As they were coming down from the mountain,
the disciples asked Jesus,
"Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"
It was written that Elijah would return to lead the people to repentance and holiness before the coming of the day of the Lord.
You were destined, it is written, in time to come
to put an end to wrath before the day of the LORD,
To turn back the hearts of fathers toward their sons,
and to re-establish the tribes of Jacob.
The angel Gabriel told Zechariah that this prophecy would be fulfilled in the person of John the Baptist.
He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of fathers toward children and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord (see Luke 1:17).
The question of why Elijah must come first received a definitive answer in the ministry of John the Baptist. He drew people into the desert, away from the distractions of life in the world, called them to repentance, and pointed out the lamb of God when he appeared on the scene. There was vague messianic expectation at the time of John, but John shaped and channeled it so that it could find its proper fulfillment in Jesus himself.
but I tell you that Elijah has already come,
and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased.
There might have been quite a different expectation surrounding the coming of a powerful prophet like Elijah that would pertain more to Israel's political situation than to its spiritual stagnation. The people might have hoped that Elijah would have come to inauguration the throwing off of the yoke of hostile foreign oppressors. But although John did have a message for corrupt kings just as Elijah once did it was not the purpose of this first coming of the messiah to bring about a political victory. Its purpose was to bring forth first a victory of righteousness, seen preeminently in the death and resurrection of Jesus himself, but also previewed in the faithful death of the forerunner John the Baptist.
So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands.
The fact that John the Baptist had an obvious significance, but one which defied common expectation was meant to help ready the people for a messiah who would also take a different path from what many anticipated. At a glance both John and Jesus appeared to be defeated by corrupt worldly authorities. But a deeper look revealed that in them both a deeper, more lasting, and more important victory had been won. Defeating a set of corrupt politicians could only have led eventually to another set taking their place. But the defeat of sin and death set the stage for a Kingdom that could not be destroyed. The weapons of the world would be useless against such a Kingdom. Even the temporal authority of the state could begin to be shaped and directed by hearts that did not yield to the corrupting influence of the world the flesh, and the devil. Given that the perfection of such hearts would not be perfect in the world, neither would the Kingdom be fully manifest during the age of the Church. Thus the age of the Church was primarily an age of the Spirit, rather than a perfection of the physical order. But after what was primary was established Jesus would indeed return with the hosts of heaven to set all of creation free.
For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies (see Romans 8:22-23).
For our part let us heed the message of the forerunner as he calls us to find some stillness in which we can recognize our own need for the messiah. Then, when he is revealed, and John points us to the lamb, we can go to meet him with open arms and open hearts.
Then we will no more withdraw from you;
give us new life, and we will call upon your name.
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