John the Baptist and Elijah explained

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'“See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. '

Malachi 4:5
https://www.bible.com/bible/111/MAL.4.5


'And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. '

Matthew 11:14
https://www.bible.com/bible/111/MAT.11.14

Matthew 17:10-13
10The disciples asked him, “Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?”

11Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things.

12But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished.

In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.”

13Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.


Bonus:

Matthew 18:10-13
10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones.

For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.[11]

12 “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?

13And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off.
 
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Makes me wonder and think of the life of John the Baptist.**
 
Zacharias's endearing words to his son when he was born:

Luke 1:71

71salvation from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us—
72to show mercy to our ancestors
and to remember his holy covenant,
73the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
74to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
and to enable us to serve him without fear
75in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.


76And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
77to give his people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
78because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
79to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
80And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.
 
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Now you may discuss this verse :

“And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is [the fulfillment of] Elijah [as the messenger] who was to come [before the kingdom]. [Mal 4:5]”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭11‬:‭14‬ ‭AMP‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/1588/mat.11.14.AMP
 
Here, Jesus is speaking about John the Baptist. He is telling the people that John the Baptist fulfills the prophecy of Elijah's return before the coming of the Messiah. This is based on the Old Testament prophecy in Malachi 4:5, which says Elijah would come before the "great and dreadful day of the Lord."

A few points to understand this verse better:

- **John the Baptist's role:** He came in the spirit and power of Elijah (see Luke 1:17), preparing the way for Jesus' ministry by calling people to repentance.
- **"If you are willing to accept it":** Jesus is acknowledging that not everyone will believe this or understand John's role.
- This shows the continuity between the Old Testament prophecies and Jesus’ fulfillment of them.
 
1. **John the Baptist as Elijah’s forerunner:**
- Jesus said in Matthew 17:10-13 that John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah. He was the fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy about Elijah returning before the Messiah.
- Luke 1:17 says John would "go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous."

2. **The prophecy in Malachi:**
- Malachi 4:5-6 says, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers."
- This prophecy pointed to a messenger who would prepare people for God’s coming judgment and salvation.

3. **Why Elijah?**
- Elijah was a powerful prophet in the Old Testament who confronted Israel’s sin and called them back to God (1 Kings 17–19).
- He was taken to heaven without dying (2 Kings 2:11), so many expected he would return before the Messiah’s arrival.

4. **John the Baptist’s mission:**
- John preached repentance and baptized people to prepare them for Jesus’ ministry (Mark 1:4-8).
- He identified Jesus as the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).

So, Jesus is telling us that John fulfilled the role of Elijah by preparing people for the Messiah’s coming, not that John literally was Elijah returned in person.
 
Since it is appointed to all men to die, and Enoch and Elijah never did, I wonder if they won't be the two witnesses mentioned in Revelation
 
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