They did to John whatever they pleased, as it is WRITTEN of him

[tonychanyt]

Malachi 4:

5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.

That's the 2nd last verse in the OT.

People asked Jesus in Mark 9:

11 “Why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?”

The scribes were thinking about Malachi 4:5.

12 And he said to them, “Elijah does come first to restore all things. And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? 13 But I tell you that Elijah has come,

Jesus identified John the Baptizer as the Elijah to come.

and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him.”

What was written about John? What did they do to John that was written about him?

The specific passage about John was Malachi 4:5; then Jesus drew a parallel between Elijah and John:

Elijah confronted King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. They rejected his message and sought to kill him.

John confronted King Herod Antipas and his wife, Herodias. They rejected his message and beheaded him.