Mt 17, 10-13 Jesus said: Elijah has already come

(Mt 17, 10-13) Jesus said: Elijah has already come

[10] Then the disciples asked him, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" [11] He said in reply, "Elijah will indeed come and restore all things; [12] but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased. So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands." [13] Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.

(CCC 718) John is "Elijah [who] must come" (Mt 17:10-13; cf. Lk 1:78). The fire of the Spirit dwells in him and makes him the forerunner of the coming Lord. In John, the precursor, the Holy Spirit completes the work of "[making] ready a people prepared for the Lord" (Lk 1:17). (CCC 720) Finally, with John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit begins the restoration to man of "the divine likeness," prefiguring what he would achieve with and in Christ. John's baptism was for repentance; baptism in water and the Spirit will be a new birth (Cf Jn 3:5).