Elijah who is to Come

Matthew 11:11-15 (ESV)
Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. [12] From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. [13] For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, [14] and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. [15] He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
Jesus continues to explain who John is and what his role is. He is the end of the prophets. All the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. Now something different has come. Sure there are “prophets” mentioned in the New Testament but with Christ ends prophecy in the sense of the Old Testament. Now are the last days when “I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants, in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.” (Acts 2:17-18 (ESV) Prophesy takes on a different form, one of preaching and expounding on God’s word. In fact, all who preach the gospel of Christ prophecy in this sense.
But to prophecy in the sense of the Old Testament, to Prophecy in the manner of Moses, Isaiah, Joel, and Elijah, that era has come to an end with John, who is Elijah who is to come.
Now that is one I find peculiar, because when the Pharisees come to speak to John, he denies that he is Elijah. “ And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" [20] He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ." [21] And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No." (John 1:19-21 (ESV) I don’t know if I have the answers for that. John knew he was preparing the way. John was perhaps diverting their attention to what was coming.
In any case Jesus says he “Is Elijah, who is to come.” He was the prophet that is to come before the kingdom of God comes, before the Messiah makes his appearance. Those who have ears to hear, are those who have faith in the word of God, those who now see Jesus as who He is, the messiah come to save. They are those who listened to John, when John pointed to Christ, and then left John, left the law, to receive their salvation in the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World.