I believe it was the idea that John the Baptist was Elijah.

but that is talking about a symbolic elias - there are more than 2 that are mentioned in the bible - as even now there is a form of a voice crying out in the wilderness - what would a wilderness look like in todays modern world ? the only other thing i can think of is when he said my god why have you forseken me - his first wors was elohi but thats not a contradiction tho is it ?

Jesus is reported to have said "Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. but I say unto you, that Elias is come already, and they knew him not,....then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John The Baptist." (Matthew 17:11-13). If this verse is correct then, according to Jesus, John The Baptist WAS Elias. However, "when the Jews sent priests and levites from Jerusalem to ask him(John The Baptist), .... art thou Elias? and he saith, I AM NOT." If there is no error in the reporting of this verse then we have an apparent contradiction. Muslims know John the Baptist as Master Yahyaa (peace be upon him). They revere him as a true prophet of God. The Prophet Jesus known to Muslims as Master Eessa (peace be upon him), is also esteemed as one of the mightiest messengers of the Almighty. Muslims cannot associate lies with either of them. This apparent contradiction is probably classified by some as one of the "dark sayings of Jesus" while others might regard it as one of the discrepancies in the Bible which could have prompted the "TIMES" Magazine of December 30th, 1974, to print an article titled "How true is the Bible?" and the Christian Magazine "AWAKE!" of September 8, 1957 to have a headline asking "50,000 Errors in the Bible?”

John the Baptist claimed only that he was the voice in the wilderness That Isaiah had spoken of. According to John's Gospel, (different John, by the way) the Baptist denied he was Elijah. Jesus, on the other hand, likened the Baptist to Elijah as the prophet who prepared the way of the Lord. Who do you say that John the Baptist is?