Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Mark 9:13

"But I say unto you, that Elijah is come, and they have also done unto him whatsoever they would, even as it is written of him." — Mark 9:13 (ASV)

Jesus went on to say that Elijah already had come in the person of John the Baptist. Though John is not named here, the reference to him is obvious; he had been imprisoned and put to death. “Just as it is written about him” refers to what the OT said about Elijah in his relationship to Ahab and Jezebel (cf. 1 Kings 19:1–2), two people who foreshadow Herod and Herodias. The eschatological ministry of Elijah in no way does away with the necessity for the Son of Man to suffer and die.