Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 17:11

"And he answered and said, Elijah indeed cometh, and shall restore all things:" — Matthew 17:11 (ASV)

Elias truly shall first come — A better translation is, cometh. Our Lord's words are obviously enigmatic and allow for two very different interpretations. Taken literally, as many have done in both earlier and later times, the words seem to say that Elijah will come in person before the future day of the Lord—the great second coming of Christ. On this view, it is argued that the prophecy of Malachi 4:5 will still have a literal fulfillment, and that John the Baptist, when he confessed he was not Elijah (John 1:21), was correctly expecting his appearance. It would not be right to reject this interpretation simply because of its literalism, its improbability, or its resemblance to the extraordinary beliefs and practices that have persisted even in modern Judaism concerning the expected appearance of the Tishbite. Nevertheless, these factors do weigh against it. The words that follow in the next verse are, however, more decisive.

And restore all things — A better translation is, and shall restore. Leaving aside for now the question of who was to do this work, we turn to the nature of the work itself. Our Lord's language generalizes the description given by Malachi. That work of “turning the hearts of the children to the fathers, and the hearts of the fathers to the children” was only part of a wider restoration of things and people. Old truths were to be proclaimed again and cleared from the overgrowth of tradition. Mankind was to be brought into its right relationship with God the Father. The words seem to point forward to a “restitution of all things,” especially as interpreted by passages like Acts 3:21, Romans 8:21, Ephesians 1:22–23, and 1 Corinthians 15:28. This restitution involves bringing order where there is now disorder and confusion. It is a restoration that will embrace not only Israel or even mankind, but the entire universe of God, both visible and invisible.