10Then his disciples asked him, “Why do the teachers of religious law insist that Elijah must return before the Messiah comes?”11Jesus replied, “Elijah is indeed coming first to get everything ready.12But I tell you, Elijah has already come, but he wasn’t recognized, and they chose to abuse him. And in the same way they will also make the Son of Man suffer.”13Then the disciples realized he was talking about John the Baptist.
Jesus didn’t really answer the disciple’s question regarding Elijah’s return, he just the prophecy had been fulfilled in John the Baptist. Of course John was not truly the person Elijah. Rather John was a prophet who acted in the same Spirit as Elijah and had a similar mission as Elijah. Elijah had come at a time when Israel had almost entirely gone over to the worship of Baal. Elijah bravely confronted the king of Israel and the priest of Baal. He was wild in his zeal for God and he called the nation to return to God. John was VERY much like Elijah.
But the religious leaders who knew Elijah was coming missed him just as they would miss Jesus. They had formed such a picture of what the Messiah would look like, they missed the Son of God himself. We can still do that. I wonder how often I passed by someone sent by God just to me because I was ready to see Jesus in that person. We need to be ready to see Jesus is the least likely people who come into our lives. It is a shame to miss the Lord even once.
Lord, open my eyes and ears and heart. Throw out my ideas about what Your servants should look like, or sound like and let me meet You over and over in the wonderful people you have placed in my life. Beginner’s Online Bible Stud
Artwork by Dean Zachary – www.deanzacharyart.com y *obbs*
Hi-
I’m curious where you got this image of John the Baptist or if you know who the artist is.
The artwork is by Dean Zachary deanzacharyart.com – I have been remiss in not noting it on the picture.