• Was John the Baptist the Elijah who was to come?

    Jesus regards John the Baptist as the prophesied Elijah, indicating a symbolic mission, but John denies this identity literally, according to John 1:19-21. This distinction between mission and personal identity clarifies an apparent biblical contradiction.

    John 1.19-21 (King James Version) :
    And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.
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