Previously we’ve looked at the type of Elijah and John the Baptist. The final parallel on our list between them was this: both were followed by someone greater. We posed the question: If Elijah was followed by Elisha, and Elijah represents John the Baptist, would it be fair to say that Elisha is a shadow of Christ? Today we give the long answer: Elisha is an incredible type of Christ, ranging from the baptism of Christ all the way through to the resurrection. And what’s sad, is that Elisha is often overlooked, perhaps in the same sense as Christ was/is often overlooked. Let’s go!
| Elisha | Jesus |
| Had a forerunner (Elijah, the type of John the Baptist, precedes) | Had a forerunner (John the Baptist) |
| Initial meeting with forerunner and recognition by forerunner of future ministry/succession (1Ki 19:19) | Initial meeting with forerunner while still in Mary’s womb, with John’s recognition of his presence (Luke 1:44) |
| Seemingly disappears from the record for quite some time | Spends his life in obscurity up until he’s about thirty |
| Active ministry begins after he crosses the Jordan river with Elijah before Elijah is taken away (crossing water is a type of baptism, 1Co10:1-2) Signified by the falling mantle which he catches | Active ministry begins after his baptism. Signified by the Spirit descending, as a sign to John that his ministry has accomplished its task |
| Crosses the Jordan (baptism) | Baptized in the Jordan |
| Crosses under the anointing of his ‘forerunner’, Elijah | Baptized by his forerunner |
| Heavenly phenomena following the crossing of Jordan, Elijah is taken away in a chariot of fire from Heaven | Heavenly phenomena following baptism, with voice and the Spirit descending ‘like a dove’ |
| Parts the Jordan to confirm ministry (Period of testing) | Departs to the wilderness for a 40 day fast to confirm ministry (Period of testing) |
| Receives a double portion of Elijah’s anointing (2Ki2:9) | Is greater than John (John 3:30) |
| Has followers of Elijah follow him after his anointing (2Ki 2:15) | Has followers of John the Baptist follow him after his baptism (John 1:37) |
| Performed numerous miracles (many of which parallel Christ’s miracles, see further down to see some of the parallels) | Performed numerous miracles |
| Foresees the coming judgement on Israel and weeps (2Ki 8:12) | Foresees the coming judgement on Israel and weeps (Luke 19:41-42) |
| Raises up the schools of the prophets who would call the people to repentance | Raises up his disciples who call the world to repentance |
| Betrayed by Gehazi for profit (2Ki5) | Betrayed by Judas for profit |
| After his death, a dead man is thrown into his tomb, touching his bones, whereupon the dead man comes alive | Dies, is buried, and comes back from the dead. |
It’s the final parallel between Elisha and Jesus that is of incredible importance. It’s importance being all the more so for those in Jesus’ day, for if John the Baptist was Elijah which was to come (Mat 11:14), then there was someone who would follow on the heels of John the Baptist who was Elisha which was to come. How can we say that with confidence? Because Elijah is incomplete without Elisha. When Elijah goes to the mount of God, he is given three missions:
- Anoint Hazael to be king
- Anoint Jehu to be king
- Anoint Elisha to be prophet
Elijah doesn’t complete missions 1 and 2. Elisha is the one who ultimately does both. I don’t believe it was at all because Elijah was disobedient. Rather, it was part of the type: John the Baptist was the forerunner, preparing the way for Christ, calling the nation of Israel to repentance. What does Christ do? Call the nation to repentance. In the same manner, Elisha picks up on Elijah’s mission, for they are inseparable in a sense.
If you could understand that John the Baptist was Elijah, then as Jesus’ ministry and life progressed, one would be able to see the similarities that appeared between him and Elisha, allowing for the recognition of Christ. That’s why Jesus said, ‘If you will receive it, this (John) is Elijah to come.’ The focus point was not John the Baptist. It was him, for Moses and the prophets speak of HIM.
To make clear the parallel between Elisha and him, Jesus would perform much of the same miracles that Elisha did. Here’s a list of most of Elisha’s miracles with the parallels with Christ:
| Elisha | Jesus |
| Heals the bitter waters | Turns water into wine |
| Raises the Shunamite’s son from the dead | Raises the widow’s son from the dead |
| Feeds a hundred people miraculously (2 Ki 4:42-44) | Feeds the 5000 and 4000 miraculously |
| Heals Naaman the leper (indirectly) | Heals numerous lepers |
| Makes an iron axe head float on water (that which shouldn’t float, floats) | Walks on water |
| When an army attempts to capture/kill him, he walks through the midst of them unharmed (2Ki 6) | When the Jews attempt to stone him, he walks through the midst of them unharmed (Luk 4:30) |
There are two other aspects that Elisha shows time and again in his life that parallel with Christ.
- Elisha rarely ‘acts’ with his miracles: he speaks and gives instructions, which when followed, produced the miracles. Jesus would perform almost all of His miracles merely by speaking.
- Elisha seemingly ‘knows everything’. It’s the reason the Syrians assemble a taskforce to capture him, he is quite literally known to the Syrians as somehow knowing what their secret war counsels are. (2Ki6:12) Jesus, meanwhile, literally knew all things.
What is incredible, and yet, hardly surprising, in every miracle, Jesus surpasses Elisha, for Christ is the image, Elisha was but the shadow of what was to come.
The stories of Elisha that appear in the Old Testament are no mere coincidence. What’s incredible is that its clear that the stories of Elisha were unique to him, and yet, the shadow of Christ can be clearly seen, from Elisha’s double anointing, forerunner, miracles, all the way through to the tiny interjection regarding his death and the resurrection of the dead man, the type of Christ comes burning through, a witness to the great and glorious gospel of our God and Savior.
I believe Elisha’s ‘resurrection’ was one of the powerful proofs that Paul would draw on to preach the gospel and show to the Jews and the world, that Christ died and rose from the dead ‘according to the Scirptures’. (1Co 15:1-4) I pray the next time you have the opportunity to read about Elisha, you would see Christ.
Are there other parallels between Elisha and Jesus? Have questions? Disagree? Let me know
Notes:
- I have read on some sites of Elijah and Elisha being types of Christ and the Church. I do not believe the Scriptures support such a reading, not in a proper sense of a true type. A true type is not simply looking for similarities. Perhaps at some stage I will examine further as to why this ‘type’ is not a valid one Scripturally.
- We understand the dead man coming back to life after touching Elisha’s bones to represent Christ’s rising from the dead in this sense: if Elisha rose from the dead, he is no longer the shadow, but the object itself, for when Christ rises from the dead, it’s not at the behest of anyone, save himself, just as when the dead man is resurrected by touching Elisha’s bones, it’s not at the behest of anyone save God. The touching of the bones is critical because it links the story of Elisha to the rising of the dead man, for Elisha himself couldn’t rise from the dead himself as Christ did. Elisha is the shadow. Christ is the object.
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