John the Baptist

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The Baptism of Christ, by Piero della Francesca, 1449

John the Baptist (also called John the Baptizer or Yahya the Baptizer) is regarded as a prophet by at least three religions: Christianity, Islam, and Mandaeanism. According to the Gospel of Luke 1:36 (NRSV)[1], he was a relative of Jesus, though Mandaeans dispute this. That he was a prophet is asserted by the Synoptic Gospels and the Qur'an (see also prophets of Islam). John the Baptist is commonly referred to as John the Forerunner/Precursor because according to Christians (but not Mandaeans) he was the forerunner of Christ (Tiphshut). Isaiah 40:3-5 is commonly read by Christians as a prophecy of John. Muslim tradition maintains that the head of John the Baptist is interred in the Umayyad Mosque. In later times it was said that the Knights Templar also had possession of the head of St. John. According to Luke 3:1, John began his ministry in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius, which would have been the year 28 or 29.[2]

John the Baptist in the New Testament

File:John Baptizes Jesus Mural.jpg

Mural depiction of Jesus' baptism by the hand of John, Jordan River, Jordan

The excavated remains of the baptism site in "Bethany beyond the Jordan"

Nativity

Unlike the other Synoptic Gospels, which introduce John the Baptist into the narrative as an adult, the Gospel of Luke provides an account of his infancy. According to Luke, John the Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus Christ, and son of Zacharias and Elisabeth; his birth, name, and office, being foretold by the angel Gabriel to Zacharias, while Zacharias was performing his functions as a priest in the temple of Jerusalem. According to Luke, Zacharias was a priest of the course of Abia, and his mother, Elisabeth, was of the Daughters of Aaron Luke 1:5, and consequently John automatically held the priesthood of Aaron, giving him authority in Jewish eyes to perform baptisms of God.

According to Luke, John was born about six months before Jesus, and that Zacharias' disbelief over the birth of his son rendered him mute, which was restored on the occasion of John's circumcision (Luke 1:64).

Public ministry

Luke states that John was a Nazarite from his birth (Luke 1:15), and the synoptics agree that he spent his early years in the mountainous tract of Judea, lying in the wilderness between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea (Matthew 3:1-12). The Synoptics state that he led a simple life, clothed only with camel's hair and a leather girdle about his loins, and eating little more than just locusts and wild honey (Matthew 3:4). Chrysostom and Jerome believed that John had been brought up from his infancy in this manner, as Matthew 11:18 describes.

According to the Gospel of John, when John the Baptist was thirty years of age, God manifested him to the world, in the fifteenth year of Tiberius, A.D. 28. And the Gospel of John states that his ministry began with him publishing the approach of the Messiah, in the country along and beyond Jordan, preaching repentance and the turning away from selfish pursuits. The synoptic gospels make no such claim, but agree with the Gospel of John that John the Baptist gathered a large following, and induced many persons to confess their sins, whom he baptised in the river Jordan; which John argues was a baptism with the Holy Ghost and with fire.

He denounced the Sadducees and Pharisees as a "generation of vipers," and warned them not to assume their heritage gave them special privilege (Luke 3:8). He warned tax collectors and soldiers against extortion and plunder. His doctrine and manner of life stirred interest, bringing people from all parts to see him on the banks of the Jordan River. There he baptized thousands whom repented (see AEnon).

The beheading of John the Baptist, by Jacopo da Ponte

Many persons became his disciples exercising themselves in acts of repentance and urging others to do so.

According to the Gospels, John baptised Jesus. According to the Gospel of John, but not the Synoptic Gospels, John initially excused himself, saying "I need rather being baptized by you", but Jesus declaring that it became them to fulfill all righteousness, John complied. The Gospel of John states that the next day John publicly announced Jesus as the Lamb of God, that takes away the sins of the world (John 1:19-29), and that John's office as forerunner ended with the baptism of Jesus, though he continued for a while to bear testimony to the Messiahship of Jesus. The other three Gospels state that John baptised Jesus shortly after Jesus presented himself, and make no indication that John's ministry had ended, even making further references, later in the text, to John the Baptist continuing to have followers that were independent to those of Jesus.

John's imprisonment and beheading

His public ministry was suddenly brought to a close — after about six months — when he was cast into prison by Herod, whom he had reproved for the sin of taking to himself his brother Philip's wife Herodias.(Luke 3:19). He was shut up in the Machaerus fortress on the southern extremity of Peraea, nine miles east of the Dead Sea. Here he was beheaded at Herodias's instigation. This occurred about the end of A.D. 31 or early C.E. 32.

His disciples, after consigning his headless body to the grave, told Jesus all that had occurred.(Matt. 14:3-12) John's death apparently came just before the third Passover of Jesus' ministry.

The Gospels do not say where John was buried. In the time of Julian the Apostate, however, his tomb was shown at Samaria, where the inhabitants opened it and burned part of his bones. The rest were saved by some Christians, who carried them to an abbot of Jerusalem named Philip.

Testimony of Jesus

Jesus himself testified regarding John that he was "burning and a shining light" or "a lamp that gave a lot of light, and you were glad to enjoy his light for a while." (John 5:35).

John the Baptist in the Old Testament

Malachi

The book of Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament canon and the last book of the Neviim (prophets) section in the Jewish editions. Malachi 3:1 reads: "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts."

Most Jews, whether in the times after Malachi or in modern times, look for a messenger to prepare to way of the Lord immediately before his coming. The long succession of prophets finds its ending in Malachi, and the concluding words of the book of Malachi, subjoined with an admonition to remember the law of Moses, import that the next prophet would be the messenger or forerunner of the Messiah. Christians believe John the Baptist is the forerunner or precursor to the Messiah.

Isaiah

Isaiah 40:3-5 is commonly read by Christians as a prophecy of John, see also the Gospel of Matthew 3:3

Josephus

File:Chirin.jpg

Eastern Orthodox icon John the Baptist - the Angel of Desert (1620s).

Flavius Josephus in Jewish Antiquities book 18, chapter 5, paragraph 2 records the following:

Now some of the Jews thought that the destruction of Herod's army came from God, and that very justly, as a punishment of what he did against John, that was called the Baptist: for Herod slew him, who was a good man, and commanded the Jews to exercise virtue, both as to righteousness towards one another, and piety towards God, and so to come to baptism; for that the washing [with water] would be acceptable to him, if they made use of it, not in order to the putting away [or the remission] of some sins [only], but for the purification of the body; supposing still that the soul was thoroughly purified beforehand by righteousness. Now when [many] others came in crowds about him, for they were very greatly moved [or pleased] by hearing his words, Herod, who feared lest the great influence John had over the people might put it into his power and inclination to raise a rebellion, (for they seemed ready to do any thing he should advise,) thought it best, by putting him to death, to prevent any mischief he might cause, and not bring himself into difficulties, by sparing a man who might make him repent of it when it would be too late. Accordingly he was sent a prisoner, out of Herod's suspicious temper, to Macherus, the castle I before mentioned, and was there put to death. Now the Jews had an opinion that the destruction of this army was sent as a punishment upon Herod, and a mark of God's displeasure to him. (Whiston Translation) [3]

From the context, it would seem that in Josephus's account John was executed around 36 C.E. Divergences between Josephus's presentation and the Biblical account of John include the following:

• John's Baptism is not for the repentance of sins, as opposed to Mark 1:4.
• John is executed to prevent "mischief," rather than to please Herod's wife's daughter.
• Jesus is not mentioned in relation to the Baptist.

Josephus's passage is quoted by Origen in Contra Celsum in the early third century, and again by Eusebius of Caesarea in the fourth century.

It is significant in the question of the historicity of Jesus that Josephus makes much greater mention of John than he does of Jesus, and that the genuineness of the brief passages about Jesus are heavily disputed by scholars, while those of John are not.

John the Baptist in Eastern Orthodox Church

The Eastern Orthodox believe that John was the last of the Old Testament prophets, thus serving as a bridge figure between that period of revelation and Jesus. They also embrace a tradition that, following his death, John descended into Hell and there once more preached that Jesus the Messiah was coming.

The Eastern Orthodox Church remembers Saint John the Forerunner on six separate feast days, listed here in order of the church year which begins on September 1:

• September 23 - Conception of St. John the Forerunner
• January 7 - The Commemoration of St. John the Forerunner (main feast day, immediately after Epiphany on January 6)

• February 24 - First and Second Finding of the Head of St. John the Forerunner
• May 25 - Third Finding of the Head of St. John the Forerunner
• June 24 - Birth of St. John the Forerunner
• August 29 - The Beheading of St. John the Forerunner

The Roman Catholic Church remembers St. John the Baptists on two separate feast days:

• June 24 The Birth of St. John
• August 29 The Decollation (Beheading) of St. John

St John's parents are commemorated on the day the Eastern Church celebrates his conception.

• September 23 Zechariah and Elisabeth, parents of St John, the Lord's Precursor.

John the Baptist as a patron saint

Saint John the Baptist is the patron saint of French Canada. The Canadian cities of Saint John, New Brunswick and St. John's, Newfoundland were both named in honour of Saint John. His feast day is June 24, celebrated in Quebec as the Fête nationale du Québec.

He is also counted as the Patron of the Knights Hospitaller of Jerusalem.

Mandaean view

Mandaeans believe John the Baptist, called Yahya in the Sidra d-Yahia (Book of John), was the last and greatest of the prophets. While Mandaeans agree that he baptized Jesus (Yeshu), they reject the latter as either a saviour or prophet. And they viewed John as the only true Messiah.

According to the text of the Ginza Rabba, John died at the hand of an angel. The angel appeared as a three-year-old child, coming to John for baptism. John knew the angel for what it was, and that once he touched its hand, he would die immediately. John performed the baptism, anyway, and died in the process. Afterwards, the angel covered John's body with mud.

Gnostic view

In Gnosticism, John the Baptist was a "personification" of the Old Testament prophet Elijah. According to Gnostic theology, John the Baptist was a Prophet from the Old Testament who did not know the True God (the God of the New Testament), and thus had to be reincarnated. As predicted by the Old Testament prophet Malachi, Elijah must "come first" to herald the coming of Jesus Christ.

Unificationist viewpoint

According to the Exposition of the Divine Principle, Jesus was supposed to have received assistance from John the Baptist during his public ministry in Israel. In particular, John should have done everything in his power to persuade the Jewish people that Jesus was the Messiah. He was to become Jesus' greatest disciple. John's failure to do so was, according to the church, the chief obstacle to the fulfillment of Jesus' mission.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Latter-day Saints believe John appeared in Pennsylvania, as a resurrected being, to Joseph Smith, Jr. and Oliver Cowdery on 15 May 1829, and gave them the Aaronic Priesthood. They also believe John's ministry was foretold by two prophets in the Book of Mormon: Lehi (1 Nephi 10:7-10) and his son, Nephi (1 Nephi 11:27; 2 Nephi 31:4-18).

See also

• Johannite
• Yahya - John the Baptist as portrayed in the Quran
• Baptism of Jesus

Saints Portal

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

John the Baptist

• Catholic Enclopedia on John the Baptist
• Greek Orthodox web site's page on John the Baptist
• First and Second Finding of the Head of John the Baptist (Greek Orthodox)
• Third Finding of the Head of John the Baptist (Greek Orthodox)
• Jewish Encyclopedia: John the Baptist
• The Witness of John the Baptist
• John the Baptist historical person

News archive

• Scholar says he's found John the Baptist's cave

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