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John the BaptistForerunner to Jesus, later executed by Herod the Great. is regarded as a prophet by at least three religions: Christianity, Islam, and Mandaeanism. According to Luke 1:36, 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. He is also referred to as John the Forerunner/Precursor because according to Christians (but not Mandaeans) he was the forerunner of Christ. Isaiah 40:3-5 is commonly read by Christians as a prophecy of John. Muslim tradition maintains that the head of John the BaptistForerunner to Jesus, later executed by Herod the Great. is interred in the Umayyad Mosque. In later times it was rumored that the Knights Templar also had possession of the head. According to Luke 3:1, John began his ministry in the 15th year of the reign of TiberiusOne of Israel's 4 Holy Cities.
Unlike the other Synoptic Gospels, the Gospel of Luke provides an account of his infancy. According to Luke, John the BaptistForerunner to Jesus, later executed by Herod the Great. 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. According to Luke, Zacharias was a priest of the course of Abia, and his mother, Elisabeth, was of the Daughters of Aaron. Consequently John automatically held the priesthood of Aaron, giving him authority in Jewish eyes to perform baptisms of G-d.
John was born about six months before Jesus, and 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 (Luke 1:64).
John was a Nazarite from his birth (Luke 1:15), and he spent his early years in Judea, in the wilderness between JerusalemThe capital of Israel and the Dead Sea (Matthew 3:1-12). He led a simple life, clothed only with camel's hair and a leather girdle, and eating just locusts and honey.
When John the BaptistForerunner to Jesus, later executed by Herod the Great. became 30, G-d manifested him to the world, in the 15th year of TiberiusOne of Israel's 4 Holy Cities, CE 28. 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. John the BaptistForerunner to Jesus, later executed by Herod the Great. gathered a large following, and induced many persons to confess their sins, whom he baptized in the river Jordan. John argued 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 (Luke 3:8). 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 RiverIsrael's longest river.. There he baptized thousands unto repentance. Many persons became his disciples exercising themselves in acts of repentance and urging it on others.
John also baptized Jesus. 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 next day John publicly announced Jesus as the Lamb of God, that takes away the sins of the world (John 1:19-29), and that John's office as forerunner ended with the baptism of Jesus, though he continued to bear testimony to the Messiahship of Jesus. The other three Gospels state that John baptized Jesus shortly after he presented himself, and make no indication that John's ministry had ended, even making further references, later in the text, to John the BaptistForerunner to Jesus, later executed by Herod the Great. continuing to have followers that were independent to Jesus’.
John’s public ministry was suddenly stopped, probably about 6 months after he had baptized Jesus. HerodA notorious king, ruled in the time of the second temple Antipas jailed him.
Although HerodA notorious king, ruled in the time of the second temple himself respected John's authority and the clout of his following, to the extent that he would do John no further harm, Herodias' bloodthirsty wife had other ideas, and persuaded her daughter to trick HerodA notorious king, ruled in the time of the second temple. At a party for HerodA notorious king, ruled in the time of the second temple, Herodias' daughter danced so beautifully that, according to the Canonical Gospels, HerodA notorious king, ruled in the time of the second temple foolishly offers her anything she requests, so she asks for John's head on a silver platter, and John was beheaded. Josephus, considered a more reliable witness than the Gospels by most secular historians, states that HerodA notorious king, ruled in the time of the second temple deliberately killed John to quell an uprising in around 36 CE.
Josephus' date is considered inconvenient by some Christians since the narrative requires that he died before Jesus, and so before about 32 CE, and so some prefer to date the event somewhere around the end of 31 CE or early 32 CE. HerodA notorious king, ruled in the time of the second temple Philip did not die until about 34 CE, and HerodA notorious king, ruled in the time of the second temple Antipas did not marry his brother's wife until his brother had died, hence making Josephus' dating more plausible.
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 JerusalemThe capital of Israel named Philip.
Some 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.
Saint John the BaptistForerunner to Jesus, later executed by Herod the Great. is the patron saint of French Canada.
The Canadian cities of Saint John, New Brunswick and St. John's, Newfoundland were both named in honor of Saint John. His feast day is June 24, celebrated in Quebec as the Fête Nationale du Québec. He is also counted as the Patron of the Knights Hospitaller of JerusalemThe capital of Israel.