[Jesus says,] "And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. (Matthew 11:14)
In this verse of scripture Jesus identifies John the Baptist as the "Elijah" of whom Malachi the Prophet says, "See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes." (Malachi 4:5) But faith is necessary if anyone is to recognize such an identification. One must be, as Jesus put it, "willing to accept it."
Is John the Baptist the reincarnation of Elijah, then? John himself says, "No." (John 1:21)
But according to Gabriel the Angel, John has the spirit and power of Elijah: "And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous--to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." (Luke 1:17)
John's ministry is to "pave the way" for Jesus. What am I doing in order to prepare others for life-changing encounters with Jesus Christ?
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