Why did John the Baptist lie to the Jewish Priests and Levites as to who he was?

Why did John the Baptist lie to the Jewish Priests and Levites as to who he was?

In Matthew 17 vs. 10-13.

10. The Disciples asked him. Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?
11. Jesus replied . To be sure. Elijah comes and will restore all things 12. But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.13. Then the Disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.

John 1 19-21.

19. Now this was John’s Testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent Priests and Levites to ask him who he was.20. He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely.
I am not the Christ.
21. They asked him Then who are you? Are you Elijah.
He said “I am not”
Are you the Prophet?
He answered No.

Jesus confirms to us in Matthew 17 that John the Baptist was Elijah. Exactly correct according the old Jewish teaching and one of the signs that they were to watch our for, for the Return of their Messiah Jesus , Hence the question to Jesus….”Why do the Teachers of the Law say that Elijah must come first…”

I can understand that the Priests and Levites were investigating who John the Baptist was as his following had grown. But they were the official Jewish elected “Spiritual” leaders at the time and going back, appointed by God Himself to be in this position. To me they must have identified something in John’s teaching to get a reaction and get them to come ask him to confirm what they had suspected. Otherwise they would NEVER have worded the question as they did.

Then to get told “ No I’m not he”

Can the Jewish people be Blamed then for not accepting Jesus??

I do believe they had more chances to see what Jesus was saying, I don’t doubt that, but what if John had said YES I AM HE !

John the Baptist was the Spirit of Elijah not the same Elijah as people think of the Old Testament, he was probably treated badly too along the way as to who he was then he was killed for it the Jesus was too.

[edit on 7-6-2009 by The time lord]

reply to post by SharkBait


Because he was and he was not.

On one hand, he was the spiritual version of Elijah, prophesied in the Old Testament. On the other hand, he was not the Elijah. Remember, Elijah was physically taken and did not experience death. So they were expecting a physical 'second coming,' if you will, of Elijah. But John was stating that he was not Elijah in that sense but goes on to explain in the following verse:

Finally they said, 'Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?'

John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, 'I am the voice of one calling in the desert, Make straight the way for the Lord.

John 1:22-23

It was prophesied in the Old Testament that the Messiah would be preceded by a man in the desert. That prophecy was fulfilled in the role of John the Baptist (documented and verified to have existed).

To go one step further, nothing is known for certain but there are some schools of thought that the Elijah will physically return during the tribulation as one of the two witnesses mentioned in Revelation but it is only speculation.

reply to post by SharkBait

Can the Jewish people be Blamed then for not accepting Jesus??

I say yes. This is because, the prophecy of the one in the wilderness aside, there was another, grander, prophecy about the coming of the Messiah. Daniel's 70 weeks.

That prophecy stated exactly when the Messiah would come. Many Jews knew this too. Apparently, there were many "messiahs" that arose before and after Jesus' day.

Then there is also the prophecy of the Messiah coming on a donkey, which Jesus fulfilled as well. I heard once before to that no one was to enter Jerusalem through the gate that Jesus went into unless he was the Messiah. I'm not sure about that, it's just something I heard when I was in college. I should look into it more.

Did Jesus himself not say you know not what spirit you posses.

Who is to say John The Baptist knew who he was in the full understanding.

If you are "reincarnated", then you do not know your previous lives. If you had memory of any previous life, then your experience would be different by default. He would not have been "John the Baptist", he would have been a combination of both lives.

Lets say you are reincarnated as a bird. If you had previous memory of your current life, then you would not be just a bird. You would be experiencing a human perspective in a bird body. In order to experience being a bird, you would have no have no prior memory of experiences. And that is 2 totally completely different experiences.

So if John had previous knowledge of previous lives, then he would not have been the same. Make sense?

If you look at the "spirit" of things, and what the person does and what their actions are. That would be about the only way to tell. But nobody did that, so he wasn't recognized.