Mark 9:12

12 "Elijah does come first and restores everything," He replied. "How then is it written about the Son of Man that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt?

Mark 9:12 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 9:12

And he answered, and told them
Allowing that their observation was right, and that this was the sense of the Scribes, and that there was something of truth in it, when rightly understood:

Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things:
(See Gill on Matthew 17:11);

and how it is written of the son of man, that he must suffer many
things, and be set at nought.
The sense of Christ is, that John the Baptist, whom he means by Elias, comes first, and restores all things: and among the rest of the things he sets right, this is one, and not of the least; namely, that he gives the true sense of such passages of the sacred writings, which related to the contemptuous usage, rejection, and sufferings of the Messiah; as that in these he was the Lamb of God typified in the sacrifices of the law, who by his sufferings and death takes away the sin, of the world; and therefore he exhorted and directed those to whom he ministered, to look unto him, and believe in him; see ( John 1:29 ) ( Acts 19:4 ) .

Mark 9:12 In-Context

10 They kept this word to themselves, discussing what "rising from the dead" meant.

11 Then they began to question Him, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"

12 "Elijah does come first and restores everything," He replied. "How then is it written about the Son of Man that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt?

13 But I tell you that Elijah really has come, and they did to him whatever they wanted, just as it is written about him."

14 When they came to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and scribes disputing with them.