; for thus the fathers acknowledged their children as the worshippers of the true God. These words are taken from Malachi , who speaks literally of Elias, typically of John.
And the disobedient, &c. Greek α̉πειθει̃ς, Vulgate, incredulos. That Isaiah , he will turn them to the faith and wisdom which the just had and have concerning Christ, which consists in the fear and love of God and of heavenly things, and not perishable, according to the teaching of Christ (Maldonatus). Or, John will cause the unbelieving Jews to consider the signs of the coming of the Messiah given by God to the fathers, and from them to know and believe that Christ has already come, and that this Jesus, whom John pointed out as such, is He.
A people prepared, &c. Perfectam, Vulgate; κατασκευασμενον, Greek; that is well and perfectly prepared and made ready for receiving the teaching and faith of Christ, and the perfection of grace, justice, and the Christian life brought by Christ from heaven.
