The forerunner of Jesus Christ, born to elderly parents of the Aaronic line. His public ministry began in the Judean wilderness with a call to repentance and baptism. His ministry is seen as a fulfilment of OT prophecy, in preparation for the ministry of Jesus Christ. He was executed by Herod.
John's birth and early years
His birth and naming
Luke 1:57–60 See also Luke 1:5–13, Luke 1:61–66
When the time came for Elizabeth to have her child, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they rejoiced with her. On the eighth day, when they came to circumcise the child, they were going to name him after his father Zechariah. But his mother replied, “No! He shall be called John.”
Prophetic words over his life
Luke 1:14–17 See also Luke 1:76–79
He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He shall never take wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb. Many of the sons of Israel he will turn back to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous — to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
He was related to Jesus Christ
His early years
John's ministry
His simple lifestyle
Matthew 3:4 parallel Mark 1:6; Matthew 11:18 parallel Luke 7:33; Luke 7:24–25
His call for repentance
Luke 3:3 parallels Matthew 3:1, Mark 1:4
He went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,
He fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy
Matthew 3:3 parallels Mark 1:2–3, Luke 3:4–6 Just as roads were improved in the ancient world in preparation for the visit of a king, so John calls for people to prepare spiritually and morally for the imminent coming of the Messiah. See also Isaiah 40:3; John 1:23
This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.’”
His practice of baptism
Mark 1:4–5 parallel Matthew 3:5–6 See also John 3:23, John 10:40
John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. People went out to him from all of Jerusalem and the countryside of Judea. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
His challenge to established religion
Matthew 3:7–10 parallel Luke 3:7–9 See also Luke 3:10–14
But when John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his place of baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The axe lies ready at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
The contrast of his own baptism with that which the Messiah would bring
Luke 3:15–17 parallels Matthew 3:11–12, Mark 1:7–8
The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John could be the Christ. John answered all of them: “I baptize you with water, but One more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
His testimony to Jesus Christ
John 1:15 See also John 1:6–8, John 1:21–27, John 10:41
John testified concerning Him. He cried out, saying, “This is He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.’”
He recognises that his own ministry must decrease, while that of Jesus Christ will increase
John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but am sent ahead of Him.’ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom stands and listens for him, and is overjoyed to hear the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must increase; I must decrease.
John's baptising of Jesus Christ
See also Matthew 3:13–15 parallels Mark 1:9, Luke 3:21 John's reluctance to baptise Jesus Christ lay in his recognition of who Jesus was and the apparent inappropriateness of such a baptism; John 1:29–34
John and his disciples
John had disciples
John 1:35–37, John 3:25, John 4:1
He taught them to pray
His disciples become envious of Jesus Christ
He sends his disciples to question Jesus Christ
Matthew 11:2–6 parallel Luke 7:18–23 Locked up in prison, John needed reassurance that his expectations about Jesus Christ had been well-founded.
John's disciples and the first Christians
John's imprisonment and death
His confrontation with Herod leads to his imprisonment
Luke 3:19–20 See also Matthew 14:3–5 parallel Mark 6:17–20
But when he rebuked Herod the tetrarch regarding his brother’s wife Herodias and all the evils he had done, Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.
His execution
Matthew 14:6–12 parallel Mark 6:21–29
Some thought Jesus Christ to be John risen from the dead
Mark 8:27–28 parallel Matthew 16:13–14 See also Matthew 14:1–2 parallels Mark 6:14–16, Luke 9:7–9
Then Jesus and His disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way, He questioned His disciples: “Who do people say I am?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”
Jesus Christ's estimation of John
Jesus Christ honours him
Matthew 11:11 parallel Luke 7:28
Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
Jesus Christ sees him as marking the end of the old covenant and the arrival of the kingdom
Luke 16:16 See also Matthew 11:12–13
The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the gospel of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.
Jesus Christ sees him as the promised Elijah
Matthew 11:14 On the basis of Malachi's prophecy (Malachi 4:5), it was widely accepted that Elijah must come before the Messiah could appear. This identification would have been reinforced by John dressing like Elijah (see 2 Kings 1:8). See also Matthew 11:10; Malachi 3:1; Matthew 17:11–13 parallel Mark 9:11–13
And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.
Related themes
Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Bible Aquifer. Formatted for this site, with Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.