ACC ~ John 1 v21

ELIJAH RANKS SECOND IN ISRAEL’S HOPE

ORIGEN: Once the priests and Levites, who were sent from Jerusalem, have heard that he is not the awaited Christ, they inquire if he might be Elijah, the person who held the second rank in honor as an object of their hope. He says that he is not Elijah, again confessing the truth through the expression “I am not.” COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 6.44. [1]

[1] FC 80:181*; SC 157:162.

JOHN’S REAPPEARING WAS EXPECTED

ORIGEN: [Someone] might say that John is Elijah who is to come, in one sense, but that he responded to the priests and Levites, “I am not,” because he knew what they were really asking. For the earlier question to John from the priests and Levites was not intended to ascertain if the same spirit was in both men, but if John were that very Elijah who had been taken up, now appearing without a birth according to the Jewish expectation. For those who had been sent from Jerusalem may have been ignorant of John’s birth. He appropriately answers this question, “I am not,” for Elijah who had been taken up had not come, as if he had changed his body and had been named John. [1] COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 6.70-71. [2]

[1] Origen has an extended discussion concerning those who think that John earlier existed as Elijah through the transmigration of souls as well as what he refers to as a Jewish tradition that Phinehas, who was rumored to be immortal because of his zeal for the Lord (Num 25:7ff.) and his longevity in the book of Judges, was the same as Elijah.

[2] FC 80:188**; SC 157:180-82.

JOHN THE BAPTIST PREFIGURES ELIJAH

AUGUSTINE: The Lord Jesus Christ said, “Elijah has come already, and he is John the Baptist.” [1] John, however, when asked, proclaimed that he was not Elijah, just as [he proclaimed] that neither was he the Christ. And, indeed, just as he truly proclaimed that he was not the Christ, so he truly proclaimed that neither was he Elijah.

How then shall we compare the words of the herald with the words of the judge? Far be it from the herald to lie, for he says what he hears from the judge. Why then did he say, “I am not Elijah” and the Lord said, “He is Elijah”? Because in him the Lord Jesus Christ wished to prefigure his future coming and to say that John was in the spirit of Elijah. And what John was to the first coming, this will Elijah be to the second coming. … When John was conceived, or rather when he was born, the Holy Spirit prophesied that this was to be fulfilled with regard to that man. “And he will be,” he said, “the forerunner of the most high, in the spirit and power of Elijah.” [2] Not then Elijah but “in the spirit and power of Elijah.” What is “in the spirit and power of Elijah”? It means in the same Holy Spirit in place of Elijah. Why in place of Elijah? Because what Elijah is to the second coming, this John was to the first. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 4.5.1-2. [3]

[1] See Mt 11:14; 17:12.

[2] See Lk 1:17.

[3] FC 78:96-97*.

JOHN IS NOT CONTRADICTING JESUS

GREGORY THE GREAT: When in another place his disciples asked our Lord about the coming of Elijah, he answered, “Elijah has already come, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they please; and if you want to know, John is Elijah.” [1] John, when he was asked, said, “I am not.”…

If we carefully examine truth himself, what sounded contradictory is found to be not contradictory. The angel said to Zechariah, of the promised birth of John, that “he will come in the spirit and power of Elijah.” [2] This is said because just as Elijah is the forerunner of the Lord’s second coming, so was John the forerunner of his first; as Elijah will come as the forerunner of the Judge, so was John the forerunner of the Redeemer. John, then, was Elijah in spirit; he was not Elijah in person. What the Lord spoke of the spirit, John denied of the person. It was right that the Lord should make a spiritual assertion about John to his disciples and that John should answer the same question to the materialistic crowds not about his spirit but about his body. What John said appears to contradict truth, yet he did not depart from the path of truth. FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 4. [3]

[1] Mt 17:12; 11:14.

[2] Lk 1:17.

[3] CS 123:22.

HOW COULD JEWS BE IGNORANT OF JOHN’S BIRTH?

ORIGEN: But [someone] will say that it is not consistent that the son of such a great priest as Zechariah, who had been born contrary to all human expectation when both parents were old, was unknown to so many Jews in Jerusalem and to those Levites and priests they sent who do not know that he was born in this way….

For it has been established that those who sent knew that John had been born of Zechariah and Elizabeth, and even more so that those who were sent, since they belonged to the priestly house and would not be unaware of the incredible good offspring of so renowned a fellow kinsman as Zechariah, also knew. What did they have in mind then when they asked, “Are you Elijah?” since they were men who had read that he was taken up as though into heaven and they were waiting for his coming? Perhaps, then, since they expect Elijah before Christ at the consummation, and Christ after him, they seem to ask figuratively, as it were, “Are you the one who announces in advance the word that will precede Christ at the consummation?” He wisely responds to this, “I am not.”…

It is not strange, therefore, that, just as in the case of the Savior—although many knew of his birth from Mary, others were deceived—so also in the case of John, some were aware of his birth from Zechariah, but others were in doubt whether the awaited Elijah had appeared in the person of John. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 6.72, 77-78, 81. [1]

THE PROPHET

ORIGEN: Inasmuch as there were many prophets in Israel—there was one in particular, who had been prophesied by Moses, who was especially expected in accordance with the saying, “The Lord our God shall raise up a prophet like me for you from your brothers; him you shall hear” [2] —they ask a third time, not if he is a prophet but if he is “the prophet.”

They do not apply this title to the Christ but suppose that he is another in addition to the Christ. Because John knows that he of whom he is the forerunner is both the Christ and this prophet who was prophesied, he says “No.” He might have answered, “Yes,” if they had asked their question without using the article, for he was not unaware that he was a prophet. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 6.45-46. [3]

[1] FC 80:188, 190-91**; SC 157:182, 186-88.

[2] Deut 18:15; cf. Acts 3:22-23.

[3] FC 80:181; SC 157:162-64.

MORE THAN A PROPHET

GREGORY THE GREAT: When John himself was asked, he answered, “I am not a prophet.” He who knew that he was more than a prophet said he was not a prophet. He is said to be more than a prophet because it is a prophet’s task to foretell things to come, not to point them out as well. John is more than a prophet because with his finger he pointed to the one he spoke of [right at that moment]. FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 1. [1]

[1] CS 123:6.

A PROPHET SIMILAR TO MOSES EXPECTED

ORIGEN: A certain prophet was specially expected who would be similar to Moses in some respect, to mediate between God and humankind, and who would receive the covenant from God and give the new covenant to those who became disciples. And the people of Israel knew so far as each of the prophets was concerned that no one of them was the one announced by Moses. As, therefore, they were in doubt about whether John was the Christ, so also they were in doubt whether he was “the prophet.” It is not strange if those who were in doubt about whether John was the Christ did not understand thoroughly that the Christ and the prophet are the same. For not knowing that Christ and the prophet are the same is the consequence of uncertainty about John. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 6.90-91. [1]

[1] FC 80:193-94; SC 157:196. See also Eusebius Proof of the Gospel 9.11.444-45 (POG 2:175).

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