ViaCrucis
Confessional Lutheran
- Oct 2, 2011
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Maybe it’s not hidden at all. Jesus flat out said that John the Baptist is Elijah. I have one of those Bibles that has the footnotes below put together by theologists explaining the meanings of scripture. This assertion, among several others falls under the “well, Jesus didn’t really mean that” category. But that’s what the man said. There’s no way around that. He even brackets the assertion with comments that seem to anticipate disbelief: “If you are willing to accept it”…i.e – I know this will be a leap for you guys.
“He who has ears to hear, let him hear”… i.e.- that’s right, you heard me correctly.
I don’t know if there is reincarnation and if this is actually what Jesus meant, but food for thought anyway.
You could say it’s not reincarnation because I believe Elijah technically never died.
There's also the instance where Elijah later appeared as himself during the transformation.
You could also say that John denied he was Elijah. I don’t know the rules of reincarnation but the standard seems to imply that you’re not fully aware of any previous lives. And John also denied he was a prophet. But Jesus said John was both a prophet and Elijah. So who you gonna believe, John or Jesus himself?
All things are possible with God, so who knows? Maybe some get more than one chance.
Jesus meant what He said--John is the Elijah promised to come. And so John fulfills the promise of the coming of Elijah before the Day of the Lord. And so John came "in the spirit and power" of Elijah.
John was not a reincarnated Elijah, but he was the fulfillment of the prophecy and promise of the coming of Elijah.
John, in a sense, bore the torch and mantle of Elijah, to turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and children to their fathers, to call the people to repentance, in anticipation and hope of the One who would to come, the promised Christ. And John then bore witness upon seeing Him, saying, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world". And so then John said "I must decrease that He may increase" and then John suffered a martyr's death at the hands of Herod. St. John the Forerunner is indeed the one who came in the spirit and power of Elijah, fulfilling the mission and purpose of coming of Elijah, as a voice calling out in the wilderness to make straight the paths of the Lord.
-CryptoLutheran
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