John the Baptist

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Introduction

John the Baptist (Hebrew: Yochanan ha-Matbil / Greek: Iōannēs ho Baptistēs) was born around 5 BC in the Roman client kingdom of Judea. His father, Zechariah, was a priest from the order of Abijah, and his mother, Elizabeth, descended from Aaron. John was a close relative of Jesus and served as his forerunner, proclaiming the Messiah's arrival and preparing Israel for Jesus' ministry of atonement and redemption.

In Hebrew, John's name, Yochanan (H3076), means "God has been gracious." Jesus called him "Elijah who is to come" (Matt. 11:14), quoting Malachi: "I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the LORD arrives" (Mal. 4:5). The angel Gabriel told Zechariah that John "will bring many of the people of Israel back to the Lord, going before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to prepare a people ready for the Lord" (Luke 1:16–17). Jesus gave John his highest praise: "Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he" (Matt. 11:11). John later baptized Jesus, saying, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness" (Matt. 3:15).

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Revealing Jesus Through Baptism

Many scholars believe that John the Baptist may have had ties to the Essenes, an ascetic Jewish group that anticipated the Messiah and practiced ritual washing. John lived in the Judean wilderness, while the Essenes stayed at Qumran. He wore clothes made of camel's hair, a leather belt, and ate locusts and wild honey (Matt. 3:4; Mark 1:6).

For John, baptism in water (Greek: baptisma, G908, "immersion" or "dip") meant more than physical cleansing. It called for repentance (Greek: metanoia, G3341, "change of mind"). The Essenes used ritual washing to maintain purity according to the Law of Moses, outside of the Second Temple system. John's baptism, however, required people to turn away from deliberate sin (Matt. 3:2–11; Mark 1:4, 15; Luke 3:3, 8). John also baptized Jesus at the beginning of his public ministry, inaugurating the mission that would ultimately culminate in his atoning death and resurrection (Rom. 6:4). He baptized at Aenon near Salim, a place on the Jordan River with plenty of water (John 3:23), and at Bethany beyond the Jordan (John 1:28).

As John's ministry reached its climax, Jesus' public ministry began. Many of Jesus' first disciples had followed John before turning to Jesus (John 1:35–36). After Judas Iscariot died, the apostles chose a replacement, Matthias, who had been baptized by John (Acts 1:22).

John declared, "I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way for the Lord'" (John 1:23; cf. Isa. 40:3). He made it clear that he was not the Messiah. Instead, he prepared his fellow Jews for the true Messiah, Jesus: "I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie" (John 1:26–27). John admitted he was not even worthy to perform the work of the lowest household servant, much less as a prophet equal to Elijah. This humble confession became John's most incredible testimony about the coming Messiah:

Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, "A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me." I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel. Then John gave this testimony: "I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.' I have seen and I testify that this is God's Chosen One" (John 1:29–34).

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Death of John the Baptist

Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee and Perea, sentenced John the Baptist to death by decapitation around AD 30. John rebuked Herod for divorcing his wife, Phasaelis, to marry Herodias, the wife of his brother, Herod Philip. So, Antipas had John arrested and imprisoned. At one of his banquets, he was so impressed by his stepdaughter Salome's erotic dancing that Antipas granted her any request, no matter how whimsical. Salome spoke with Herodias, who demanded John the Baptist's head on a platter (Matt. 14:1–12; Mark 6:14–29). Josephus also mentioned John, writing that Antipas executed him at the Machaerus fortress:

Now, some Jews thought that the destruction of Herod's army came from God. 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 would be acceptable to him, if they made use of it, not to the remission of some sins, but for the purification of the body; supposing still that the soul was thoroughly purified beforehand by righteousness. Now, when others came in crowds about him, for they were very greatly moved by hearing his words, Herod, who feared lest the significant influence John had over the people might put it into his power and inclination to raise a rebellion (for they seemed ready to do anything 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, out of Herod's suspicious temper, he was sent a prisoner to Machaerus, the castle I mentioned before, and was put to death. Now, the Jews believed that the destruction of this army was sent as a punishment upon Herod and a mark of God's displeasure toward him (Ant. 18.5.2).

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Bibliography

Primary Sources

Josephus. The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged. Translated by William Whiston. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1987.

Commentaries

Green, Joel B. The Gospel of Luke. New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997.

Keener, Craig S. The Gospel of John: A Commentary. 2 vols. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2003.

​Monographs

Evans, Craig A. Jesus and His World: The Archaeological Evidence. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2012.

Meier, John P. Mentor, Message, and Miracles. Vol. 2 of A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus. New York: Doubleday, 1994.

Reference Works

Attridge, Harold W., ed. The NRSV HarperCollins Study Bible, Revised and Updated with Apocryphal and Deuterocanonical Books. San Francisco: HarperOne, 2006.

Dobson, Kent. NIV First-Century Study Bible: Explore Scripture in Its Jewish and Early Christian Context. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014.

Kaiser, Walter C., Jr., and Duane Garrett, eds. NIV Archaeological Study Bible: An Illustrated Walk Through Biblical History and Culture. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006.