And [his] disciples demanded of him saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first have come?
The scribes did not invent this expectation. It came from the closing lines of the Old Testament, and it shaped the Jewish hope of a coming King.
And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction" (Mal. 4:5, 6). They had seen Elijah in glory. But in the land and among the people all was dark. There was no restoration, no turning of the heart of the fathers to the children.
The disciples had kept quiet about this before. The glory they had just seen loosened their tongues.
The glory confirmed the claims of Christ beyond doubt. Struck by it, the disciples speak to Him about this difficulty. Seeing the glory brought conviction to their minds. That conviction made them confess a difficulty they had kept silent about, not daring to raise it. But now the proof is strong enough to embolden them to face the difficulty.
Elsewhere the same writer traces the doubt back to its source:
The apostles quickly bring it back to this doubt and difficulty… This was natural, because the difficulty had been planted in their minds. Satan used — note this — a truth to make a difficulty. And they did not understand the glory and mystery of God in the suffering of His exalted Son. So how easily that difficulty could be used!
Jesus had just told them He would suffer and be killed. Set that beside a forerunner who restores everything first, and the two will not sit together in the same picture.
"Why then do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?" If the Son of Man is to be killed, where is the mission of Elias, who is to come as the restorer, before the great and terrible day?
Christ does not deny the prophecy. He adds what the scribes never allowed for: the forerunner had already come, and the nation treated him as it was about to treat the King.
He shows that, to faith, Elijah had come. If the nation had received the word John preached, that would have fulfilled Elijah's mission, just as Malachi's prophecy said. But the nation refused Jesus and His forerunner too. So only faith could see that John the Baptist's testimony was, in effect, the testimony of Elijah… The Messiah is coming in glory later, and Elijah is coming too. But the Messiah had come now in weakness and humiliation, and they had put His forerunner to death.
The scribes' mistake was not their reading of Malachi. It was what they left out:
The scribes ignored the sufferings of Christ. So they could not understand the glory that should follow. Elijah had already come, but he was rejected. Christ too must suffer.
The difficulty clears up once you see that Christ comes twice. Each coming has its own herald.
The difficulty had to do with the truth of the two comings, which the disciples did not yet understand. The Lord came in humiliation. He will come again in power and glory. A forerunner preceded the first coming. A forerunner will appear before the second… The scribes were right about the coming of Elijah. He will come, and restore all things. But nothing like that has happened here yet. John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah, but you could not say he did that. He was, however, the forerunner for that day… Even so, before the coming in power Elijah will reappear. John could therefore say that he was not Elijah. Notice too: the Lord applies a prophecy of Malachi (3:1) to John the Baptist, but He never quotes Malachi 4:5 as referring to him.
- Scripture — the scribes taught what Malachi's last words said. Christ never denied it: Elijah comes first and restores all things.
- Sight — the glory on the mountain gave the disciples courage to speak a doubt they had carried in silence. Satan had used a true teaching to unsettle them.
- Secret — the scribes read the promised glory and skipped the promised sufferings. So a rejected Messiah did not fit their timetable.
- Substitute — John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah. Had the nation received his word, that would have fulfilled Elijah's mission then.
- Sequel — the nation refused both herald and King. So the restoration waits for His second coming, when Elijah comes and restores all things.
And he answering said to them, Elias indeed comes first and will restore all things.
The disciples had just seen Elijah appear in glory on the mountain. Coming down, they ask why the scribes insist Elijah must arrive before the Messiah. Jesus does not correct them. He agrees — and then adds something that changes the whole timetable.
The Lord's first move is agreement, not correction.
First of all, when the Lord says, "Elijah does come, and he will restore all things," He only confirms what the scribes had said, according to Malachi's prophecy. It is as though He had said, "They are right." He then declares the effect of Elijah's coming: "he will restore all things."
The Messiah was standing in front of them, yet the promised forerunner had not appeared.
The difficulty had to do with the truth of the two comings. The disciples did not yet understand it. The Lord came in humiliation. He will come again in power and glory. A forerunner came before the first coming. A forerunner will appear before the second... The scribes were right about the coming of Elijah. He will come, and restore all things. Nothing like that, however, has yet been seen down here. John the Baptist, who came in the spirit and power of Elijah, could not be said to have done that... Still, before the coming in power Elijah will reappear. How this will be brought about is not for us to guess. God will fulfil His word, and it will then be made plain.
Some stretch the phrase to mean that every person will finally be saved.
The restoration Scripture speaks of is of all things "about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago." So the thought is limited to what the prophets had stated. In Matthew 17:11 Christ speaks of Elijah coming and "restoring" all things. All such expressions clearly refer to God's dealings on earth. That is what "all things" means. They do not touch the idea of universal salvation one way or the other.
The restoring is a calling back, and it reaches down to one root — repentance.
The work of Elijah is to call back... The restoring of all things here was entirely Jewish. But in principle, as repentance, it belonged to all. It went to the root of any share, or possible share, in God's blessing — repentance. This itself really was grace, a new principle. The law said, "Do this and live." Here it is "repent," because they had failed.
Then the Lord turns the answer around. Someone had already filled the role, and the nation had missed him.
He shows that, to faith, Elijah had come. If the nation had received the word preached by John, Elijah's mission would have been fulfilled, according to the prophecy in Malachi. But the nation refused Jesus as well as His forerunner. So faith alone could recognise the testimony of John the Baptist as being virtually that of Elijah. This agrees with the statement in Matthew 11: "if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come." It shows that it was not Elijah himself, in person, but the spirit and power of Elijah in John the Baptist.
Unbelief stopped the work short. The commentators do not treat that as the end of the story.
Even in our Lord's own case, the unbelief of the people stopped all the bright and clear blessing meant for Israel... So for the time the moral restoration of the Jews was only partial. The mass of the people were unrepentant, and family bonds were completely loosened and broken. The land has lain under a curse from that day to this. But it will not always be so. Grace will work in a remnant once more in the last days. Then Elijah's mission will be fully accomplished (Matt. 17:11).
The timing matters for the believer now.
When will Elijah appear? He will come on the scene at the time of the end... Any believer who holds the scriptural teaching that the Lord comes for His saints before the great tribulation is in no danger of following deceivers who claim to be something. He knows that he will see neither Elijah nor the Antichrist.
- Confirmed. Jesus does not overturn the scribes' teaching; He endorses it — Elijah comes, and he restores.
- Come. To faith, that coming had already happened in John the Baptist, who came in Elijah's spirit and power. The nation did not know him.
- Conditional. If Israel had received John, his mission would have counted as Elijah's. Their refusal left the restoring undone.
- Contained. "All things" means what the prophets said about God's dealings on earth. Its root is repentance, not the saving of everyone.
- Coming. The full mission is still ahead. That is Israel's hope, and it guards believers against anyone claiming the title today.
But I say unto you that Elias has already come, and they have not known him, but have done unto him whatever they would. Thus also the Son of man is about to suffer from them.
On the way down the mountain, the disciples ask why the scribes say Elijah must come first. The Lord replies that Elijah has already come unrecognised — so what does his treatment mean for the Son of Man?
The scribes' teaching rested on a real promise in Malachi.
The Jews looked for his coming in line with the prediction of Malachi 4:5. And clearly this teaching of the scribes was used to nullify the Lord's claim to be the Christ. For plainly the prophet Elijah had not reappeared before the Lord began His ministry. Now this matter created a difficulty for the Lord's disciples which they could not solve. The Lord, the Messiah, was here; but Elijah, the prophet, had not come. Were the scribes wrong in their teaching?... Their difficulty had to do with the truth of the two comings, which the disciples did not yet understand. The Lord came in humiliation. He will come again in power and glory. A forerunner came before the first coming. A forerunner will appear before the second.
The Lord's words point back to a man who had already lived and died.
He shows that, to faith, Elijah had come. If the nation had received the word John preached, Elijah's mission would have been fulfilled, just as Malachi's prophecy said. But the nation refused Jesus as well as His forerunner. So only faith could recognise John the Baptist's testimony as being, in effect, the testimony of Elijah... This shows that it was not Elijah in person and in fact, but the spirit and power of Elijah in the person of John the Baptist. The Messiah is coming in glory later, and Elijah is coming too. But the Messiah had come now in weakness and humiliation, and His forerunner had been put to death.
There is a puzzle here. John the Baptist himself denied being Elijah. One writer answers it from a condition the Lord attached.
It is striking, in view of all these testimonies, that when the Pharisees asked John if he was Elijah he said, "I am not." Why? Our Lord gave the answer: "If you will receive it." So John was Elijah to all who received him. To those who refused him he was not. The people who asked him if he was Elijah were the very people who refused his testimony. Later they crucified the One John bore witness to. To them he most certainly was not Elijah. But to simple souls like the disciples he was just as surely Elijah.
The phrase describes men acting without restraint.
They turn to Him with this question. He answers with the assurance that Elijah was indeed to come and to restore. But he had already come unrecognised, and men had treated him according to what was in their hearts. In the same way the Son of Man was soon to suffer from them.
Later, when men questioned Him, the Lord pointed them back to John.
In effect He said, "I will let God answer you. In John you have God's answer to your question." It was God's way to reach the Messiah through John. As John was rejected, so Christ Himself would be.
Both comings, and both messengers, divide people the same way.
For faith, the forerunner has already come, and so has the Lord Himself. Unbelief will feel both later on.
So was Malachi's promise finished with John? One writer says only in part.
John was certainly not Elijah in person. But he was the same type of prophet as Elijah — a man who stood apart from the people and pressed on them the claims of God's righteousness. Luke 1:17 says of him, "He will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah." No doubt, though, this is only a partial fulfilment of Malachi's prophecy. Another prophet of the same character will arise when Israel is about to face the horror of the great tribulation.
Another writer notices which prophecy of Malachi the Lord applied to John — and which He never did.
The Lord applies one prophecy of Malachi (3:1) to John the Baptist, but He never quotes Malachi 4:5 as referring to him. The inference is clear: John was the messenger sent before the face of Christ, as Malachi 3:1 had foretold, but he was not the Elijah of Malachi 4:5.
- Two comings. The Lord comes twice — once in humiliation, once in power and glory — and each coming has its own forerunner.
- Two Elijahs. John came in the spirit and power of Elijah before the first coming. A restoring Elijah is still to come before the second.
- Two responses. John was Elijah to everyone who received him; to those who refused him he was not — and so "they did not recognize him."
- Two verdicts. Faith already owns both the forerunner and the Lord; unbelief will meet both later on its own terms.
- One pattern. What men did to the messenger measured their hearts — and settled beforehand what they would do to the Son of Man.
Then the disciples understood that he spoke to them of John the baptist.
Coming down the mountain where they had just seen Jesus transfigured, the disciples asked why the scribes taught that Elijah must come first. Verse 13 records the moment they understood His answer: the forerunner they waited for had already come and gone.
The disciples could not square the scribes' teaching with the Messiah standing in front of them. One writer traces their confusion to something they had not yet grasped: the Lord comes twice, and each coming has a forerunner.
The Jews looked for Elijah's coming in line with the prediction of Malachi 4:5. This teaching of the scribes was used to cancel out the Lord's claim to be the Christ. The prophet Elijah had not reappeared before the Lord began His ministry. This created a difficulty for the Lord's disciples which they could not solve. The Lord, the Messiah, was here; but Elijah, the prophet, had not come. The difficulty had to do with the truth of the two comings, which the disciples did not yet understand. The Lord came in humiliation. He will come again in power and glory. A forerunner came before the first coming. A forerunner will appear before the second.
Jesus does not correct the scribes. He confirms the prophecy, then adds that men have already treated the herald as they pleased.
Jesus confirms the words of the prophecy, adding that Elijah would restore all things. "But," the Lord continues, "I say to you that he has come already, and they did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands." Then they understood that He was speaking of John the Baptist, who came in the spirit and power of Elijah, as the Holy Spirit had declared through his father Zacharias.
Whether Elijah had come turned on how the nation answered John's preaching.
The Lord shows that, to faith, Elijah had come. If the nation had received the word preached by John, Elijah's mission would have been fulfilled, according to the prophecy in Malachi. But the nation refused Jesus as well as His forerunner. So faith alone could recognise the testimony of John the Baptist as being in effect that of Elijah. This agrees with what we had in Matthew 11: "if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come." It was not Elijah literally, but the spirit and power of Elijah in the person of John the Baptist.
John himself once said that he was not Elijah. One writer explains that denial by who was asking.
To those who received John, he was Elijah; to those who refused him, he was not. He said he was not Elijah to the Jews who had shown they would not receive him or let him baptise them… To the people who had justified God by accepting John's baptism he was Elijah. But to the Pharisees and lawyers who refused the counsel of God and refused his baptism he was not Elijah. So John the Baptist was Elijah to some, but not to others.
If John was Elijah, is Malachi's promise now finished? One writer answers that it is only partly fulfilled.
John was not Elijah himself. He was the same type of prophet as Elijah, one who stood apart from the people, pressing on them the claims of God's righteousness. Luke 1:17 shows this: "he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah." No doubt, however, this is only a partial fulfilment of Malachi's prophecy. Another prophet of the same character will arise when Israel is about to face the horror of the great tribulation. This seems to be one of the two witnesses of Revelation 11:3.
The Lord turned the subject back to Himself. What happened to the messenger showed what lay ahead for his Master.
The Lord used it to turn their thoughts once more to His death. In this first coming of His, John the Baptist played the part of Elijah. His murder was a sign of what was to happen to the greater One, whose forerunner he was.
- Promised. Malachi said Elijah would come first; the scribes were right to expect him, and Jesus never denied it.
- Present. He had already come in John the Baptist — Elijah in spirit and power, not in person.
- Unrecognised. The nation refused John, so only faith could see who he was; to those who refused him he was not Elijah.
- Repeated. What they did to the messenger they would do to the King — the herald's death was a sign of His own death.
- Pending. Malachi's promise is only partly fulfilled, so another prophet of the same character is still to come.