WILL and WAS JOHN THE BAPTIZER the ELIJAH of OLD?

When asked about John the Baptizer, Yeoshua said John was Eliyah that was to come, .. and that Eliyah comes again!   Yet when asked if he was Eliyah, John emphatically replied NO!  What's the TRUTH? (Mat.17:11-12) 

 

Mal 4:5  Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great awesome day of the LORD:

Mat 11:13  All the Prophets and the Law prophesied til John. 14 If ye will receive it, he is Elijah, which was to come.

John 1:19  This is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?   20  He confessed,.. I am not the Messiah.  21  And they asked him, What then? Art thou Eliyah? And he said, I am NOT. .. 22  Then said they unto him, Who art thou? ... What say ye of thyself?   23  He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah.  (Isaiah ch.40-41-42-43)