Jesus and Elijah

We have been doing a sermon series on the life of Elijah. There is a relatively obscure story of Elijah in 2 Kings 1, where King Ahaziah sends soldiers to arrest the prophet, but Elijah calls down fire from heaven and the soldiers are destroyed.

Despite its relative obscurity, this Old Testament text is evoked several times in the Gospels. For example, in the Gospel of Luke, when a village rejects Jesus, the disciples indignantly ask, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” (Luke 9:54). The disciples were undoubtedly thinking of Elijah calling down fire from heaven in 2 Kings 1. But the most stunning reference is at the cross. Each of the Synoptic Gospels record that some in the crowds thought Jesus was calling out to Elijah.

The text is worth citing in full:

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.”  And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink.  But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.”  And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.  (Matthew 27:46-50)

Now, why mention this detail about Elijah? If this was simply a case of mispronunciation or mis-comprehension (‘God’ and ‘Elijah’ sound similar in Aramaic), why include this detail? The gospel writers are quite spare and selective in the details they do include about the crucifixion. It must be that this particular detail about Jesus calling out to Elijah was significant.

The story in 2 Kings 1 provides the rich context. Essentially, 2 Kings 1 is the story of God sending down fire to protect Elijah from hostile soldiers. Many people thought Jesus was Elijah or a prophet in the mold of Elijah (Mark 8:28). And so, the crowds at the cross were shocked that the Romans were able to do what King Ahaziah tried but failed to do – lay hands on God’s prophet. Either, Jesus was crying out to Elijah in stunned betrayal, or he was finally calling down fire to destroy the Roman soldiers, like Elijah.

But nothing happened and Jesus perished on the cross. This was almost incomprehensible to Jesus’ followers. It was only after the Resurrection, they would come to understand that Jesus did not come to bring the fire of God’s judgment, he came to bear it. The reason fire did not come down on the Romans was because it came down on Jesus. This is why he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” On the cross, Jesus experienced the fire of God’s wrath and judgment.

All throughout the Old Testament, we’re given these little glimpses and previews of the coming of Jesus Christ. And all throughout the Gospel accounts, there are repeated references and citations of Old Testament texts that help us understand the fullness of Jesus’ redemptive acts. The Old and New Testaments are a single, seamless story of God rescuing his people from sin and death, and therefore, reading the Old Testament makes the New Testament that much more vivid and impactful.

You can listen to the sermon on 2 Kings 1 here:

Images:

Top: Elijah Destroying the Messengers of Ahaziah by Gustave Dore (1883)

Bottom: Crucifixion by Agnolo Gaddi (1396)