When Elijah Comes!

ALL – Psalm 22:1-18
ALL – Proverbs 5:7-14
OT – Exodus 2:11-3:22
NT – Matthew 17:10-27

Expectations exceed reality. Often.

The Jewish leaders were teaching that Elijah had to return before the Messiah was coming. If you know anything about Elijah, he was an amazing prophet and man of God, a man of wonderful character who boldly proclaimed that God was in charge and would hold even kings accountable. To the Jews and their teachers, the vision of Elijah’s return must have been mouth-watering. To have a man of Elijah’s stature appear, to see the miracles he did, to watch him boldly confront their Roman oppressors, protected by God’s own hand, would be glorious! They had high expectations.

But the disciples were following Jesus, and they couldn’t remember having seen Elijah. Which was a bit confusing considering that Jesus was supposed to be the Messiah. So they decided to ask Jesus about the idea that Elijah would come before the Messiah. And Jesus said:

They are right. Elijah must come and set everything in order. And, in fact, he has already come, but he wasn’t recognized, and was badly mistreated by many. And I, the Messiah, shall also suffer at their hands. – Matthew 17:11-12, The Living Bible

The disciples heard clearly:

Then the disciples realized he was speaking of John the Baptist. – Matthew 17:13

John the Baptist carried on Elijah’s ministry, boldly confronting sin. He confronted Romans, but he also confronted Jews, even Jewish leaders. That’s probably why they didn’t recognize him. Their imaginations had constructed a glorious Elijah who would be on their side rather than opposing them. John the Baptist didn’t fit those expectations. And as Jesus said, he “was badly mistreated by many.”

His mistreatment demonstrated the kind of reception Jesus the Messiah would receive, too. “I, the Messiah, shall also suffer at their hands.” And it helps us today to set better expectations for our walk with Jesus. The world’s not going to run up and pat us on the back. They won’t see anything special in us. They’ll mock us for trusting in a man who lived and died 2000 years ago, they’ll mock our claim that He has any power today, and they’ll ignore us or mistreat us fairly frequently. True religion is not about having everything go our way. True religion is about going Jesus’ way, even if it doesn’t feel so good.

So let’s follow Him together.

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