Matthew 4 - Fishers of Men

And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. Matthew 4:18-20.

After Jesus was tested in the wilderness, He began His ministry. When John the Baptist was placed in prison, Jesus left His home town and went to Capernaum where He began warning people to repent for the Kingdom of heaven was at hand, i.e. that it was very close.

His first disciples chosen were four fishermen, Peter and Andrew, who were brothers, and James and John, the sons of Zebedee. We see from the prophecy in Ezekiel 47 that God prophesied that, in His kingdom, a large number of fish would swim in the river of life and that fishermen would line the banks, ready to bring in a haul. We know this a picture of the great harvest of souls upon the earth as the Gospel has gone forth for the past two thousand years!

Another signpost that Messiah has come!

Matthew 4 - Jesus' Baptism & Temptation

And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Matthew 3:16-17

Jesus was baptized by John the Baptism as a public proclamation that He was the perfect, sinless, sacrifice for man's sins. After His sacrifice on the cross, there would be no more need to offer up bulls, sheep, and goats, and therefore the Mosaic, Levitical sacrificial system would be satisfied and become obsolete. His perfect, flawless, sinless God-blood would be the final blood offering the Father required.

Upon His baptism, an anointing came from heaven, where He was baptized with the Holy Spirit and declared by God to be His son, with whom He is well pleased. Essentially, the Father was declaring and proclaiming Jesus as the promised Messiah.

Jesus was then led into the wilderness where He was tempted by Satan. The purpose of His temptation was to prove His authenticity as Messiah. He satisfied the temptation of His flesh, soul, and spirit and emerged victorious, even after fasting 40 days and nights. He quoted the Word of God, believed it, and stood firm on it, thereby showing us, His body, how to likewise stand firm against the wiles of the devil!

Matthew 3 - John the Baptist, the return of Elijah

In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Matthew 3:1-3.

The prophet Malachi warned Israel that before Messiah came, Elijah would return and prepare a way for His coming. We see in Matthew that John the Baptist came dressed like Elijah, acting and speaking like Elijah, baptizing people for the repentance of sins, basically fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy of the "Voice crying out in the wilderness."

But Jesus later told his disciples that John fulfilled much more than this - he in fact was the promised Elijah who was prophesied to come and warn Israel to repent, get back to the law, and prepare for the Messiah and the new kingdom.

This was the predominant understanding of the church up until the mid 1800s when the futurist or "left behind" view came into vogue. There does not appear to be any biblical evidence that Elijah the Tishbite will return to earth and prepare the way for Messiah. Jesus claimed that Elijah has already come in the person of John the Baptist, and of course, we already know that Messiah came, was crucified, buried but was raised up to glory!

Take a fresh look at Scripture and decide for yourself whether Elijah has indeed come, just as the Lord promised!