Elijah

Restoration of all things

During the Jewish holiday of Passover, a seat and an extra plate (or an extra cup of wine) are set for the prophet Elijah to symbolize hope for the coming of the Messiah

** Is referred to as Elijah because he will be like him and Malachi does not know his name. In the same way the coming Messiah is referred to as David in OT (my servant David, Ez 37, Jer and Hosea). All OT is typology. A type and shadow of Christ.

635 ἀποκαθίστημι (apokathistēmi): vb. [see also 634]; ≡ DBLHebr 8740; Str 600—1. LN 13.65 (completely) restore (Mt 12:13; 17:11; Mk 3:5; 8:25; 9:12; Lk 6:10; Ac 1:6+); 2. LN 15.74 send back, to a place where one has been before (Heb 13:19+)

Acts 3:21 “whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.”

Couple of ways to understand the usage of past tense Elijah being John and present or future tense Elijah:

Paraphrasing Malachi 4. Elijah comes and restores all things. So his answer to why the scribes say…. he is quoting the scripture that they base their belief.

Could be a second coming of a spiritual Elijah

James Swanson, in Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek (New Testament) (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).

FULFILLING ELIJAH’S MINISTRY. CHRYSOSTOM: They did not know this from the Scriptures, but the scribes used to tell them, and this saying was reported among the ignorant crowd, as also about Christ. Therefore the Samaritan woman also said, “The Messiah is coming; when he comes, he will show us all things.”46 And they themselves asked John, “Are you Elijah or the prophet?” 47 For this opinion was strong, as I said, both the one about Christ and the one about Elijah, but they did not interpret it as it should have been. For the Scriptures speak of two comings of Christ, both this one that has taken place and the future one. Paul spoke of these when he said, “For the grace of God has appeared for the salvation of men, training us to renounce irreligion and worldly passions, and to live sober, upright and godly lives in this world.”48 Behold the first advent, and listen to how he declares the coming advent: “Awaiting our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”49 The prophets also mention both advents; of the one that is second they say that Elijah will be the forerunner; John was forerunner of the first, John whom Christ also called by the name Elijah, not because he was Elijah but because he was fulfilling Elijah’s ministry. For just as Elijah will be the forerunner of the second advent, so John was of the first. But the scribes, confusing these things and perverting the people, mentioned that coming alone, the second one, to the people, and said, “If this is the Christ, Elijah ought to have come first.” That is why the disciples also say, “Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 57.1.50

Manlio Simonetti, ed., Matthew 14-28, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2002), 58.

17:9–13. Jewish people believed that Elijah would return before the time of the end to make matters right (Mal 4:5–6); the *resurrection of all the righteous dead was to follow his coming, at the end. Malachi 4:6 speaks of Elijah “restoring” families (not just their genealogies, as in later rabbinic tradition). Jesus interprets the promise of the end-time Elijah more figuratively than most of his contemporaries would have.

Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, Second Edition. (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2014), 88.

Jesus is not only the prophet promised by Moses to speak God’s word and deliver His people, but also He is the messenger preceded by Elijah. When Jesus and His disciples came down from the mountain, He commanded them, “Don’t tell anyone about the vision until the Son of Man is raised from the dead” (v. 9). The disciples were confused in light of the prophecy that Elijah must come before the great Day of the Lord. But Jesus had already referred to John as “the Elijah who is to come” (Matt 11:14), and here in verse 12 He reiterates that truth. John the Baptist fulfilled the following prophecies of Malachi:

“See, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. Then the Lord you seek will suddenly come to His temple, the Messenger of the covenant you desire—see, He is coming,” says the LORD of Hosts. (Mal 3:1)

Remember the instruction of Moses My servant, the statutes and ordinances I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. Look, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome Day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse. (Mal 4:4–6)

According to Malachi, Elijah the prophet would come and prepare the way of the Lord. On one level, then, the disciples’ question to Jesus could be chronological, i.e., “We just now saw Elijah; how come He didn’t come before you?” Jesus answers that question in Matthew 17:12 by pointing out that John the Baptist, the Elijah to come, had already come. But that simply leads to a deeper theological question: How is John the Elijah who would restore all things if John had been beheaded?36 John didn’t usher in a great restoration, or so the disciples thought. Jesus had to help the disciples understand that the kingdom of God was not being ushered in the way they thought it would be. They expected a messianic forerunner and then a Messiah who would together usher in a kingdom on this earth marked by triumph and power. However, God’s kingdom was coming in a very different way.

The promised Elijah, John the Baptist, did in fact have a ministry of restoration. He announced that the kingdom of heaven was near and he called people to repent (Matt 3:2). However, in the end, John the Baptist’s ministry of restoration resulted in his suffering and death. John’s death is what Jesus referred to when He said, “They did whatever they pleased to him” (v. 12). Such treatment was not only true of John; Jesus was also preparing the disciples for His own death. Jesus closes verse 12 by saying, “In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” The disciples were being prepared for the reality that Jesus’ ministry of redemption would be accomplished through His suffering and death. This is a key truth that keeps reappearing in Matthew’s Gospel.

The disciples (along with many other Jews) wanted an immediate and glorious kingdom set up on this earth by the Messiah. That’s one of the reasons Peter suggested putting up three tabernacles, for he saw that in Jesus the kingdom was dawning.37 But Jesus refused, for the cross of Christ must come before the crown of Christ. He instructed the disciples in verse 9 not to tell anyone about what they had seen. They were to wait until after Jesus’ death (and resurrection), since there is no true glory apart from the cross. Suffering must precede splendor. This truth doesn’t make sense to the world, but it is crucial if we are to see the divine glory of the Son.

David Platt, Exalting Jesus in Matthew, ed. Daniel L. Akin, David Platt, and Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2013), 228–229.

17:11–13 By way of reply, Jesus will point out that Elijah, as forerunner, did not come to prevent the Messiah’s suffering and death but to foreshadow it.17 But first Jesus reassures them that Malachi’s prophecy was fulfilled in John the Baptist. The restoration he brought must thus have included his ministry of preaching and the widespread repentance to which it led. Full restoration of course awaits Christ’s return (Acts 1:6; 3:21), leaving open the question whether there is a yet unfulfilled part of the prophecy regarding Elijah. Revelation 11:3–6, in which one of the “two witnesses” has a miracle-working ministry closely parallel to Elijah’s, suggests there may be but is not clear about how literally this text should be taken. The two witnesses could well stand for the entire witnessing community of the people of God in the last days. As for the Jewish leaders, they still look for Elijah because they have rejected John the Baptist (v. 12a). Herod even executed him (v. 12b). And the same fate awaits Christ (v. 12c). In Matthew’s distinctive conclusion, based on his previous pattern of pointing out the disciples’ insight, we learn that these three finally do understand (v. 13).18

Craig Blomberg, Matthew, vol. 22 of The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), 266.

CHRYSOSTOM. But if there shall so much good arise out of the presence of Elias, why did He not send him at that time? We shall say, Because they then held Christ to be Elias, and yet believed not on Him. But they shall hereafter believe Elias, because when he shall come after so great expectation announcing Jesus, they will more readily receive what shall be taught by Him. But when He says that Elias is come already, He calls John the Baptist Elias from the resemblance of their ministry; for as Elias shall be the forerunner of His second coming, so was John the forerunner of His first. And He calls John Elias, to shew that His first coming was agreeable to the Old Testament, and to prophecy.

Thomas Aquinas, Catena Aurea: Commentary on the Four Gospels, Collected out of the Works of the Fathers: St. Matthew, ed. John Henry Newman (Oxford: John Henry Parker, 1841), 608.