當耶穌說（Mat 11:14） “你們若肯領受，這人就是那應當來的以利亞。”

耶穌的意思是，這就是舊約所應許的，“在我面前預備道路”的“我的使者”（瑪拉基書3：1）“以利亞”（這是指像以利亞這樣的“先知”象徵式的說法，而不是照字面的，以利亞本人）。

耶穌說的是以利亞的“職分”，而不是指以利亞本人升天，再“輪迴”入人間，而以施洗約翰的模樣出現。

如果有人願意，可以把這段翻譯出來：（from ESV study Bible）

the reason for the identification of the coming prophet as “Elijah” is less obvious. Perhaps the need for an Elijah-like ministry was suggested by a long-standing drought (Mal. 3:10; cf. 1 Kings 17:1; James 5:17). Alternatively, Malachi's concern with the corrosive effects of marriage to an idolater (Mal. 2:10–12) may have brought to mind Ahab's notorious interfaith marriage to Jezebel, which proved so troublesome to Elijah and so disastrous to Israel (1 Kings 16:31; 18:4, 19; 19:2). No doubt Malachi would have welcomed an Elijah-like challenge to religious compromise and complacency (1 Kings 18). It seems most likely, however, that Malachi recognized that of all the OT prophets, Elijah best fit the portrait of the messianic prophet “like Moses” predicted in Deut. 18:15 and 34:10–12. As such, Elijah stands alongside Moses in Mal. 4:4–6 as the representative of the entire OT line of prophets, much as he functions on the Mount of Transfiguration (Mark 9:4 and parallels). The promise to send Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome “day of the Lord” confirms the interpretation given here of Mal. 3:1–5, that the promised messenger is not Malachi himself but some future prophet. It is likely that this future prophet is identified with Elijah not because Elijah was spared from death, as if this might permit a literal return to life, but because the future messenger would have a prophetic ministry similar to that of the historical Elijah. Compare the many OT predictions of a future “David” that do not suggest David's literal return to life (Jer. 30:9; Ezek. 34:23–25; 37:24). The NT identifies John the Baptist as the fulfillment of Malachi's prophesied Elijah (Matt. 11:10–14; 17:10–13; etc.). When John the Baptist denied that he was Elijah (John 1:21, 25), it is possible either that he was denying that he was Elijah in person, or that he rejected not the ministry predicted in Malachi but misguided popular elaborations of this promise based on other notable features in the original Elijah's ministry, especially his many miracles, which pointed more to Christ than to John (John 10:41; see note on Matt. 11:14). (For more on “the day of the Lord,” see note on Amos 5:18–20.)