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He is the Elijah to come - Matt. 11
He is the Elijah to come - Matt. 11
As you read Matt. 11 and Jesus’ praise of John the Baptist, you need to recall the prophecy at the end of the Old Testament: “5 "Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.” (Malachi 4:5)
While John was not literally Elijah reincarnated (Elijah, along with Moses, would appear unto Jesus on the mount of Transfiguration in Matt. 17). John himself denied that he was such. Yet, Jesus does make the application of Malachi’s prophecy to the coming of John: “21 They asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" And he *said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No."” (John 1:21)
Yet here we hear Him say: “13 "For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14 "And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come.” (Matthew 11:13-14)
After Elijah and Moses appeared unto Jesus on the mount, we read that “7 And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, "Get up, and do not be afraid." 8 And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone. 9 As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, "Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead."” (Matthew 17:7-9)
The disciples had yet to make the connection, even though Jesus expressly had told them, that John was the fulfillment of the predicted coming ‘of Elijah’. So “His disciples asked Him, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" 11 And He answered and said, "Elijah is coming and will restore all things; 12 but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands."
At the point, “13 Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.” (Matthew 17:10-13, also see Mark 9:11-13).
The answer to the seeming discrepancy was stated when the angel announced the coming birth of John: “15 "For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother's womb. 16 "And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. 17 "It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."” (Luke 1:15-17)
It is no wonder then that Jesus added: “4 "And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come.”” Read again the Angel’s statement about John! John did come in the spirit and power of Elijah, and hence was the ‘Elijah’ of Malachi’s prophecy – ‘if you are willing to accept it’. Accepting it leads one to then accept that Jesus was the Christ whom John prepared that way for. Have you accepted that concerning Jesus?
Hugh DeLong
