speaking of John the baptist, Jesus says:
if ye are willing to receive [it], he is Elijah who was about to come
(Matthew 11:14, YLT)
what does He mean?
is there 'a different Elijah' for those who are not 'willing to receive' ?
He doesn't say '
if ye are willing to receive' anywhere else, about anything else -- why not?
what is it about John/Elijah that's true if only
if we're "
willing to receive" it ((
him/Him?))?
I think it relates to having” ears to hear “
“For all the prophets and the law prophesied
until John. And if ye will receive it, this is Elijah , which was for to come.
He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”
Matthew 11:13-15 KJV
if a person knows the Old Testament it prepares them to hear ( understand) the revelations of the New Testament
“
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall
turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”
Malachi 4:5-6 KJV
“But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt
call his name John. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and
he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. And
he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and
the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Luke 1:13, 15, 17 KJV
it’s true throughout the New Testament much of what Jesus said we are prepared to hear by hearing the prophets so even just remaining on the subject of John
“
Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.”
Malachi 3:1 KJV
“
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;
As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. … John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.”
Mark 1:1-2, 4 KJV
“
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. …And
the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth:
but the word of our God shall stand for ever.”
Isaiah 40:3, 5-8 KJV
“
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
…. Now
after that John was put in prison,
Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.”
Mark 1:3-4, 14-15 KJV
“Being
born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But
the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.”
1 Peter 1:23-25 KJV
John was always foretold to appear just before the messiah was to come and deliver the new covenant that had been promised whos word would stand forever
I think it relates to having the ears prepared by prophecy
John is in a lot of prophecy always appearing before Christ was to come I find this interesting also this figure of Elijah in John
“And they answered him,
He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said,
It is Elijah the Tishbite.”
2 Kings 1:8 KJV
“And the same
John had
his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.”
Matthew 3:4 KJV
I hope it made sense I think if we have heard the ot and retained any of it ot let’s us hear the gospel better and understand how it is fulfillment of those prior things
“
Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and
they are they which testify of me.”
John 5:39 KJV
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