John the Baptist, of course! 

Christian churches around the world will be preaching and teaching on the Baptism of Jesus this coming Sunday. Much to-do will be given to Jesus and his experience of the event. Stories will be told of John questioning Jesus’ authenticity, of Jesus submitting to John’s baptismal practices, of spirit-filled doves descending from the heavens, and of God declaring Jesus as his son. But who exactly was John the Baptist?

Who was this street preaching, camel hair wearing, grasshopper eating, head on a plate voice from the wilderness?  

Across religions and times

John the Baptist is famous in many different faith traditions and his novelty has survived the tests of time. Biblical texts suggest that John was Elijah reincarnate (John 1:21). For those in the Islamic faith traditions, he is regarded as the prophet Yayha, and the Quran declares, “we gave him Wisdom even as a youth” (Surah Maryam 19:12). Ever wonder how Mormon founder Joseph Smith got his authority? According to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, our man John made an appearance in Pennsylvania, in 1829, to ordain Joseph Smith into the Aaronic priesthood. Jewish historian extraordinaire Josephus gives John’s execution a shout-out in Chapter 5 of The Antiquities of the Jews. All of this to say, that it is notable that John the Baptist has been held in high regards by many different faith traditions, and for a very long time. In fact, many Biblical scholars would attest that John’s coming was prophesized thousands of years ago by the Old Testament prophets. Perhaps John would have a big head being such an important figure of mankind, but the Quran describes John as being “not-arrogant” and in the New Testament Gospels John humbly declares that he is merely preparing the way for someone truly great to come.

A Voice in the Wilderness

It seems fair to say that John lived a life similar to that of a 19^th century North American “mountain man”. He is recorded as wearing clothes made of animal hair. Some sources say camel, others suggest goat. He reportedly ate “locusts and honey”. Here, too, there is some discrepancy on interpretations of what “locusts and honey” actually means, but the larger point is probably that he lived off the land and wore and ate what the wilderness gave him to wear and eat. I don’t think we would’ve found John at Walmart stocking up on Wranglers and Hamburger Helper. 

Now, about that “voice in the wilderness”. John’s wilderness voice seems to have a deeper meaning than the literal sounds of a mountain man talking to the trees. He was preaching love and kindness and doing right by your neighbor. For those that try to espouse these lessons to their friends and family, or on social media, the lack of likes, comments, and action can make it feel like one is indeed talking to a wilderness of trees.

John was a practitioner of the ritualistic cleansing practices of the day. That’s where the John the “Baptist” part comes from. The word baptism comes from the Greek “to immerse”. John would, like today’s Christians, use water immersion, or baptism, as a symbolic tool for people to cleanse themselves of their unrighteousness and pronounce their commitment to loving thy neighbor. 

The whole “love your neighbor” message can be threatening to those in power, and the fundamentalist religious leaders of John’s time once wandered into one of his baptismal sessions and John calls out their hypocrisy with the term of endearment, “You brood of vipers!” (Matthew 3:7) and tells them they will only find their cleansing through the commitment of their change of behavior.

Unique in Birth and in Death

John’s mouth got his head served on a platter, but more on that in a minute. Let’s start with his birth. The Bible book of Luke finds the event of John’s birth to be significant enough to start out with. Of all the things that Dr. Luke could begin to write about, it seems significant that he chose John the Baptist. Luke records John’s parents as “righteous”, “blameless”, and “getting on in years” (Luke 1:5-7). According to Luke, an angel appeared to John’s father to break the news that his wife would soon be pregnant with a child that they would name “John”. Unfortunately, we don’t have any extra-Biblical sources to corroborate this story, but it does fit in nicely with other Biblical birth announcements. Luke weaves together a parallel narrative of the birth stories of Jesus and John in his first few chapters. Perhaps it would be fun to explore those parallels in another post.

Let’s get back to that bit about John’s mouth getting his head served on a platter. New Testament texts tell us that John had publicly shamed the King (Herod) for divorcing his wife and then marrying his sister-in-law. Long story short- the new wife didn’t like the shame and gave King Herod the ultimatum of John’s head on a platter, or else. Jewish historian Josephus tells the story a little differently, suggesting that it was John’s influence over the people that could lead to a rebellion that led to his execution. There is some fantastic artwork that has been done over the centuries of John’s head on a plate if you feel like wandering down a google rabbit trail.

John the Baptist. A man who wears animal hides and eats from the forest. A mountain man who dunks people in the river and tells them to love one another. A man who reportedly made a path for Jesus to walk the earth. A man who has been immortalized across cultures and times. Anyone for honey-dipped grasshoppers?