- His memorial is August 29th
- 1) How was John the Baptist related to Jesus?
- Elizabeth is described as Mary’s “kinswoman,” meaning that they were related in some way through marriage or blood.
- Elizabeth, being elderly, may have been an aunt, great-aunt, or one of the many types of “cousin.
- 2) When did John the Baptist’s ministry begin?
- In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar . . . the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness; and he went into all the region about the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins [Luke 3:1-3].
- The fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar” is most naturally understood as a reference to A.D. 29.
- 3) Why did John come baptizing?
- He served as the forerunner or herald of the Messiah and was to prepare for him by fulfilling an Elijah-like role by calling the nation to repentance.
- He also came to identify and announce the Messiah.
- This identification was made when he baptized Jesus: “I saw the Spirit descend as a dove from heaven, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him; but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God” (1:32-34).
- 4) How did John’s arrest affect Jesus?
- The gospels indicate that the early ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus both took place in Judea, in the southern portion of Israel, near Jerusalem.
- John was arrested by Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee and Perea
- This led Jesus to begin his ministry in Galilee:
- Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee [Mt. 4:12].
- 5) What does John have to teach us about on the job morals?
- He was quizzed by both tax-collectors and soldiers about what they needed to do to be right with God.
- John tells them no, but to do their jobs in a righteous manner.
- 6) Was John the Baptist Elijah reincarnated?
- No. In Jesus’ day, the scribes predicted that Elijah would return before the coming of the Messiah.
- If you read 2 Kings 2:11, you’ll see that—instead of dying—Elijah was assumed into heaven by a whirlwind
- Since Elijah never died, he could not be reincarnated.
- Jesus indicated that the fulfillment of the Elijah prophecy was not meant to be taken in the literalistic way that the scribes of his day took it.
- someonelike Elijah was to appear and do this, and that person was John the Baptist.
- 7) How famous was John the Baptist in his own day
- Two points make this very clear:
- 1. The movement he began ended up having followers in distant lands.
- 2. We have information about him from outside the New Testament.
- 8) How did he get followers outside of Israel?
- One of these seems to have been Apollos, who later became a Christian evangelist.
- Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, well versed in the scriptures.
- Apollos had some knowledge of the connection between John the Baptist and the Messiah, but only limited knowledge. He did not know about Christian baptism and the difference between it and John’s baptism.
- Aquila and Priscilla gave him supplementary knowledge to complete his understanding of the Christian message
- When St. Paul returned to Ephesus, he found about a dozen of his apparent disciples in Ephesus, who had heard of John’s baptism but not Christian baptism and the Holy Spirit
- 9) Who killed John the Baptist?
- Herod Antipas, one of the sons of Herod the Great, who inherited the regions of Galilee and Perea
- he apparently stole Herodias, the wife of his brother Herod Philip.
- Herod Antipas served as John’s protector and had an unusual fascination with the fiery preacher
- Even John’s death did not end Antipas’s fascination with him. When he began to hear reports about Jesus, he thought Jesus might be John raised from the dead (Mark 6:14), and he sought to see Jesus for himself (Luke 9:9).
- 10) Why was John killed?
- Herod Antipas’s wife, Herodias, hated John with a passion.
- her daughter Salome delighted Antipas with a special dance at his birthday party, Herodias was able to manipulate him into giving the order for John’s death by beheading
- 11) Where do we learn of John the Baptist outside the New Testament?
- In the Jewish historian Josephus.
