Day 261 - Malachi 1-4

Speaking further of Christ in the same vein, Malachi says, “Behold, I send my angel, and he shall prepare the way before my face. And presently the Lord, whom you seek, and the angel of the testament whom you desire, shall come into the temple. Behold, he comes, says the Lord of hosts. And who shall be able to think of the day of his coming? And who shall stand to see him?” In this text he foretells both comings of Christ, the first and the second—the first where he says, “And presently the Lord shall come into his temple.” This refers to Christ’s body, of which he himself said in the Gospel, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” [Jhn 2:19.] His second coming is foretold in these words: “ ‘Behold, he comes,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘And who shall be able to think of the day of his coming? And who shall stand to see him?’ ”—St Augustine