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Malachi 4:5 (Malachi 3:1), "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:"
Matt 11:10 10 For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. (KJV)
Luke 1:17 17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, 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. (KJV)
Mark 9:11-13 11 And they asked him, saying, Why say the scribes that Elias must first come? 12 And he answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought. 13 But I say unto you, That Elias is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him. (KJV)
It is traditional teaching within Christendom that John the Baptist is supposed to be Elijah, the precursor of the Messiah. Jesus the Messiah must come after John the Baptist who is Elijah in Christianity.
Answer for yourself:
Judaism and Christianity agree that Elijah the prophet is to return before the Messiah comes. Let's see if John the Baptist was Elijah. Elijah was a real human being, and he is to return, not someone "like" him. If one consults I Kings 18:21, and II Chronicles 21:12, then one sees for himself that Elijah is a real person. Then if we read II Kings 2:11 we see where Elijah is taken "by a whirlwind into heaven." Therefore, he should return in bodily form, not as expressed in Luke 1:17, "... in the spirit and power.. ."
Now it is recorded in the New Testament that Jesus said that Elijah has returned and is John the Baptist in person. For instance, in Matthew 11:14 we read, ". . . this is Elijah, which was for to come."
Let's examine what John the Baptist says about himself. He should know who he is, don't you think?
John 1:19-21, "And this is the record of John, . . . And he confessed, . . . I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elijah? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet [again they asked if he was Elijah the Prophet]. And he answered, No."
This is a forthright, clear denial. He twice answered, denying he was Elijah, after denying he was the Messiah. A prophet would not lie in a confession. A prophet would not hide his mission. Malachi says Elijah is to be a messenger to prepare the people for the Lord. John the Baptist, if he were Elijah, would not deny, but would communicate, his mission. Consequently, we must accept as true his denial.
John the Baptist says in Matthew 3:11, ". . . he that cometh after me is mightier than I. . ." But look again. You find he is modestly saying he is not anyone other than a baptizer, of lesser importance than the one who follows later.
Answer for yourself: What, then, is John the Baptist's function?
You find in Mark 1:3-5 (Matthew 3:1-6) (Luke 3:2-4), ". . . Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. . . . all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins." Thus we learn that people came to John the Baptist for confession and repentance of transgression. They performed a ceremony of spiritual cleansing in water. It was Judaism in ancient form.
Answer for yourself: Take a good look at this question: Why would John the Baptist be engaged in helping people rid themselves of sin if he were awaiting the Christ of vicarious atonement to take away sin?
If you read everything in the New Testament about John the Baptist you will find nothing Christologic whatsoever. He preached repentance for the forgiveness by G-d of sin, not vicarious atonement.
Moreover, Jesus preached this very same message, the necessity of repentance for the remission of transgression. Both Jesus and John the Baptist preached repentance for entrance into the coming Messianic kingdom of G-d on earth and Judgment Day. Jesus said in Mark 1:15, "the kingdom of G-d is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." And this "gospel" was before his supposed sacrificial death. It was Judaism's teaching of repentance, Judaism's good news.
Answer for yourself: What specifically is Elijah to do?
In Malachi 4:6 we read, "And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers. . ." In other words, peace and harmony are to follow his arrival. That surely did not occur to Israel in the first century following Jesus' death. Alas, we still await this beautiful prophesy's fulfillment.
Last, we shall analyze Luke 7:19-20,22 (Matthew 11:2-4) in regard to John the Baptist. Look at, "And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that should come" or look we for another" . . . then Jesus answering said . . . tell John what things ye have seen . . ." This demonstrates that he was not aware who Jesus was.
Answer for yourself: Well, if John the Baptist were Elijah the prophet returned to earth, wouldn't he have special knowledge of the Messiah and no need to inquire? After all, they both supposedly were sent from heaven and should know of each other. You discover that not only does John the Baptist deny he is Elijah and not achieve the results of Elijah's mission, but he also displays lack of knowledge which Elijah must have concerning the Messiah. Therefore, no forerunner arrived before Jesus, as required Biblically for the Messiah's coming.
Bennoah1@verizon.net