Heb 9.27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.
Elijah and Zerubbabel both died. Common sense indicates Elijah died after he was caught up to heaven. He cannot sustain his physical body without food and water in the clouds.
Neither can those who have died be resurrected, once their bodies are annihilated. The only resurrection available to those whose bodies have perished is the First Resurrection, which happens at Christ's 2nd Coming.
Jesus identified John the Baptist as the fulfillment of the "Elijah" prophecy of Malachi.
Malachi 4.5 See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.
Mark 9.12 Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected? 13 But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him.”
Common sense indicate that Jesus was saying the prophecy of Elijah to come was fulfilled in his predecessor, John the Baptist. It was the *prophecy* that was fulfilled, not a 2nd Coming of the literal Elijah.
Therefore, Jesus indicated the prophecy was fulfilled in the sense that "Elijah to come" was meant to be a prefiguring of John the Baptist, having the prophetic credentials of the Prophet Elijah and not being the actual Elijah. Jesus argued, after all, that there was none greater among the prophets than John the Baptist. And Elijah had been sort of "king of the prophets." So, the prophecy was indicating that one like Elijah would come with his prophetic authority to declare Messiah's advent.
If you read my original post you would have seen that I addressed this through the scriptures. Read my posts before you comment on them so I don't have to repost parts of it over and over.
Jesus states that Elijah will be one of the two witnesses in Mal 4:5-6 when He states that He is going to send Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord which is when Jesus throws the antichrist and the false prophet into the lake of fire alive and destroys his armies.
(Mal 4:5-6) "Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. {6} "And he will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse."
According to Mat 17:10-12 and Mark 9:12 John the Baptist was not the returning Elijah. After John the Baptist had already been beheaded Jesus stated that Elijah is still coming I Mat 17:11 and Mark 9:12.
Mat 17:10-12) And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" {11} And He answered and said, "Elijah is coming and will restore all things; {12} but I say to you, that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands."
(Mark 9:11-12) And they asked Him, saying, "Why is it that the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" {12} And He said to them, "Elijah does first come and restore all things. And yet how is it written of the Son of Man that He should suffer many things and be treated with contempt?
The answer to why Jesus said that Elijah had already come and that he will come in the future is found when we compare the effect that John was having at the time and the effect that Elijah will have when he comes, which as is stated in Luke 1:13-17 and Mal 4:5-6 is that both caused the hearts of fathers to turn back to the children.
Luke 1:13-17) But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John. {14} "And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. {15} "For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine or liquor; and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, while yet in his mother's womb. {16} "And he will turn back many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God. {17} "And it is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous; so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."
(Mal 4:5-6) "Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. {6} "And he will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse."
John himself said he was not Elijah who is to come.
(John 1:19-21) And this is the witness of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" {20} And he confessed, and did not deny, and he confessed, "I am not the Christ." {21} And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" And he said^, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No."
