Matthew 17:9-13 Elijah

As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, "Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead."  And His disciples asked Him, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" And He answered and said, "Elijah is coming and will restore all things;  but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands."  Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist. [Matthew 17:9‭-‬13 NASB]

The disciples are just now coming to grips with their realization that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. They are trying to reconcile the prophecies that they know about the Messiah, with the person they see in front of them.

It has already been speculated that Jesus was Elijah (Matthew 16:14), but that speculation was set aside with the revelation of Jesus' true identity.

The very last prophecy of the Old Testament reads, "Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. “He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse." [Malachi 4:5-6 NASB]

The notion that Elijah would return to herald the coming of the Messiah was very popular in those days, because they thought it meant their time under the rule of Rome would soon be over. They thought they would know the Messiah when He came because Elijah would herald His arrival.

The disciples were no different. Although they accepted that Jesus was the Messiah, they couldn't understand how He could be there without first seeing Elijah.

Jesus told them, "Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him." Then the disciples understood that he was talking about John the Baptist.

Some have read this and come to the conclusion that John the Baptist was the reincarnation of Elijah. Let's be perfectly clear. The Bible does not teach reincarnation. We are taught, "It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment," [Hebrews 9:27 NASB] It is best to consider that John the Baptist is, metaphorically, Elijah.

He was not recognized because he was not what people expected. The popular concept of Elijah is based on his miracles, and demonstrations of power: stopping the rain, raising the dead, calling fire from heaven, and so on.

John the Baptist did not perform any miracles, but in the spirit of Elijah, he confronted ungodliness and exposed hypocrisy. He called upon the common people to “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” [Matthew 3:2 NASB]

He also fulfilled the role as herald to the Messiah. He said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! “This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’" [John 1:29-30 NASB]

It is easy to miss what God is doing because we have preconceived ideas about what it will look like. Just as people thought they knew what Elijah's coming would look like, so people think they know what the end time signs will look like before Jesus' return. One thing about prophecies is that it is easier to interpret them after the fact. 

Let's not be so sure of our expectations that we miss what God is doing.