Saint John the Baptist

Judaean prophet

• Born: c. 7 b.c.e.
• Birthplace: Near Jerusalem, Judaea (now in Israel)
• Died: c. 27 c.e.
• Place of death: Jerusalem, Judaea (now in Israel)

According to the biblical narrative, John was the cousin of Jesus and played a central role in introducing Jesus’ ministry to the people of Palestine.

Early Life

The main historical record for the life of John the Baptist is the Bible, specifically the New Testament, revered by Christians worldwide as an authoritative complement to the Old Testament. Each of the Gospels records significant portions of the life and ministry of John, and three of them actually begin with his birth rather than that of Jesus, who is the central figure of the New Testament. Historical tradition suggests that John was born in a village four miles west of Jerusalem around 7 b.c.e. to elderly parents, Zacharias, a Jewish priest, and Elizabeth, a relative of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The Gospel of Luke provides the most extensive treatment of the early life of John and indicates that he was probably born about six months before his cousin. Like those of other famous Old and New Testament patriarchs and heroes, John’s birth, Luke relates, was foretold by an angel (in this case Gabriel, who also appeared to Mary and prophesied the coming of Jesus). Gabriel, in fact, suggested the name John, and friends and relatives were shocked at the time of John’s circumcision and dedication to learn that he would not be named for his father, Zacharias (Luke 1:63).

Luke’s account goes on to suggest that John’s education continued along the path one might expect: John, like his father, prepared for the priesthood. Sometime in his late adolescence, however, John traveled on a pilgrimage to the deserts for study, meditation, and further consecration (Luke 1:66, 80). During this extended period, John took on the appearance and habits of other prophets of Israel, especially Elijah —to whom he was compared by Jesus (Matt. 11:12-14). John is said to have eaten wild locusts and honey and to have worn coarse garments of camel hair and a leather girdle—clear associations with Elijah (Matt. 3:4; Mark 1:6; 2 Kings 1:8). After this episode of ascetic discipline and study of the Scriptures, John emerged to begin his public ministry in “all the country about the Jordan River” (Luke 3:3), a ministry that began prior to that of Jesus by at least several months.

The message John presented to the people was in many ways unique to his ministry, but it was also linked thematically to that of the prophets of old. That message can be summarized as “prepare ye the way of the Lord.” John believed unequivocally that he had been called to announce some cataclysmic work of God in the first century, to which he would be both witness and martyr. The message was twofold in purpose: It was a call both to radical repentance and to immersion in water for the forgiveness of sins. In his preaching, John used straightforward language, referring to some in his audience as “vipers” or “hypocrites” and imploring them to repent or change their ways and act justly toward their neighbors and manifest their love for God in obedience to the law. The insistence on full water-immersion gave John his unique label, “the Baptist,” and indicated the necessary radical break with past lackluster adherence to the law of Moses. The repentant believer was to emerge from the water in some sense a new person, ready to behave and believe differently.

Life’s Work

John’s ministry attracted many followers, many more at one point than that of Jesus (Luke 7:29). In instructing his disciples, John taught them to pray and to fast (Luke 5:33, 11:1; Mark 2:18), but his work was not essentially preoccupied with personal devotion. Within and without his circle of disciples, his message was interpreted as an attack on organized religion—or the parody it had become. “The axe,” he declared, “is laid at the root of the trees” (Matt. 3:10; Luke 3:9). His message focused on the necessity for a new beginning and on the emptiness of the Jews’ continuing to claim some special merit as descendants of Abraham. The Coming One, or Messiah, John prophesied, would execute judgment on all but the loyal remnant of believers ready to embrace him. Late in an actually quite brief ministry, John suggested to his followers—many of whom would become Jesus’ own most trusted associates—that John himself “must decrease, while [the Messiah he proclaimed] must increase.” That is, as the time came closer for the Messiah to emerge, John’s ministry would diminish in importance and finally come to an end.

John’s ministry climaxed when Jesus came to be baptized by John “to fulfill all righteousness.” John at first balked at baptizing “for the forgiveness of sins” the one who himself was regarded as sinless; earlier, John, on glimpsing Jesus across a street, had told an assembled crowd, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” Jesus insisted on this act of identification with humankind, and it was at this crucial event that the stunned crowd heard a voice from Heaven declare, “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” This event signaled the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and launched him on his itinerant preaching tours.

After this episode, John’s ministry was abruptly interrupted and then ended by the antipathy he engendered in King Herod Antipas of Palestine. Herod had several motives for his displeasure with John. First, John’s preaching drew large, enthusiastic crowds, a matter sure to perturb the Roman authorities at whose pleasure Herod served as a puppet ruler. More to the point, however, was John’s radical insistence on the public morality of Israel’s leaders; indeed, he had outspokenly denounced Herod for his adultery. When John refused to back down, Herod had him imprisoned, both to silence him and, in a sense, to protect him. Despite being humiliated by John, Herod was entertained by his gruff, quaint manner, much as Pontius Pilate was impressed with the sincerity and commitment of Jesus.

During his imprisonment, John sent some of his disciples to Jesus to confirm that he indeed was the coming Messiah; perhaps John wished to assure himself that his mission had been successful. Finally, during a particularly uproarious party, Herod was manipulated by his stepdaughter Salome into granting her any wish as payment for a lascivious dance she had performed (Matt. 14:6-12; Mark 6:21-28). Prompted by her mother, she requested that John be beheaded and that his head be brought to her on a platter. Herod reluctantly acceded.

At his death, John elicited the highest praise from Jesus as the greatest of all men who lived under the Old Covenant: “The law and the prophets were until John; since that time the kingdom of God is preached” (Luke 16:16). Throughout his later ministry, Jesus continued to pay tribute to the faith and example of John. While John’s baptism provided a gateway into the messianic community, the Apostles later interpreted baptism as a sacrament, a reenactment of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus that united the believer with the saving work of Jesus on the Cross.

Significance

The ancient Jewish historian Flavius Josephus adds historical perspective to John the Baptist’s life outside the biblical account. Writing in the first century c.e., Josephus stated that John “was a good man who bade the Jews practice virtue, be just to one another, and pious toward God, and come together by means of baptism.” This latter comment regarding John’s teaching on baptism indicates the force and strength of John’s ministry to first century Jews and to Christians. Its appearance in a secular account suggests the impact John’s ministry had on Jewish culture as a whole. His call to baptism—which gave to him the name “the Baptist” or the “one who baptizes”—represented a call to radical commitment, to withdraw from a complacent, “everyday” faith to a bolder, holier response to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Clearly, however, John was more dramatically an influence on the development of Christian thought and the ministry of Jesus. Jesus’ appearance at John’s baptisms stamped John himself as a true prophet of God in the eyes of first century Christians. Later, when arguing on his own behalf, Jesus invoked the baptism of John to corroborate his own authority to command baptism and healing.

Important as it was, John’s baptism is presented in the New Testament account as something that would eventually be succeeded by a peculiarly “Christian” baptism that brought believers into the kingdom of God rather than merely “preparing” them for it. The power of John’s message and ministry was so strong, however, that even into the second and third decades of Christian faith, approximately 45-55 c.e., pockets of believers adhering to “John’s baptism” and needing further instruction in the baptism practiced by the Apostles after the death and resurrection of Jesus could be found. For example, the New Testament Book of Acts tells how a married couple, Priscilla and Aquila, drew aside the respected teacher Apollos and instructed him in proper Christian baptism. Later, the Apostle Paul encountered a group of believers who had never heard of Christian baptism—only John’s—and he instructed them further.

Modern scholarship has attempted to locate the origins of John’s teaching in his presumed association with the Qumran community. The teachings of this radical Jewish religious group became known to biblical scholarship with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1945. The Qumran community stressed strict adherence to a legal code to achieve a higher degree of righteousness before God and, curiously, a water baptism, something that traditional Judaism had required of all Gentile converts. Whatever influence John’s exposure to such teaching may have had, it is clear that he intended to link his own message with the prophecy of a coming redeemer, a ministry of preparation that would turn the hearts of the faithless and the faithful to a religious belief that transcended mere formalism and embraced an ongoing commitment to justice, righteousness, and peace. His mission, in his own words, was “to make ready a people prepared for the coming of the Lord.”

Bibliography

Alexander, David, and Pat Alexander, eds. Eerdmans’ Handbook to the Bible. Rev. ed. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1987. A helpful overview of the basic message of the New Testament, the life of Christ, and the relationship of John the Baptist to Jesus, his cousin. A succinct and very practical guide to the ministries of both John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth and their impact on first century culture.

Guthrie, Donald. New Testament Introduction. 4th ed. Downers Grove, Ill.: Inter-Varsity Press, 1990. A standard, scholarly overview of the entire New Testament that includes a thorough discussion of the life of John the Baptist and his ministry.

Hendriksen, William. New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1997. An important scholarly discussion of the Gospel of Matthew, which contains the longest narratives about the birth and destiny of John.

Malherbe, Abraham. The World of the New Testament. Austin, Tex.: R. B. Sweet, 1968. A brief but valuable overview of the entire New Testament period with special attention to the historical and theological events that served as the backdrop to the life and ministry of John the Baptist.

Thompson, J. A. Handbook to Life in Bible Times. Downers Grove, Ill.: Inter-Varsity Press, 1986. A standard work on the archaeology of the first century world; it continues to be one of the most comprehensive and informed overviews of the historical data gleaned from the ancient world.