Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Matthew 17:10

"And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elijah must first come?" — Matthew 17:10 (ASV)

Elijah was expected to restore all things—to bring about a state of justice and true worship (Malachi 4:5). If that were so, how could it be that Messiah would be killed in such a restored environment—killed, Jesus had told them only a week before, by elders, chief priests, and teachers of the law (16:21)? Their confusion is not merely chronological, though that may be involved; it is their inability to find a framework in which they can believe that the Messiah could die.