Episode 32: John the Baptist

John the Baptist is the bridge between the Old and New Testaments. He was the last of the prophets of the old covenant and the first to point to Jesus as the Messiah. After four hundred years of prophetic silence, his voice rang out in the wilderness of Judea calling for repentance. Jesus said of him that among those born of women there had not risen a greater. And yet his greatness lay in his humility: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

A birth announced

In the days of Herod the Great there lived a priest named Zacharias with his wife Elisabeth, a descendant of Aaron. Both were righteous before God, but they had no children, because Elisabeth was barren and both were well advanced in years. One day, while Zacharias was offering incense in the temple, the angel Gabriel appeared to him and announced that Elisabeth would bear him a son, whom he would call John:

“For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Luke 1:15-17

Zacharias doubted: “Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.” As a sign, he was struck dumb until the child’s birth. Elisabeth conceived and hid herself five months, saying that God had taken away her reproach.

The meeting of two mothers

In the sixth month of Elisabeth’s pregnancy, the same angel Gabriel announced to Mary, her relative, that she would be the mother of the Son of God. Mary went with haste to visit Elisabeth in a city in the hill country of Judah. When Elisabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the babe leaped in her womb, and Elisabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried: “Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.” Before he was born, John already rejoiced over Jesus.

“His name is John”

When the child was born, neighbours and relatives rejoiced with Elisabeth. On the eighth day, at the circumcision, they wanted to call him Zacharias after his father, but Elisabeth said: “Not so; but he shall be called John.” They made signs to his father, and he asked for a writing tablet and wrote: “His name is John.” At that moment his speech returned and he praised God with a prophetic song, the Benedictus, celebrating God’s visitation and describing his son’s mission: “And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways” (Luke 1:76). The name John means “God is gracious”.

The voice in the wilderness

The child grew and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts until the day of his showing to Israel. Around the fifteenth year of the emperor Tiberius, that is, about AD 28 or 29, the word of God came to John in the wilderness. John wore camel’s hair with a leather girdle and ate locusts and wild honey, like the prophets of old. He recalled Elijah, who also wore a garment of hair and a leather girdle (2 Kings 1:8).

His message was direct: “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The gospels identify him with the voice announced by Isaiah: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” Crowds came to him from Jerusalem, Judea and all the region round about Jordan, confessed their sins and were baptised in the river.

Fruits worthy of repentance

John did not seek to please anyone. To the Pharisees and Sadducees who came to his baptism he said: “O generation of vipers!… Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father.” When the people asked him what they should do, he answered with very practical instructions: he who has two coats, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise. He told tax collectors to exact no more than what was appointed; soldiers, to do violence to no man, accuse no one falsely and be content with their wages (Luke 3:10-14).

“I am not worthy”

Many wondered whether John was the Christ. But he answered with complete humility:

“And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.”
Mark 1:7-8

Untying sandals was the task of the lowliest slave. John considered himself unworthy even of that.

“Behold the Lamb of God”

One day Jesus came from Nazareth to be baptised by John in the Jordan. John resisted, but Jesus insisted on fulfilling all righteousness. As he came up out of the water, the heavens opened, the Spirit descended like a dove and the Father’s voice said: “This is my beloved Son.” Days later, seeing Jesus coming towards him, John spoke one of the most important sentences in the gospels:

“The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”
John 1:29

Two of John’s disciples, one of them Andrew, heard those words and followed Jesus. John did not cling to his followers; he directed them to Christ. When some of his disciples were troubled that everyone was going to Jesus, John answered that he was like the friend of the bridegroom, who rejoices to hear his voice: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).

Prison and doubts

John rebuked Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee and Perea, for marrying Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, and for other evils. Herod imprisoned him. From prison John sent his disciples to ask Jesus: “Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?” Jesus did not rebuke him; he told them to tell John what they saw: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the poor have the gospel preached to them. Then Jesus praised John before the crowd:

“Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”
Matthew 11:11

His death

On Herod’s birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced before the guests and pleased the king so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. Prompted by her mother, she asked for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Herod was sorry, but because of his oath and his guests, he had John beheaded in prison. His disciples took up the body, buried it and went and told Jesus. John died as he had lived: faithful to the truth to the end.

Places in the story

Map of the places in this episode. Approximate locations; map data: Natural Earth (public domain).

The hill country of Judea: tradition identifies John’s birthplace with Ein Karem, west of Jerusalem, where churches commemorate his birth and Mary’s visit.

The wilderness of Judea: an arid region between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, where John lived and preached.

The river Jordan: where he baptised. The site of Al-Maghtas, “Bethany beyond the Jordan”, in Jordan, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2015.

Machaerus: Herod Antipas’s fortress east of the Dead Sea, in present-day Jordan, where according to the historian Josephus John was imprisoned and executed.

Interesting facts

Mentioned by Josephus: the first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus wrote about John as a good man who urged people to practise virtue and justice, and recounted his death on Herod’s orders.

Relatives: John and Jesus were relatives, and John was about six months older.

His feast: many churches celebrate his birth on 24 June, six months before Christmas.

The promised Elijah: Jesus said John was the Elijah who was to come, announced by Malachi (Matthew 11:14).

Disciples in Ephesus: twenty years after his death there were still disciples of John’s baptism in Ephesus (Acts 19:1-7).

Lessons for our lives

God keeps his promises even when it seems too late. True repentance shows in practical living. True greatness is humility. Our mission is to point to Jesus, not to ourselves. Faithfulness to the truth can cost dearly. Doubts can be brought to Jesus.

On the road to Jesus

John’s whole life was a finger pointing to Jesus. In him the prophecies of Isaiah and Malachi about the messenger who would prepare the way were fulfilled. John announced Jesus as the Lamb of God, gathering the whole Old Testament into one phrase: the lamb Abraham offered on Moriah, the Passover lamb in Egypt, the temple sacrifices and Isaiah’s Servant led as a lamb to the slaughter. John baptised with water; Jesus baptises with the Holy Spirit. John was the voice; Jesus is the Word.

In the next episode we will meet Mary and Joseph, Jesus’ earthly parents.

Prayer

Lord, like John, I want to prepare the way for others to know you. Give me a humble heart that says: he must increase, and I must decrease. Help me bear fruits of repentance in my daily life and be faithful to the truth. Thank you for Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Amen.