It is a natural tendency of the human mind to give more heed to personalities than to principles--to look more to men engaged in some great work, than to the point and principle of the work itself. This caused the scribes and Pharisees to make a great mistake in the days of John the Baptist, and has caused great mistakes in all ages since that time.
The prophet Malachi had prophesied of the coming of Elijah before the day of the Lord, to prepare the world for His appearance. But this prophecy was fulfilled, so far as it related to the first advent of Christ, in the coming of John the Baptist; for the Saviour said of him, "If you will receive it, this is Elijah, which was for to come." (Matthew 11:14)
John himself had testified that he was not Elijah, and he gave a true answer to the question asked him, for he was not the person who had prophesied before Ahab, and called down fire from heaven on Mount Carmel. The nature of his identity with Elijah is explained in the 1st chapter of Luke, in the words of the angel who talked with Zacharias: "He [John] shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; and to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." (Luke 1:17)
It is not the man as a person, but the spirit and power which actuates him in his work, that is important for us to consider. We should not be fascinated by a striking personality, so as to lose sight of the principle that is embodied within him.
John would do nothing to call attention to himself as an individual, but merely declared himself to be "the voice of one crying in the wilderness." (Matthew 3:3)
The important question to be considered in connection with any work is not, "Who is the mouthpiece?" but, "Whose is the voice that is speaking?"
The important thing about Elijah was not his physical self, but the voice that spoke through him; and when that voice, with the same spirit and power, spoke through John, John became Elijah.
And whosoever now is sent forth in the spirit and power of Elijah to prepare the way of the Lord and make ready a people for His coming, fulfills the prophecy as did John.
But we must bear in mind the truth, of which this instance affords a striking evidence, that any man, in himself, is nothing; and that whatever prominence and importance attached to his name is due only to what he receives from God.--Present Truth, June 28, 1894--Timeline: IV-32 (Jesus' Eulogy of John)--Matthew 11:14.