spockrates Wrote:Jesus gives an alternat interpretation of the relationship between John the Baptist and Elijah in Matthew, chapter 11, if you care to discuss it:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?sea...on=NIV1984
My thought is that Jesus' explanation is closer to what is true, for he knew John better than me, or you.
My thoughts are that Matthew tried to explain away what Mark had done. Convenient that this explanation came from Jesus' mouth eh?
Quote:Are you not surprised to learn, Fallen that Jesus states the words describing Elijah in the Old Testament actually are predictions?
I already knew that. But do you see that what Jesus 'quotes' is a prediction about Elijah himself and not John the Baptist? He's talking about Malachi 3:1 and if we read the end of this book we read Malachi 4:5 which says 'I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.'
As we can see, the author of Matthew picked up on Mark's allegorical construct of John the Baptist but then by using Jesus (a person with authority) he tried to turn John into a historical figure.
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it" ~ Aristotle
