Elijah

 

And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elijah must first come? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elijah truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, That Elijah is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they desired. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. Then the disciples understood that he spoke unto them of John the Baptist.

(Mat 17:10-13)
   

The disciples, having had a little time to think over the Transfiguration, are now confused.

The matter is relatively simple in their minds. The very last words of the Old Testament, the last two verses in Malachi, tell that before the Messiah comes, Elijah will come first. They have just seen Elijah. So the question is not, "Who is this Elijah?" but "Why didn't he come first?"

Jesus explains it quite simply. At this time, the reference is to John the Baptist. This is not a tacked-on identification. John's father, Zechariah, had a visit from Gabriel before John was born. Gabriel told him that John would work in the spirit and power of Elijah. So while John himself explicitly disclaimed being Elijah—he said instead he was "the voice crying in the wilderness" as prophesied by Isaiah—he was doing the work of Elijah in the spirit and power of Elijah.

Hidden in this meaning is the question of Christ's second coming. We know that he came in meekness the first time, and will come in power and glory the second. So the question arises: has Malachi's prophecy about Elijah been fulfilled, or not?

Perhaps we can say both yes and no. Yes, it has been fulfilled for the first advent, but no, not for the second. At least not as of this writing, for no man knows the hour of Christ's coming. It is interesting, however, to note that the early church fathers (Chrysostom and Jerome, explicitly) held that Elijah would come in the flesh—the very self same Elijah who was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind. Some say this cannot be; others say it must.

But one thing is certain: the signs of the times will be clear to those who have eyes to see. His return will come as no surprise to the faithful.

Meanwhile, we have the matter of suffering. As John suffered and died at the hands of Herod, so Jesus will suffer and die as well. Our Lord points this out to his disciples by way of warning, so that they will not be surprised by his death. But this works both ways: as John and Jesus suffered before, so shall Elijah and Christ be triumphant later. Suffering is still the lot of the Christian—the servant is not above the master—for our Lord has not yet begun his return. We should therefore not be surprised if things turn even worse than they are today. But let us not lose sight of what is to come: the return in glory of our Lord. Does the literal Elijah precede him? Who can say? But our Lord's return is certain.