Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 49

Trypho responded, "It seems to me that those who claim he was a human being, chosen and anointed, and thus became the Christ, are making a more persuasive case than you are. After all, we all expect the Christ to be born a man from men, and for Elijah to come and anoint him. But if this man is the Christ, one must know in every way that he was born a human being from humans. Since Elijah has not come, however, I conclude that this man is not the Christ." I then questioned him further: "Does not the Scripture say through Zechariah that Elijah will come before the great and fearful day of the Lord?" (Zechariah). He answered, "Certainly." "If, then, the Word compels us to acknowledge that two comings of Christ were prophesied—one in which he will appear suffering, inglorious, and unknown, and another in which he will come in glory as the judge of all, as has been demonstrated in many of our previous discussions—should we not understand that the Word of God announced Elijah as a forerunner before that fearful and great day, that is, before the second coming of Christ?" He replied, "Certainly."

"Our Lord," I continued, "handed down this very teaching in his doctrines, declaring that Elijah would come. We know this will take place when our Lord Jesus Christ is about to arrive in glory from heaven. The Spirit of God that was in Elijah went before him in John, a prophet who arose in your nation; after him, no other prophet appeared among you. Sitting by the Jordan River, John cried out, 'I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who is stronger than I is coming, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.' Your king Herod threw this prophet into prison. When Herod's birthday was celebrated and the daughter of his sister danced in a way that pleased him, he promised to give her whatever she asked. Prompted by her mother, she requested the head of John the Baptist, who was in prison. Herod sent an executioner and ordered John's head to be brought on a platter. Therefore, our Christ also spoke to those who insisted that Elijah must come before the Christ: 'Elijah will indeed come and restore all things; but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased.' And it is written, 'Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them about John the Baptist.'"

Trypho objected, "You seem to me to be saying something paradoxical: that the prophetic Spirit of God that was in Elijah also came to be in John." I answered, "Does it not seem to you that the very same thing happened with Joshua son of Nun, who succeeded Moses in leadership? When God told Moses to lay his hands on Joshua, he said, 'Shall I not put upon him the Spirit that is in you?' (Numbers 11:25). He agreed. Just as God transferred the Spirit that was in Moses to Joshua while Moses was still alive, so also God was able to bring the Spirit from Elijah to John. This was so that, just as the first coming of Christ was inglorious, the first coming of the Spirit that was always in Elijah might also be understood as inglorious, like Christ's. For it is said that the Lord fought against Amalek with a hidden hand, and you will not deny that Amalek fell. But if the Scripture says that Amalek will be fought only in the glorious coming of Christ, what fruit does the word have that says, 'The Lord fights Amalek with a hidden hand'? You can perceive that the hidden power of God became the crucified Christ, whom even the demons fear, and all the authorities and powers of the earth."