John the Baptist

[Tellyontellyon]

Jesus identified John the Baptist with Elijah:

Matthew 11:14
And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.

But John the Baptist denied this:

John 1:21
They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”

So was he or wasn't he? Is the answer more complicated?

 

[ViaCrucis]

Jesus identified John the Baptist with Elijah:

Matthew 11:14
And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.

But John the Baptist denied this:

John 1:21
They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”

So was he or wasn't he? Is the answer more complicated?

The answer is that yes, he was. John fulfilled the prophecy of the coming of Elijah before the Day of the Lord. As Jesus and the New Testament clearly state that John came in the spirit and power of Elijah. This has always been the official position in the Christian faith.

John's denial can be attributed to either ignorance or humility, or maybe even both.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Paul4JC]

15 The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, "The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha." And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. [2Ki 2:15 NIV]

Not to be confused with reincarnation. John was not Elijah any more than Elisha was. But he carried the same unction, power and authority in his ministry. In that sense he was the Elijah to come during Lord Jesus' days. He also said of John in vs 11 "Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist"; [Mat 11:11a NIV. What a statement of the greatness of John the Baptist.

 

[Minister Monardo]

Jesus identified John the Baptist with Elijah:

Matthew 11:14
And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.

But John the Baptist denied this:

John 1:21
They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”

So was he or wasn't he? Is the answer more complicated?

Luke 1:17. He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

 

[Randy777]

Jesus identified John the Baptist with Elijah:

Matthew 11:14
And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.

But John the Baptist denied this:

John 1:21
They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”

So was he or wasn't he? Is the answer more complicated?

You mean did Jesus make the correct call? YES
As Gabriel informed Zachariah about the son he was going to have.
luke 1
Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. 14 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. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. 16 He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

 

[Yeshua HaDerekh]

Matthew 14 death of John
Matthew 17:3 Elijah at transfiguration

 

[Tolworth John]

Jesus identified John the Baptist with Elijah:

And John identified Jesus as the one who would deal with our sin.

Jesus as it clear that it was only through him that we can approach God.

 

[aiki]

Jesus identified John the Baptist with Elijah:

Matthew 11:14
And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.

But John the Baptist denied this:

John 1:21
They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”

So was he or wasn't he? Is the answer more complicated?

Not complicated - if you let Scripture explain itself. Speaking of John the Baptist, Luke writes:

Luke 1:17
17 "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."

JtB was a forerunner of Christ in the "spirit and power of Elijah" and in this non-literal sense he was "Elijah who is to come." But JtB was not Elijah reincarnated, as many Jews believed. So it is that Jesus could say JtB was "Elijah who is to come" and JtB could deny that he was Elijah, the former referring to the manner, or spirit, in which JtB was the forerunner of the Saviour, and the latter referring to the idea that JtB was Elijah come again in the flesh.