John 1:21 - John the Baptist and Elijah

[Guest]

Hi Steve,

Before John the Baptist was born, the angel said that he will come in the power of Elijah.

Luke 1:17
and he will 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 for the Lord a people prepared.

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Jesus himself identifies John the Baptist as the coming Elijah.

Matthew 11:13-14
For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.

Matthew 17:10-12
And the disciples asked him, “Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” He answered, “Elijah does come, and he will restore all things. But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.”

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My question is why did John the Baptist say he is not the Elijah?

John 1:21
And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”

[Guest]

Good question. I don't know why John said that. Maybe it's just that the messanger will come first (John), one in the spirit and power of Elijah, not a "reincanated" or second coming of Elijah.

Another thing I don't understand is why did Jesus say “Elijah does come, and he will restore all things." So is there also a "third coming" of Elijah? Why is it said Elijah will restore all things? Doesn't God restore all things?

[Guest]

Hi Steve,

I found the answer in your tape.

Life of Christ Volume 2 Tape 2 Side A.


According to the tape, the Pharisees were asking John the Baptist whether he was the original Elijah. John obviously answers "No" because he is not the same person as the original Elijah. However, he is the Elijah that was prophesied by Malachi and this is the Elijah that Jesus was talking about.

Thanks!

[Guest]

Hi Ben (and Sean),
I am sorry that I have been so busy that I was not able to get here with an answer sooner, and you had to get my answer from my lectures--but you are correct. The answer I gave on the tape is the same as I would have given here.

As for Sean's question, why did Jesus say “Elijah does come, and he will restore all things," this is a difficult statement to decipher. For years, I taught that it either speaks (as you say) of a latter-day "third coming" of Elijah (or an "Elijah Ministry" comprised of those who would come in the spirit and power of Elijah, as John did), or else that it affirmed a continuous coming of such a ministry in every generation ("Elijah does come" is in the present tense, in Matt.17:11). The question is complicated, however by the fact that Mark's parallel (9:12) uses the aorist participle, which the Interlinear translates: "Elijah indeed coming first restores all things" (Nelson).

In recent years, I have been inclined to view the statement as Jesus' free paraphrase of Malachi 4:5-6. Such paraphrases were not unknown in the New Testament. If this is so, then the flow of the conversation went like this:

The disciples asked, "Why do the scribes say Elijah must come first?"

In answering, Jesus quotes (paraphrases) Malachi--that is, this passage is the reason for the scribes thinking what they do about the subject.

Then Jesus gives His comment that this scripture has been fulfilled in John the Baptist.

I hope that these musings may lead to some satisfactory understanding of this enigmatic statement of the Lord.

[Guest]

Thanks for the answer, that helps.

[Guest]

Here's an interesting question to ask. WHY should an Elijah need to come to "turn the hearts of the fathers to the children," etc., and "make ready a people prepared for the Lord"? What could Elijah do that Christ couldn't?

Consider the context of Malachi 4:5-6. We have the Lord suddenly coming to "His Temple." Taking the spiritual aspect of this "house of God" for the moment, we have the Lord suddenly coming to His people, His "family household," as it were (cf. Eph. 2:19, 3:14-15).

As an aside, understand that the house of God is the house of God is the house of God. Principles that apply to one almost invariably apply to them all.

Using the principle of understanding the end from the beginning, let's go back to the Creation account. There, we have another "house of God," another "family household" that God created. It's the family consisting of Adam and Eve. Now ask, what did the sin of eating the forbidden fruit result in, as far as this family was concerned?

When God confronted Adam regarding his sin, instead of taking personal responsibility for what he had done, ADAM POINTED THE FINGER OF BLAME AT GOD AND AT HIS WIFE. His act was not one of love, obviously, even though God had done everything possible to lay a proper foundation so that both Adam and Eve would love Him. It also damaged the trust between Adam and Eve, to say nothing of the trust between Adam and God. After all, would Eve not think to herself that Adam might do something hurtful like this again if he were again called to account for some future action? Wouldn't she be a little distrustful of him, because of what had just happened?

It was this lack of love and trust coming from a pure heart, both for one another and for God, that was passed on to their descendants. So in effect, what Elijah's ministry was supposed to do was to reverse the damage so that Christ, their Creator, could come as their Lord and King. If this damage were never undone, wouldn't Adam and Eve's descendants do exactly the same thing to Christ at His return? Wouldn't they reject Him yet again?

Now, granted, baptism is supposed to cleanse us of these old, sinful ways. However, understand that we ourselves don't always see how we're insensitive to one another and distrustful of one another. ONLY A PROPHET CAN SEE THAT.

So, that's why Elijah needed to come before Christ's first coming. And, the very same logic applies to His second coming!

Look at Acts 3:19-21:

"Therefore, repent and return [to God] so your sins might be erased, when the times of renewing shall come from the presence of the Lord [the Father]. And He will send Jesus Christ who was preached to you before, Whom heaven must retain until THE TIMES OF RESTORATION OF ALL THINGS, WHICH GOD HAS SPOKEN OF THROUGH ALL OF HIS HOLY PROPHETS SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN."

In other words, Christ will remain in heaven until the times of restoration of all things. Christ is certainly the greater part of this great work, but Elijah the prophet begins it. This passage also justifies us going back to the Creation account to find out just what needed to be restored.

Damon