Elijah & Elisha – Shadows of Jesus Christ —

As for Elisha, he also parallels Jesus in many ways. Both men:
1. Began their ministries at the Jordan River.
• Elisha’s receives Elijah’s mantle at the Jordan and there begins his ministry (2 Kings 2:11-14). Similarly, Jesus is baptized by John in the same river at the start of His ministry (Matt 3:13-17).
2. Received the spirit of their father.
• After Elijah had been taken to heaven the other prophets acknowledged that “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha” (2 Kings 2:15) and Jesus received His Father’s Spirit at His baptism (Matthew 3:16-17).
3. Raised an adult woman’s son from the dead.
• In 2 Kings 4:8-37 Elisha raises the son of a Shunammite woman and in Luke 11:7-17 Jesus raises the son of a widow of Nain.
4. Fed a large group of people with a small amount of food.
• Elisha fed 100 men with twenty loaves of barley and some grain (2 Kings 4:42-44) while Jesus, on two occasions, feeds thousands with only a few loaves and fish (Matt. 14:13-21; 15:32-39). In all three instances there was food leftover.
5. Turned a small amount of liquid into a great quantity.
• Elisha turned a single jar of oil into enough to fill all the jars of the village (2 Kings 4:1-7) and Jesus turned water into a very large quantity of wine (John 2:1-11).
6. Healed lepers.
• Elisha healed a Syrian commander by the name of Namaan of leprosy (2 Kings 5:1-19) and Jesus healed many lepers during His ministry (Matthew 8:1-4).
7. Gave sight to the blind.
• During an Aramean invasion Elisha prayed that blindness would fall on their military (2 Kings 6:18). Then after leading the blind army into the city of Samaria, he prayed for their sight to be restored (2 Kings 6:20). Similarly, Jesus healed several blind people over the course of His ministry—one of which was Bartimaeus. (John 9:1-7; Mark 10:46-52; Luke 18:35-43; Matthew 20:29-34).
8. Were betrayed for money.
• Elisha’s greedy servant Gehazi went behind Elisha’s back for the sake of money (2 Kings 5:20-27) and Jesus is betrayed by Judas for thirty pieces of silver (Matt. 26:14-16).
9. Had more disciples than their predecessors.
• While the Bible doesn’t give exact numbers, it seems that Elisha had more disciples than Elijah. Similarly, the Gospels indicate that Jesus had a greater following than John the Baptist.
10. Brought new life through their death.
• When a dead body was placed in Elisha’s tomb, the corpse came to life when it touched Elisha’s bones (2 Kings 13:20-21). And Jesus’ death (and resurrection) provided eternal life for all who place their faith and trust in Him. Matthew also records that when Jesus died various tombs were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had died were raised. (Matt 27:52)

While Elijah and Elisha are clear shadows and images of Christ, they are not picture perfect. Nor are they meant to be. It’s important to remember that “A shadow is not the perfect image of the thing to come but an imperfect representation. Imperfection allows us to see the perfect more clearly.” Indeed, when the perfect came it was clear that He was the promised Messiah that the Old Testament had been pointing to all along.