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.