John the Baptist

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 , 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). He is also 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 rumored that the Knights Templar also had possession of the head of St. John. According to , John began his ministry in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius, which would have been the year 28 or 29.^*

John the Baptist in the New Testament

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 Abijah, and his wife, Elisabeth, was of the Daughters of Aaron , and consequently John automatically held the priesthood of Aaron, giving him authority in Jewish eyes to perform baptisms of God.

Luke states that John was born about six months before Jesus, and that Zacharias' unbelief over the birth of his son led to him losing his power of speech, which was only restored on the occasion of John's circumcision ().

John the baptist is known in Mandaic as Yihja jahane .

Public ministry

Luke states that John was a Nazarite from his birth (), 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 (). 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 (). Chrysostom and Jerome believed that John had been brought up from his infancy in this manner, as describes.

According to the Gospel of John, when John the Baptist had arrived at 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, baptizing many people in the river Jordan after imploring them to confess their sins. John argues that his baptism is a prelude to the Messiah's 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 (). 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 unto repentance (see AEnon). Many persons became his disciples exercising themselves in acts of repentance and urging it on others.

According to the Gospels, John also 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 (), 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

According to the Canonical Gospels, John the Baptist's public ministry was suddenly brought to a close, probably about six months after he had baptised Jesus. According to these Gospel narratives, Herod Antipas jailed him, with the Gospel of Luke arguing that Herod was punishing John for condemning Herod's marriage to Herodias, the former wife of Herod Philip, Herod's own brother (). Some academics have argued that John was imprisoned in the Machaerus fortress on the southern extremity of Peraea, nine miles east of the Dead Sea .

The narrative states that although Herod himself respected John's authority and the clout of his following, to the extent that he would do John no further harm, Herod's bloodthirsty wife had other ideas, and pursuaded her daughter, Salome, to trick Herod. At a party for Herod, Salome dances so beautifully that, according to the Canonical Gospels, Herod foolishly offers her anything she requests, so she asks for John's head on a silver platter, and so John is beheaded. Josephus, considered a more reliable witness than the Gospels by most secular historians, states that Herod deliberately killed John to quell a possible uprising in around 36 AD.

Josephus' date is considered inconvenient by some Christians since the narrative requires that he died before Jesus, and so before about 32 AD, and so these prefer to date the event somewhere around the end of 31 AD or early 32 AD. Herod Philip did not die until about 34 AD, and Herod Antipas did not marry his brother's wife until his brother had died, hence making Josephus' dating more plausible for even the biblical version of John's death.

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

Neither Josephus nor the Gospels state where John was buried, though the Gospels state that John's disciples took his body and placed it in a tomb. 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 of the alleged remains were saved by some Christians, who carried them to an abbot of Jerusalem named Philip. Eccl. lib. iii. cap. 3 Chronic. Alex, p.686)

Status compared to Jesus

Unlike the Synoptic Gospels, the Gospel of John portrays John the Baptist as being clearly superseded by Jesus. The Gospel states that when John was baptising at Aenon, Jesus was also baptising nearby, but baptised more people. In the narrative of the Gospel of John, John's disciples question John about this, but John responds that Jesus must become greater while John must become less. Although the Gospel later goes on to state that Jesus regarded John as a burning and a shining light, it also says that Jesus referred to John as something that people were glad to enjoy ... for a while (). The Gospel of John also portrays the disciples of John as eventually merging into the followers of Jesus, in contrast to the Synoptics where they remain two distinct groups.

Alleged Prophecies related to John the Baptist

Christians believe that John the Baptist had a specific role ordained by God which was to be the forerunner or precursor to the Messiah, whom they believe to be Jesus. and also :

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.

There are several passages within the Old Testament which are generally interpreted by Christians as being prophetic of John the Baptist in this role.

These include a passage in the Book of Malachi that refers to a prophet who would prepare the way of the Lord:

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. -

Though the interpretation of this passage as referring to a forerunner of the Messiah was uncommon amongst Jews prior to the 2nd century BC, it became significantly more common under Hellenic, and later Christian, influences.

is interpreted by Christians as referring prophetically to John, based on John's own statement as written in :

He said "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias"

Josephus

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 water would be acceptable to him, if they made use of it, not in order to the putting away 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 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) [http://earlychristianwritings.com/text/josephus/ant-18.htm" target="_blank" >^*

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

Baptism for those who's souls have already been "purified beforehand by righteousness" is for purification of the body, not general repentance of sin ().
John's imprisonment and subsequent execution is described as being to prevent "mischief", rather than owing to Herod's wife's daughter's pursuasion of a reluctant Herod.

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 St. John's, Newfoundland (1497) and Saint John, New Brunswick (1604) were both named in honour of Saint John. In the UK Saint John the Baptist is the patron saint of Penzance, Cornwall. His feast day is June 24, celebrated in Quebec as the Fête nationale du Québec. He is also patron of the Knights Hospitaller of Jerusalem and Florence.

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.

Islamic viewpoint

In Arabic, the main language used in Islam, John the Baptist is known as Yahya. According to the Quran, John is the son of Zachariah whose tidings were foretold (19:7-19:15). John was exhorted to hold fast to the Scripture and was given wisdom when a child, by God. He was pure, devout and in the presence of God (19:13). He was dutiful towards his parents and he was not arrogant or rebellious (19:14). He will resurrect one day (19:15)

John is called a righteous, honorable and chaste person or a prophet of the righteous (6:85)(3:39). He came to confirm a word of God (3:39).

John according to Ibn Kathir

According to the Islamic scholar Ibn Kathir.

Zakariyah asks for a son - Qur'anic

God the Almighty revealed: 'Kaf, Ha, Ya, Ain, Sad, These letters are one of the miracles of the Qur'an, and none but God (Alone) knows their meanings. (This is) a mention of the Mercy of your Lord to His slave Zechariah. When he called out his Lord (God) - a call in secret, saying: 'My Lord! Indeed my bones have grown feeble, and grey hair has spread on my head, and I have never been unblest in my in vocation to You, O my Lord! And Verily! I fear my relatives after me, since my wife is barren. So give me from Yourself an heir, - who shall inherit me, and inherit (also) the posterity of Jacob (inheritance of the religious knowledge and Prophethood, not the wealth, etc.) And make him, my Lord, one with whom You are Well-pleased!"

(God said): "O Zechariah! Verily, We give you the glad tidings of a son. His name will be John. We have given that name to none before (him)."He said: 'My Lord! How can I have a son, when my wife is barren, and I have reached the extreme old age."

He said: "So (it will be). Your Lord says, It is easy for Me. Certainly I have created you before, when you had been nothing."

(Zechariah) said: 'My Lord! Appoint for me a sign."

He said: 'Your sign is that you shall not speak unto mankind for three nights, though having no bodily defect."

Then he came out to his people from Al-Mihrab (a praying place or a private room, etc.), he told them by signs to glorify God 's Praises in the morning and in the afternoon.

(It was said to his son): "O John! Hold fast to the Scripture (The Torah)." And We gave him wisdom while yet a child, and (made him) sympathetic to men as a mercy (or a grant) from Us, and pure from sins (i.e. John) and he was righteous, and dutiful towards his parents, and he was neither an arrogant nor disobedient (to God or to his parents). And peace on him the day he was born, the day he dies, and the day he will be raised up to life (again)! (Surah 19: 1-12)

John's childhood

John was born a stranger to the world of children who used to amuse themselves, as he was serious all the time. Most children took delight in torturing animals whereas, he was merciful to them. He fed the animals from his food until there was nothing left for him, and he just ate fruit or leaves of trees.

John loved reading since childhood. When he grew up, God the Exalted called upon him: "'0 John! Hold fast to the Scripture (The Torah).' And We gave him wisdom while yet a child". (Surah 19: 12)

John's qualities

God guided him to read the Book of Jurisprudence closely; thus, he became the wisest and most knowledgeable man of that time. Therefore, God the Almighty endowed him with the faculties of passing judgments on people's affairs, interpreting the secrets of religion, guiding people to the right path, and warning them against the wrong one.

John reached maturity. His compassion for his parents, as well as for all people and all creatures, increased greatly. He called people to repent their sins.

There are quite a number of traditions told about John. Ibn Asaker related that one time his parents were looking for him and found him at the Jordan River. When they met him, they wept sorely, seeing his great devotion to God, Great and Majestic.

Ibn Wahb said that, according to Malik, grass was the food of John son of Zechariah, and he wept sorely in fear of God.

A chain of narrators reported that Idris Al-Khawlawi said: "Shall I not tell you he who had the best food? It is John son of Zechariah, who joined the beasts at dinner, fearing to mix with men."

Why John always wept

Ibn Mubarak stated that Wahb Ibn Al-Ward narrated that Zechariah did not see his son for three days. He found him weeping inside a grave which he had dug and in which he resided. "My son, I have been searching for you, and you are dwelling in this grave weeping!" "O father, did you not tell me that between Paradise and Hell is only a span, and it will not be crossed except by tears of weepers?" He said to him: "Weep then, my son." Then they wept together.

Other narrations say that John said: "The dwellers of Paradise are sleepless out of the sweetness of God's bounty; that is why the faithful must be sleepless because of God's love in their hearts. How far between the two luxuries, how far between them?"

They say John wept so much that tears marked his cheeks.

John's love of nature

He found comfort in the open and never cared about food. He ate leaves, herbs, and sometimes locusts. He slept anywhere in the mountains or in holes in the ground. He sometimes would find a lion or a bear as he entered a cave, but being deeply absorbed in praising God, he never heeded them. The beasts easily recognized John as the prophet who cared for all the creatures, so they would leave the cave, bowing their heads.

John sometimes fed those beasts, out of mercy, from his food and was satisfied with prayers as food for his soul. He would spend the night crying and praising God for His blessings.

When John called people to worship God, he made them cry out of love and submission, arresting their hearts with the truthfulness of his words.

John's cruel death

A conflict took place between John and the authorities at that time. A tyrant king, Herod Antipas, the ruler of Palestine, was in love with Herodias, his brother Philip's wife.

On hearing the ruler's plan, John pronounced that such a marriage would be wrong. He would not approve it under any circumstance, as it was against the Law of the Torah.

John's pronouncement spread like wildfire and he was put in prison, at Herodias' request. At a dinner party for his birthday, Herodias' daughter embraced him, and Herod embraced her and offered to fulfill whatever she desired, up to one-half of his kingdom. She inquired to her mother as to what she should ask for, and was told by Herodias "the head of John the Baptist on a platter." She hurried back to Herod to give him this request. Not wanting to dishonor his oath to her nor to disappoint the elders at the party, he ordered John be executed and his head was served on a platter to the daughter.

(Text taken from Ibn Kathir's "Stories of the Prophets").

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.

Unification church

According to Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church, 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 () and his son, Nephi (; ).

Places and things named for John the Baptist

Puerto Rico was originally named San Juan Bautista; San Juan is now its capital city.
St. John's, Newfoundland, was founded on his feast day June 24, 1497.
Saint John, New Brunswick was named after the Saint John River which was named by Samuel de Champlain
Prince Edward Island, a Canadian province, was originally called Ile de St. Jean or St. John Island.
St. John's Wort is named after St. John because it is traditionally harvested on his feast day, June 24.
12th century cathedral in Kamien Pomorski (Poland) with a famous 17th century organ
St.Johns Road, in Bletchley of Milton Keynes Is the longest of the Roads in the Saints Estate

Famous churches

St. John the Baptist of Jerusalem
St. John the Baptist of Coventry
San Giovanni Battista di Rimini (cathedral)
San Giovanni Battista di Torino (cathedral)
Saint Jean Baptiste d'Audresselles

Other

There is also a Finnish "kiukku metal" band (kiukku means anger/temper in Finnish) called John the Baptist (also known as JtB commonly). Their music and lyrics are almost completely improvised. JtB has released two albums and they can be downloaded for free from the Internet through the JtB website.

External links

References to Yahya in the Qur'an

Appraisals for Yahya: 6:85, 19:7, 19:12, 19:13, 19:14, 19:15
Yahya's prophecy: 3:39, 6:85, 19:12

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