John the Baptist











John the Baptist (arab. يحيى Yaḥyā or يوحنا Yūḥanna, aram. Yohanoun) (died c 30)[1][2] was a mission preacher[3] and a major religious figure[4] who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River in expectation of a divine apocalypse that would restore occupied Israel.[5] John followed the example of previous Hebrew prophets, living austerely, challenging sinful rulers, calling for repentance, and promising God's justice.
Some scholars maintain that he was influenced by the Essenes, who were semi-ascetic, expected an apocalypse, and had rituals similar to baptism.[6] John's baptism was a purification rite for repentant sinners, performed in "living water" (in this case a running river) in accord with Jewish custom. John anticipated a messianic figure who would be greater than John himself.[7] Jesus, the central figure of Christianity, was among those whom John baptized. Jesus apparently was a follower of John.[8][9] Herod Antipas saw John as a threat and had him executed.[4] Jesus' own ministry followed John's, and some of Jesus' early followers had previously been followers of John.[10] John, like Jesus, preached at a time of political, social, and religious conflict.
Accounts of John in the New Testament are not incompatible with the account in Josephus, whose authority is respected.[11] Here, Jesus is the one whose coming John foretold. Herod has John imprisoned for denouncing his marriage, and he is later executed.[3] Christians commonly refer to John as the precursor or forerunner of Jesus,[12] since in the Gospels, John announces Jesus' coming. He is also identified with the prophet Elijah,[10] and is described as a relative of Jesus. [13]
Because Scripture described John as endowed with prenatal grace, the feast day of his birth (June 24) became celebrated more solemnly than that marking his martyrdom (August 29).[3] Muslims also regard John as a prophet,[14] as do Bahá'ís[15] and Mandaeans.
In art, John's head often appears on a platter because that's what Herod's stepdaughter, Salome, is said to have asked for.[16] Another theme of Christian art is his beheading.[1] He is also depicted as an ascetic wearing camel hair and with a staff and scroll inscribed "Ecce Agnus Dei" (Latin, "Behold the Lamb of God" - John 1:29) or bearing a book or dish with a lamb on it.[3] In Orthodox icons, he often has angel's wings, since Mark 1:2 describes him as ἄγγελος (angelos) or messenger.[11]
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In the New Testament
All four Gospels record John the Baptist's ministry. They depict him as proclaiming Christ's arrival. In the Synoptics (Mark, Matthew, and Luke), Jesus is baptized. In Matthew and John, John the Baptist recognizes Jesus as the one he had foretold.
Birth and infancy
The Gospel of Luke includes an account of John's infancy, introducing him as the son of Zachariah and Elizabeth, who previously "had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years."[17] His birth, name, and office were foretold by the angel Gabriel to Zachariah, while Zachariah was performing his functions as a priest in the temple of Jerusalem. According to Luke, Zachariah was a priest of the course of Abijah, and his wife, Elizabeth, was of the daughters of Aaron;[18] consequently John automatically held the priesthood of Aaron.
Luke states that John was born about six months before Jesus. Zachariah had lost his speech at the behest and prophecy of the angel Gabriel,[19] and it was restored on the occasion of Zachariah naming John.[20] On the basis of Luke's account, the Catholic calendar placed the feast of John the Baptist on June 24, six months before Christmas.[21] According to Luke, Jesus and John the Baptist were related, their mothers being cousins Luke 1:36; there is no mention of this in the other Gospels, and the scholar Raymond E. Brown has described the relationship as 'of dubious historicity'[22]; Géza Vermes has called it 'artificial and undoubtedly Luke's creation'.[23]
Ministry
Jan Brueghel the Elder, John the Baptist preaching
All four canonical gospels relate to John's ministry, his preaching and baptism in the River Jordan. Most notably he is the one who recognized Jesus as the Messiah, and on Jesus' request, baptised him. The baptism marked the beginning of Jesus' ministry. The Gospels of Mark, Matthew and (less clearly) Luke relate that Jesus came from Galilee to John and was baptized by him, whereupon the Spirit descended upon him and a voice from Heaven told him he was God's Son. Their lives (e.g, births) are believed to have been similar, although in Christianity, John is thought of as last prophet and Jesus as the Messiah.