The Life and Mission of Jesus Christ: Episode 09

Rev. Sun Myung Moon: The Life and Mission of Jesus Christ
Chapter 2: Jesus’ Early Ministry, John Denies He Is Elijah, Page 25-26

John Denies He Is Elijah

Now this was John’s testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely,

“I am not the Christ.”

They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”

He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” (John 1:19-21)

What was the people’s reaction? “Impossible!” they said. “How could Jesus of Nazareth be the Son of God? We have not heard anything about Elijah.” No Elijah, no Messiah. In order to accept Jesus Christ as the Son of God, they would have had to disregard their 4,000-year-old tradition and throw their Bible away. But no one was willing to do that.

Malachi’s prophecy of the coming of Elijah was indeed an obstacle to Jesus’ successful ministry. When Jesus’ disciples went out all over Israel teaching the gospel and proclaiming Jesus as the Son of God, the people repudiated their words, saying, “If your master is the Son of God, where is Elijah? The book says Elijah must come first.” Jesus’ disciples were not well prepared to answer this question … . So the embarrassed disciples one day decided to go to Jesus to ask for his help in the matter. An account appears in Matthew:

The disciples asked him, “Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” He replied, “Elijah does come, and he is to restore all things; but I tell you Elijah has already come.”… Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist. (Matt. 17:10-13)

Let us imagine we could transpose these events to our time. John the Baptist of 2,000 years ago was a person of tremendous influence, enjoying great prestige all over Israel as a great man of God—just like Billy Graham of today, a great Christian leader. Let us say that some unknown young man suddenly appeared and began proclaiming himself to the world as the Son of God … and saying that Billy Graham was Elijah. You would undoubtedly say, “Impossible! How could Billy Graham be Elijah? He did not come out of the blue sky. We all know he came from North Carolina!”

Precisely this same kind of unbelief confronted our Lord Jesus Christ … .Yet Jesus continued to preach with power and authority in spite of scornful public opinion. The people could not dismiss such a man lightly, so they decided to go ask John the Baptist himself and settle their questions once and for all. They asked John, “Who are you?”…

John the Baptist denied everything. He said, “I am not Elijah.” He even denied the title of prophet. Everyone knew and recognized him as a prophet of God, but he said, “I’m no prophet.” Why? He evaluated the situation and knew that Jesus Christ was treated by his own society as an outcast. Jesus seemed to be a loser, and John decided not to side with Jesus. He thought it would be much better to deny everything.

By doing so, John the Baptist pushed Jesus into a corner, making him seem a great impostor without defense. After John’s denial, Jesus had no further recourse on this point. We can read in Matthew that John the Baptist, waiting in prison to be beheaded, sent two of his own disciples to Jesus to ask the following question: “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (Matt. 11:3) Is this the question of a man who has faith in Jesus as the Son of God? John the Baptist had earlier testified to Jesus at the Jordan River: “I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:34) Yet this very same person, with the very same tongue, was now confronting Jesus by asking, “Are you really the Messiah, or shall we go and look for somebody else?” How disheartening that question must have been to Jesus!

The New Future of Christianity
September 18, 1974