John the baptist, the second coming of Elijah.

John 1.19-28.

In the Gospel of Luke, he started the Jesus story with the time an angel appears to Zechariah the Levite to tell him he’ll have a son named John; and this John grows up to be John the baptist. As a result a lot of Christmas stories likewise start with Zechariah.

More of these stories leapfrog Zechariah though. Instead they start with Jesus’s mom, Mary, or Jesus’s dad, Joseph. Or they leapfrog that too, and describe his parents just getting into Bethlehem as Mary’s water breaks, and because nobody would take them in, Mary had to climb into a manger and squeeze out Jesus into it. What’d you think “born in a manger” literally means? And no, that’s not in the bible anywhere. Luke said he was laid in a manger, Lk 2.7 after Mary gave birth. Read a bible, people. But I digress.

I’m not leapfrogging Zechariah, but I am starting with John the baptist… and starting with a conversation John had with the Judeans some decades later, when these people wanted to know exactly who John thought he was. For that, we switch gospels to John, and look at this part here:

John 1.19-28 KWL

19 And this is John’s testimony,

when the Judeans of Jerusalem send priests and Levites out to him

so they could ask him, “Who are you?”

20 John is in agreement with them,

and does not resist them,

and agrees with them: “I’m not Messiah.”

21 They ask John, “So… what, are you Elijah?”

He says, “I’m not.”

“Are you the Prophet?”

He answered, “No.”

22 So they say, “Who are you?—

so we can give an answer to those who sent us.

What do you say about yourself?”

23 John is saying, “I’m

‘a voice crying out in the wilderness:

Straighten the Master’s path!’ Is 40.3

like the prophet Isaiah said.”

 

24 Those who’d been sent were Pharisees,

25 and questioned John, and told him,

“So why do you baptize,

if you’re not Messiah nor Elijah nor the Prophet?”

26 John answers them, saying, “I baptize in water.

In your midst, one has stood among you.

You’ve not known him.

27 [He is] the one coming after me,

[who has got in front of me].

I’m not worthy to loose his sandal strap.”

28 These events happen in Bethany-beyond-the-Jordan,

where John is baptizing.

Now y’might notice the three people John said he’s not:

• Messiah.
• Elijah.
• The Prophet.

These three are major figures in the Pharisee End Times Timeline.

Back then, same as now, people figured the End was coming, and might actually be upon us. And since John was getting a lot of attention, the Pharisees wanted to know whether John considered himself one of these End Times guys. They might’ve had their doubts. But John immediately silenced those doubts by saying nope, he’s none of those guys. He’s just a voice in the wilderness, like Isaiah described, telling people to get ready ’cause the Master is coming.

And no, this “voice in the wilderness” is not a specific prophecy about John the baptist. It’s just a verse John borrowed to describe what he was up to. Because anybody who speaks up for God in a lawless, fruitless, godless culture is a voice in the wilderness. Any Christian can be such a voice. Many Christians have been.

Likewise anyone who tells people to get ready for Jesus’s second coming—especially to a culture who’s more interested in looking like they follow God instead of bearing actual good fruit—is a similar voice in a wild, undeveloped, untended land. Wouldn’t hurt to have more of them.

Wait, but isn’t John the baptist the second coming of Elijah?

Part of the reason the crowds came to check out John was his lifestyle. His camelhair clothing and leather belt Mk 1.6, Mt 3.4 was deliberately meant to remind people of Elijah from the bible, the “prophet of fire” who wore the very same getup. 2Ki 1.8 John was mimicking Elijah. But of course he’s not literally Elijah; he’s John bar Zechariah.

Thing is, the Pharisees had very specific End Times beliefs about Elijah. Christians aren’t the only ones with wild and wacky End Times theories. Plenty of religions have ’em. As did the Pharisees! They cherry-picked scriptures from Daniel, Ezekiel, and other prophets, and spliced together their very own End Times timeline. And they added books from the pseudepigrapha—books which claimed to be written by famous Old Testament saints like Enoch, Moses, and Ezra, but weren’t really. Kinda like End Times prognosticators who quote the Left Behind novels and John Hagee books far more often than Revelation.

The most popular Pharisee theory of the day, claimed Israel would undergo 12 tribulations before the End. Then after the 12th ended, “the Prophet”—the very last prophet in history, a prophet like Moses Dt 18.15 whom Israelis were obligated to heed—would appear. Pharisees didn’t agree whether this Prophet was a whole new prophet, or the second coming of Elijah. (Elijah hadn’t died, remember? Went straight to heaven in a whirlwind. 2Ki 2.11) If you took Malachi literally—and plenty still do—Elijah should be literally coming back. Ml 4.5 Then he and this Prophet would work together. Others insisted nope, Elijah and the Prophet are the same guy.

Pharisees expected Elijah to return the fathers’ hearts to their children and vice-versa. Ml 4.6 Once he magically achieved that, then Messiah would come, defeat Israel’s enemies, and rule the nation for 400 years. (Although some Pharisees believed in two messiahs—one who’d die, Is 53 and one who’d reign.)

John’s physical appearance looked mighty Elijah-like, 2Ki 1.8, Mk 1.6 so naturally Pharisees wanted to know what his deal was. John’s reply? Not Elijah. Not the Prophet. A lowercase-P prophet; a whole other guy. Nobody special.

Thing is, John totally is Elijah. Christ Jesus said so.

Matthew 17.10-13 NRSVue

10 And the disciples asked him, “Why, then, do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” 11 He replied, “Elijah is indeed coming and will restore all things, 12 but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but they did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man is about to suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them about John the Baptist.

It looks like John honestly believed he wasn’t Elijah. But Jesus is in a position to know precisely what John is—since he’s the same LORD who spoke to the prophet Malachi, and knew exactly what he meant when he foretold Elijah’s second coming. The angel Gabriel, who foretold John to John’s father, was likewise in a position to know:

Luke 1.16-17 NRSVue

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.”

John was divinely granted Elijah’s spirit, power, and commission. Clear-cut enough for you?

Remember, John is human, and not infallible. You want infallible, you listen to Jesus. The Elijah prophecy was fulfilled by John.

And regardless of the claims of today’s End Times prognosticators, it needn’t be fulfilled again. Any of ’em who put the second coming of Elijah in their timelines is ignoring Jesus. Dangerous behavior for people who claim to follow him, right? So relax; it’s okay to ignore them too.