Posted on 11/09/2025 10:45:04 PM PST by metmom
“‘For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come’” (Matthew 11:13–14).
All of God’s Old Testament revelation climaxed in John the Baptist. And the apostle John picked up the theme (which at times had been only implicit) that said, “The Messiah is coming!”
The Lord Jesus suggests a close likeness between John and the prophet Elijah, based on Malachi’s prophecy, which are the final words of the Old Testament: “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse” (Mal. 4:5–6).
That Malachi referred to the future John the Baptist and not a literally reincarnated Elijah is clear when we look at Luke 1:17—“It is he [John] who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah.” John himself clearly denied that he was actually Elijah come back (John 1:21). Rather he was like Elijah—inwardly in “spirit and power” and outwardly in independence and nonconformity.
John was uniquely great, in the mold of Elijah and more so than any man but Jesus; but God’s highest bestowing of greatness is not John’s. His greatness, Jesus declared, pales beside those like us who enter God’s spiritual kingdom by trusting in the Son as Lord and S
Are these characteristics the sole possession of the overly demonstrably inclined?
Or does “spirit and power” even have a gentle side in the cause of Christ?
Studying God’s Word ping
IMHO one thing that makes John the Baptist like Elijah is that both of them all of a sudden appear on the scene. We don’t have background info on them from before they were prophets, like we do the prophet Samuel. Plus, both were hunted by the secular leaders.
Matthew 11:13-14
21st Century King James Version
13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John.
14 And if ye will receive it, this is Elijah, who was to come.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2011%3A13-14&version=KJ21
Nice catch
Luke 1 does give some background on John.
True. But just from John the Baptist before birth. Unlike 1st Samuel giving us much detail about Samuel being raised by the priests.
That’s true. It’s also true, save for Jesus’s birth and being at the temple at age 12, we don’t have much background about His life before His ministry starts.
Whereas Elijah and Melchizedek come out of nowhere. And John is compared to Elijah and Jesus is of the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 5:6,10 and Psalm 110:4).
Your analogies are good. Our Sunday evening worship was recently going through Luke 1, and that’s why I responded.
Mark 9:12 NKJV
Then He answered and told them, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things. And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt?”
Elijah hasn’t come back yet but will before the Day of the Lord.
Many think he is one of the two witnesses in Revelation.
I do The other one I think is Enoch, not Moses.
Enoch was also taken up and he did a LOT of end times preaching.
So I guess the great and terrible day of the Lord happened immediately after John....
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