Then the disciples asked him, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" He said in reply, "Elijah will indeed come and restore all things; but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased. So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands." Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist. (Mt 17:10-13)
"Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?". The Prophet Malachi declared that God would send Elijah the Prophet to prepare the people before the great and terrible day of the Lord. (4: 5). We know well that Elijah had purified the people on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 19). He directed the people to believe in one true God. Later he was taken up to heaven. So it was believed that he would come back again.
Prophet Malachi’s prophecy was that this prophet would return to prepare the way of the Lord. Similar idea is found in the book of Sirach (48: 10) where the author speaks the work of Elijah as the work of restoring the tribes of Jacob. Using the texts like this the scribes had developed that prophet Elijah should come again to restore the people.
John the Baptist had come and did the very same work which the people expected Elijah to do and which the scribes were waiting to be completed. When John had come and preached the disciples and the people did not see in him the prophecy of Malachi. They expected a prophet would bring thunderbolts and destruction and so on. John came totally in a different form and speech. God’s timetable and God’s working is not controlled by man’s reasoning and understanding.
