Then the disciples understood that he spoke unto them of John the Baptist.
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Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
Quaest Ev., i, 21: Or; “He shall restore all things,” that is those whom the persecution of Antichrist shall have overthrown; as He Himself should restore by His death those whore He ought.
As he announced the Lord’s coming, so he was also to foreshew His passion bythe example of his own suffering and wrong; whence it follows, “So also shall the Son of Man suffer of them.”
It is enquired how, seeing that Herod and Herodias were they that killed John, it can be said that Jesus also was crucified by them, when we read that He was put to death by the Scribes and Pharisees! It must be answered briefly, that the party of the Pharisees consented to the death of John, and that in the Lord's crucifixion Herod united his approval, when having mocked and set Him at nought, he sent Him back to Pilate, that he should crucify Him.
Hom., lvii: The disciples knew not of the coming of Elias out of the Scriptures; but the Scribes made it known to them; and this report was current among the ignorant multitude, as was that concerning Christ. Yet the Scribes did not explain the coming of Christ and of Elias, as they ought to have done. For the Scriptures speak of two comings of Christ; that which has taken place, and that which is yet to be. But the Scribes, blinding the people, spake to the m only of His second coming, and said, If this be the Christ, then should Elias have come before Him. Christ thus resolves the difficulty, He answered and said, “Elias truly shall come, and restore all things; but I say unto you, that Elias has already come. "Think not that here is a contradiction in His speech, if He first say that Elias shall come, and then that he is come. For when He says that Elias shall come and restore all things, He speaks of Elias himself in his own proper person, who indeed shall restore all things, in th...
And after a little while again, when He had cast out the devil, which His disciples were not able to cast out; for then too, As they abode in Galilee, so it says, Jesus said unto them, The Son of Man shall be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, and they shall kill Him, and the third day He shall rise again. Matthew 17:23
Now in doing this, He by the greatness of the miracles was abating the excess of their sorrow, and in every way consoling them; even as here also, by the mention of John's death, He afforded them much consolation.
But should any one say, Wherefore did He not even now raise up Elias and send him, witnessing as He does so great good of his coming? we should reply, that even as it was, while thinking Christ to be Elias, they did not believe Him. For some say, such are the words, that You are Elias, and others, Jeremias. Matthew 16:14 And indeed between John and Elias, there was no difference but the time only. Then how will they believe at that time? it may be sa...
From the mention of His own passion which the Lord had often foretold to them, and from that of His forerunner, which they beheld already accomplished, the disciples perceived that John was set forth to them under the name of Elias; whence it follows; “Then understood the disciples that he spake to them of John the Baptist.”
By saying, "Elijah truly shall come," Christ shows that he has not yet come, but that he will appear as the forerunner of the second coming; and when he appears, he will restore all teachable Jews to faith in Christ, as if restoring them to their paternal inheritance which they had lost. But when Christ says, "Elijah is come already," He is speaking of John the Forerunner; for the Jews "did unto him whatsoever they desired" when they slew him; they slew him when they permitted Herod to slay John, though they could have prevented it. Then the disciples became keener in perception and understood that He was calling John Elijah, as John was the Forerunner of the first coming, just as Elijah would be the forerunner of the second coming.
