The Urantia Book
PAPER 135
JOHN THE BAPTIST
135:0.1 JOHN the Baptist was born March 25, 7
B.C., in accordance with the promise that Gabriel made to
Elizabeth in June of the previous year. For five months Elizabeth
kept secret Gabriel's visitation; and when she told her husband,
Zacharias, he was greatly troubled and fully believed her
narrative only after he had an unusual dream about six weeks
before the birth of John. Excepting the visit of Gabriel to
Elizabeth and the dream of Zacharias, there was nothing unusual or
supernatural connected with the birth of John the Baptist.
135:0.2 On the eighth day John was circumcised
according to the Jewish custom. He grew up as an ordinary child,
day by day and year by year, in the small village known in those
days as the City of Judah, about four miles west of Jerusalem.
135:0.3 The most eventful occurrence in John's
early childhood was the visit, in company with his parents, to
Jesus and the Nazareth family. This visit occurred in the month of
June, 1 B.C., when he was a little over six years of age.
135:0.4 After their return from Nazareth John's
parents began the systematic education of the lad. There was no
synagogue school in this little village; however, as he was a
priest, Zacharias was fairly well educated, and Elizabeth was far
better educated than the average Judean woman; she was also of the
priesthood, being a descendant of the "daughters of Aaron." Since
John was an only child, they spent a great deal of time on his
mental and spiritual training. Zacharias had only short periods of
service at the temple in Jerusalem so that he devoted much of his
time to teaching his son.
135:0.5 Zacharias and Elizabeth had a small farm
on which they raised sheep. They hardly made a living on this
land, but Zacharias received a regular allowance from the temple
funds dedicated to the priesthood.
1. JOHN BECOMES A NAZARITE
135:1.1 John had no school from which to
graduate at the age of fourteen, but his parents had selected this
as the appropriate year for him to take the formal Nazarite vow.
Accordingly, Zacharias and Elizabeth took their son to Engedi,
down by the Dead Sea. This was the southern headquarters of the
Nazarite brotherhood, and there the lad was duly and solemnly
inducted into this order for life. After these ceremonies and the
making of the vows to abstain from all intoxicating drinks, to let
the hair grow, and to refrain from touching the dead, the family
proceeded to Jerusalem, where, before the temple, John completed
the making of the offerings which were required of those taking
Nazarite vows.
135:1.2 John took the same life vows that had
been administered to his illustrious predecessors, Samson and the
prophet Samuel. A life Nazarite was looked upon as a sanctified
and holy personality. The Jews regarded a Nazarite with almost the
respect and veneration accorded the high priest, and this was not
strange since Nazarites of lifelong consecration were the only
persons, except high priests, who were ever permitted to enter the
holy of holies in the temple.
135:1.3 John returned home from Jerusalem to
tend his father's sheep and grew up to be a strong man with a
noble character.
135:1.4 When sixteen years old, John, as a
result of reading about Elijah, became greatly impressed with the
prophet of Mount Carmel and decided to adopt his style of dress.
From that day on John always wore a hairy garment with a leather
girdle. At sixteen he was more than six feet tall and almost full
grown. With his flowing hair and peculiar mode of dress he was
indeed a picturesque youth. And his parents expected great things
of this their only son, a child of promise and a Nazarite for
life.
2. THE DEATH OF ZACHARIAS
135:2.1 After an illness of several months
Zacharias died in July, A.D. 12, when John was just past eighteen
years of age. This was a time of great embarrassment to John since
the Nazarite vow forbade contact with the dead, even in one's own
family. Although John had endeavored to comply with the
restrictions of his vow regarding contamination by the dead, he
doubted that he had been wholly obedient to the requirements of
the Nazarite order; therefore, after his father's burial he went
to Jerusalem, where, in the Nazarite corner of the women's court,
he offered the sacrifices required for his cleansing.
135:2.2 In September of this year Elizabeth and
John made a journey to Nazareth to visit Mary and Jesus. John had
just about made up his mind to launch out in his lifework, but he
was admonished, not only by Jesus' words but also by his example,
to return home, take care of his mother, and await the "coming of
the Father's hour." After bidding Jesus and Mary good-bye at the
end of this enjoyable visit, John did not again see Jesus until
the event of his baptism in the Jordan.
135:2.3 John and Elizabeth returned to their
home and began to lay plans for the future. Since John refused to
accept the priest's allowance due him from the temple funds, by
the end of two years they had all but lost their home; so they
decided to go south with the sheep herd. Accordingly, the summer
that John was twenty years of age witnessed their removal to
Hebron. In the so-called "wilderness of Judea" John tended his
sheep along a brook that was tributary to a larger stream which
entered the Dead Sea at Engedi. The Engedi colony included not
only Nazarites of lifelong and time-period consecration but
numerous other ascetic herdsmen who congregated in this region
with their herds and fraternized with the Nazarite brotherhood.
They supported themselves by sheep raising and from gifts which
wealthy Jews made to the order.
135:2.4 As time passed, John returned less often
to Hebron, while he made more frequent visits to Engedi. He was so
entirely different from the majority of the Nazarites that he
found it very difficult fully to fraternize with the brotherhood.
But he was very fond of Abner, the acknowledged leader and head of
the Engedi colony.
3. THE LIFE OF A SHEPHERD
135:3.1 Along the valley of this little brook
John built no less than a dozen stone shelters and night corrals,
consisting of piled-up stones, wherein he could watch over and
safeguard his herds of sheep and goats. John's life as a shepherd
afforded him a great deal of time for thought. He talked much with
Ezda, an orphan lad of Beth-zur, whom he had in a way adopted, and
who cared for the herds when he made trips to Hebron to see his
mother and to sell sheep, as well as when he went down to Engedi
for Sabbath services. John and the lad lived very simply,
subsisting on mutton, goat's milk, wild honey, and the edible
locusts of that region. This, their regular diet, was supplemented
by provisions brought from Hebron and Engedi from time to time.
135:3.2 Elizabeth kept John posted about
Palestinian and world affairs, and his conviction grew deeper and
deeper that the time was fast approaching when the old order was
to end; that he was to become the herald of the approach of a new
age, "the kingdom of heaven." This rugged shepherd was very
partial to the writings of the Prophet Daniel. He read a thousand
times Daniel's description of the great image, which Zacharias had
told him represented the history of the great kingdoms of the
world, beginning with Babylon, then Persia, Greece, and finally
Rome. John perceived that already was Rome composed of such
polyglot peoples and races that it could never become a strongly
cemented and firmly consolidated empire. He believed that Rome was
even then divided, as Syria, Egypt, Palestine, and other
provinces; and then he further read "in the days of these kings
shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be
destroyed. And this kingdom shall not be left to other people but
shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall
stand forever." "And there was given him dominion and glory and a
kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass
away, and his kingdom never shall be destroyed." "And the kingdom
and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole
heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most
High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions
shall serve and obey him."
135:3.3 John was never able completely to rise
above the confusion produced by what he had heard from his parents
concerning Jesus and by these passages which he read in the
Scriptures. In Daniel he read: "I saw in the night visions, and,
behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven,
and there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom." But
these words of the prophet did not harmonize with what his parents
had taught him. Neither did his talk with Jesus, at the time of
his visit when he was eighteen years old, correspond with these
statements of the Scriptures. Notwithstanding this confusion,
throughout all of his perplexity his mother assured him that his
distant cousin, Jesus of Nazareth, was the true Messiah, that he
had come to sit on the throne of David, and that he (John) was to
become his advance herald and chief support.
135:3.4 From all John heard of the vice and
wickedness of Rome and the dissoluteness and moral barrenness of
the empire, from what he knew of the evil doings of Herod Antipas
and the governors of Judea, he was minded to believe that the end
of the age was impending. It seemed to this rugged and noble child
of nature that the world was ripe for the end of the age of man
and the dawn of the new and divine age -- the kingdom of heaven.
The feeling grew in John's heart that he was to be the last of the
old prophets and the first of the new. And he fairly vibrated with
the mounting impulse to go forth and proclaim to all men: "Repent!
Get right with God! Get ready for the end; prepare yourselves for
the appearance of the new and eternal order of earth affairs, the
kingdom of heaven."
4. THE DEATH OF ELIZABETH
135:4.1 On August 17, A.D. 22, when John was
twenty-eight years of age, his mother suddenly passed away.
Elizabeth's friends, knowing of the Nazarite restrictions
regarding contact with the dead, even in one's own family, made
all arrangements for the burial of Elizabeth before sending for
John. When he received word of the death of his mother, he
directed Ezda to drive his herds to Engedi and started for Hebron.
135:4.2 On returning to Engedi from his mother's
funeral, he presented his flocks to the brotherhood and for a
season detached himself from the outside world while he fasted and
prayed. John knew only of the old methods of approach to divinity;
he knew only of the records of such as Elijah, Samuel, and Daniel.
Elijah was his ideal of a prophet. Elijah was the first of the
teachers of Israel to be regarded as a prophet, and John truly
believed that he was to be the last of this long and illustrious
line of the messengers of heaven.
135:4.3 For two and a half years John lived at
Engedi, and he persuaded most of the brotherhood that "the end of
the age was at hand"; that "the kingdom of heaven was about to
appear." And all his early teaching was based upon the current
Jewish idea and concept of the Messiah as the promised deliverer
of the Jewish nation from the domination of their gentile rulers.
135:4.4 Throughout this period John read much in
the sacred writings which he found at the Engedi home of the
Nazarites. He was especially impressed by Isaiah and by Malachi,
the last of the prophets up to that time. He read and reread the
last five chapters of Isaiah, and he believed these prophecies.
Then he would read in Malachi: "Behold, I will send you Elijah the
prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the
Lord; and he shall turn the hearts of the fathers toward the
children and the hearts of the children toward their fathers, lest
I come and smite the earth with a curse." And it was only this
promise of Malachi that Elijah would return that deterred John
from going forth to preach about the coming kingdom and to exhort
his fellow Jews to flee from the wrath to come. John was ripe for
the proclamation of the message of the coming kingdom, but this
expectation of the coming of Elijah held him back for more than
two years. He knew he was not Elijah. What did Malachi mean? Was
the prophecy literal or figurative? How could he know the truth?
He finally dared to think that, since the first of the prophets
was called Elijah, so the last should be known, eventually, by the
same name. Nevertheless, he had doubts, doubts sufficient to
prevent his ever calling himself Elijah.
135:4.5 It was the influence of Elijah that
caused John to adopt his methods of direct and blunt assault upon
the sins and vices of his contemporaries. He sought to dress like
Elijah, and he endeavored to talk like Elijah; in every outward
aspect he was like the olden prophet. He was just such a stalwart
and picturesque child of nature, just such a fearless and daring
preacher of righteousness. John was not illiterate, he did well
know the Jewish sacred writings, but he was hardly cultured. He
was a clear thinker, a powerful speaker, and a fiery denunciator.
He was hardly an example to his age, but he was an eloquent
rebuke.
135:4.6 At last he thought out the method of
proclaiming the new age, the kingdom of God; he settled that he
was to become the herald of the Messiah; he swept aside all doubts
and departed from Engedi one day in March of A.D. 25 to begin his
short but brilliant career as a public preacher.
5. THE KINGDOM OF GOD
135:5.1 In order to understand John's message,
account should be taken of the status of the Jewish people at the
time he appeared upon the stage of action. For almost one hundred
years all Israel had been in a quandary; they were at a loss to
explain their continuous subjugation to gentile overlords. Had not
Moses taught that righteousness was always rewarded with
prosperity and power? Were they not God's chosen people? Why was
the throne of David desolate and vacant? In the light of the
Mosaic doctrines and the precepts of the prophets the Jews found
it difficult to explain their long-continued national desolation.
135:5.2 About one hundred years before the days
of Jesus and John a new school of religious teachers arose in
Palestine, the apocalyptists. These new teachers evolved a system
of belief that accounted for the sufferings and humiliation of the
Jews on the ground that they were paying the penalty for the
nation's sins. They fell back onto the well-known reasons assigned
to explain the Babylonian and other captivities of former times.
But, so taught the apocalyptists, Israel should take heart; the
days of their affliction were almost over; the discipline of God's
chosen people was about finished; God's patience with the gentile
foreigners was about exhausted. The end of Roman rule was
synonymous with the end of the age and, in a certain sense, with
the end of the world. These new teachers leaned heavily on the
predictions of Daniel, and they consistently taught that creation
was about to pass into its final stage; the kingdoms of this world
were about to become the kingdom of God. To the Jewish mind of
that day this was the meaning of that phrase -- the kingdom of
heaven -- which runs throughout the teachings of both John and
Jesus. To the Jews of Palestine the phrase "kingdom of heaven" had
but one meaning: an absolutely righteous state in which God (the
Messiah) would rule the nations of earth in perfection of power
just as he ruled in heaven -- "Your will be done on earth as in
heaven."
135:5.3 In the days of John all Jews were
expectantly asking, "How soon will the kingdom come?" There was a
general feeling that the end of the rule of the gentile nations
was drawing near. There was present throughout all Jewry a lively
hope and a keen expectation that the consummation of the desire of
the ages would occur during the lifetime of that generation.
135:5.4 While the Jews differed greatly in their
estimates of the nature of the coming kingdom, they were alike in
their belief that the event was impending, near at hand, even at
the door. Many who read the Old Testament literally looked
expectantly for a new king in Palestine, for a regenerated Jewish
nation delivered from its enemies and presided over by the
successor of King David, the Messiah who would quickly be
acknowledged as the rightful and righteous ruler of all the world.
Another, though smaller, group of devout Jews held a vastly
different view of this kingdom of God. They taught that the coming
kingdom was not of this world, that the world was approaching its
certain end, and that "a new heaven and a new earth" were to usher
in the establishment of the kingdom of God; that this kingdom was
to be an everlasting dominion, that sin was to be ended, and that
the citizens of the new kingdom were to become immortal in their
enjoyment of this endless bliss.
135:5.5 All were agreed that some drastic
purging or purifying discipline would of necessity precede the
establishment of the new kingdom on earth. The literalists taught
that a world-wide war would ensue which would destroy all
unbelievers, while the faithful would sweep on to universal and
eternal victory. The spiritists taught that the kingdom would be
ushered in by the great judgment of God which would relegate the
unrighteous to their well-deserved judgment of punishment and
final destruction, at the same time elevating the believing saints
of the chosen people to high seats of honor and authority with the
Son of Man, who would rule over the redeemed nations in God's
name. And this latter group even believed that many devout
gentiles might be admitted to the fellowship of the new kingdom.
135:5.6 Some of the Jews held to the opinion
that God might possibly establish this new kingdom by direct and
divine intervention, but the vast majority believed that he would
interpose some representative intermediary, the Messiah. And that
was the only possible meaning the term Messiah could have
had in the minds of the Jews of the generation of John and Jesus.
Messiah could not possibly refer to one who merely taught God's
will or proclaimed the necessity for righteous living. To all such
holy persons the Jews gave the title of prophet. The
Messiah was to be more than a prophet; the Messiah was to bring in
the establishment of the new kingdom, the kingdom of God. No one
who failed to do this could be the Messiah in the traditional
Jewish sense.
135:5.7 Who would this Messiah be? Again the
Jewish teachers differed. The older ones clung to the doctrine of
the son of David. The newer taught that, since the new kingdom was
a heavenly kingdom, the new ruler might also be a divine
personality, one who had long sat at God's right hand in heaven.
And strange as it may appear, those who thus conceived of the
ruler of the new kingdom looked upon him not as a human Messiah,
not as a mere man, but as "the Son of Man" -- a Son of God
-- a heavenly Prince, long held in waiting thus to assume the
rulership of the earth made new. Such was the religious background
of the Jewish world when John went forth proclaiming: "Repent, for
the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"
135:5.8 It becomes apparent, therefore, that
John's announcement of the coming kingdom had not less than half a
dozen different meanings in the minds of those who listened to his
impassioned preaching. But no matter what significance they
attached to the phrases which John employed, each of these various
groups of Jewish-kingdom expectants was intrigued by the
proclamations of this sincere, enthusiastic, rough-and-ready
preacher of righteousness and repentance, who so solemnly exhorted
his hearers to "flee from the wrath to come."
6. JOHN BEGINS TO PREACH
135:6.1 Early in the month of March, A.D. 25,
John journeyed around the western coast of the Dead Sea and up the
river Jordan to opposite Jericho, the ancient ford over which
Joshua and the children of Israel passed when they first entered
the promised land; and crossing over to the other side of the
river, he established himself near the entrance to the ford and
began to preach to the people who passed by on their way back and
forth across the river. This was the most frequented of all the
Jordan crossings.
135:6.2 It was apparent to all who heard John
that he was more than a preacher. The great majority of those who
listened to this strange man who had come up from the Judean
wilderness went away believing that they had heard the voice of a
prophet. No wonder the souls of these weary and expectant Jews
were deeply stirred by such a phenomenon. Never in all Jewish
history had the devout children of Abraham so longed for the
"consolation of Israel" or more ardently anticipated "the
restoration of the kingdom." Never in all Jewish history could
John's message, "the kingdom of heaven is at hand," have made such
a deep and universal appeal as at the very time he so mysteriously
appeared on the bank of this southern crossing of the Jordan.
135:6.3 He came from the herdsmen, like Amos. He
was dressed like Elijah of old, and he thundered his admonitions
and poured forth his warnings in the "spirit and power of Elijah."
It is not surprising that this strange preacher created a mighty
stir throughout all Palestine as the travelers carried abroad the
news of his preaching along the Jordan.
135:6.4 There was still another and a new
feature about the work of this Nazarite preacher: He baptized
every one of his believers in the Jordan "for the remission of
sins." Although baptism was not a new ceremony among the Jews,
they had never seen it employed as John now made use of it. It had
long been the practice thus to baptize the gentile proselytes into
the fellowship of the outer court of the temple, but never had the
Jews themselves been asked to submit to the baptism of repentance.
Only fifteen months intervened between the time John began to
preach and baptize and his arrest and imprisonment at the
instigation of Herod Antipas, but in this short time he baptized
considerably over one hundred thousand penitents.
135:6.5 John preached four months at Bethany
ford before starting north up the Jordan. Tens of thousands of
listeners, some curious but many earnest and serious, came to hear
him from all parts of Judea, Perea, and Samaria. Even a few came
from Galilee.
135:6.6 In May of this year, while he still
lingered at Bethany ford, the priests and Levites sent a
delegation out to inquire of John whether he claimed to be the
Messiah, and by whose authority he preached. John answered these
questioners by saying: "Go tell your masters that you have heard
`the voice of one crying in the wilderness,' as spoken by the
prophet, saying, `make ready the way of the Lord, make straight a
highway for our God. Every valley shall be filled, and every
mountain and hill shall be brought low; the uneven ground shall
become a plain, while the rough places shall become a smooth
valley; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"
135:6.7 John was a heroic but tactless preacher.
One day when he was preaching and baptizing on the west bank of
the Jordan, a group of Pharisees and a number of Sadducees came
forward and presented themselves for baptism. Before leading them
down into the water, John, addressing them as a group said: "Who
warned you to flee, as vipers before the fire, from the wrath to
come? I will baptize you, but I warn you to bring forth fruit
worthy of sincere repentance if you would receive the remission of
your sins. Tell me not that Abraham is your father. I declare that
God is able of these twelve stones here before you to raise up
worthy children for Abraham. And even now is the ax laid to the
very roots of the trees. Every tree that brings not forth good
fruit is destined to be cut down and cast into the fire." (The
twelve stones to which he referred were the reputed memorial
stones set up by Joshua to commemorate the crossing of the "twelve
tribes" at this very point when they first entered the promised
land.)
135:6.8 John conducted classes for his
disciples, in the course of which he instructed them in the
details of their new life and endeavored to answer their many
questions. He counseled the teachers to instruct in the spirit as
well as the letter of the law. He instructed the rich to feed the
poor; to the tax gatherers he said: "Extort no more than that
which is assigned you." To the soldiers he said: "Do no violence
and exact nothing wrongfully -- be content with your wages." While
he counseled all: "Make ready for the end of the age -- the
kingdom of heaven is at hand."
7. JOHN JOURNEYS NORTH
135:7.1 John still had confused ideas about the
coming kingdom and its king. The longer he preached the more
confused he became, but never did this intellectual uncertainty
concerning the nature of the coming kingdom in the least lessen
his conviction of the certainty of the kingdom's immediate
appearance. In mind John might be confused, but in spirit never.
He was in no doubt about the coming kingdom, but he was far from
certain as to whether or not Jesus was to be the ruler of that
kingdom. As long as John held to the idea of the restoration of
the throne of David, the teachings of his parents that Jesus, born
in the City of David, was to be the long-expected deliverer,
seemed consistent; but at those times when he leaned more toward
the doctrine of a spiritual kingdom and the end of the temporal
age on earth, he was sorely in doubt as to the part Jesus would
play in such events. Sometimes he questioned everything, but not
for long. He really wished he might talk it all over with his
cousin, but that was contrary to their expressed agreement.
135:7.2 As John journeyed north, he thought much
about Jesus. He paused at more than a dozen places as he traveled
up the Jordan. It was at Adam that he first made reference to
"another one who is to come after me" in answer to the direct
question which his disciples asked him, "Are you the Messiah?" And
he went on to say: "There will come after me one who is greater
than I, whose sandal straps I am not worthy to stoop down and
unloose. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with
the Holy Spirit. And his shovel is in his hand thoroughly to
cleanse his threshing floor; he will gather the wheat into his
garner, but the chaff will he burn up with the judgment fire."
135:7.3 In response to the questions of his
disciples John continued to expand his teachings, from day to day
adding more that was helpful and comforting compared with his
early and cryptic message: "Repent and be baptized." By this time
throngs were arriving from Galilee and the Decapolis. Scores of
earnest believers lingered with their adored teacher day after
day.
8. MEETING OF JESUS AND JOHN
135:8.1 By December of A.D. 25, when John
reached the neighborhood of Pella in his journey up the Jordan,
his fame had extended throughout all Palestine, and his work had
become the chief topic of conversation in all the towns about the
lake of Galilee. Jesus had spoken favorably of John's message, and
this had caused many from Capernaum to join John's cult of
repentance and baptism. James and John the fishermen sons of
Zebedee had gone down in December, soon after John took up his
preaching position near Pella, and had offered themselves for
baptism. They went to see John once a week and brought back to
Jesus fresh, first-hand reports of the evangelist's work.
135:8.2 Jesus' brothers James and Jude had
talked about going down to John for baptism; and now that Jude had
come over to Capernaum for the Sabbath services, both he and
James, after listening to Jesus' discourse in the synagogue,
decided to take counsel with him concerning their plans. This was
on Saturday night, January 12, A.D. Jesus requested that they
postpone the discussion until the following day, when he would
give them his answer. He slept very little that night, being in
close communion with the Father in heaven. He had arranged to have
noontime lunch with his brothers and to advise them concerning
baptism by John. That Sunday morning Jesus was working as usual in
the boatshop. James and Jude had arrived with the lunch and were
waiting in the lumber room for him, as it was not yet time for the
midday recess, and they knew that Jesus was very regular about
such matters.
135:8.3 Just before the noon rest, Jesus laid
down his tools, removed his work apron, and merely announced to
the three workmen in the room with him, "My hour has come." He
went out to his brothers James and Jude, repeating, "My hour has
come -- let us go to John." And they started immediately for
Pella, eating their lunch as they journeyed. This was on Sunday,
January 13. They tarried for the night in the Jordan valley and
arrived on the scene of John's baptizing about noon of the next
day.
135:8.4 John had just begun baptizing the
candidates for the day. Scores of repentants were standing in line
awaiting their turn when Jesus and his two brothers took up their
positions in this line of earnest men and women who had become
believers in John's preaching of the coming kingdom. John had been
inquiring about Jesus of Zebedee's sons. He had heard of Jesus'
remarks concerning his preaching, and he was day by day expecting
to see him arrive on the scene, but he had not expected to greet
him in the line of baptismal candidates.
135:8.5 Being engrossed with the details of
rapidly baptizing such a large number of converts, John did not
look up to see Jesus until the Son of Man stood in his immediate
presence. When John recognized Jesus, the ceremonies were halted
for a moment while he greeted his cousin in the flesh and asked,
"But why do you come down into the water to greet me?" And Jesus
answered, "To be subject to your baptism." John replied: "But I
have need to be baptized by you. Why do you come to me?" And Jesus
whispered to John: "Bear with me now, for it becomes us to set
this example for my brothers standing here with me, and that the
people may know that my hour has come."
135:8.6 There was a tone of finality and
authority in Jesus' voice. John was atremble with emotion as he
made ready to baptize Jesus of Nazareth in the Jordan at noon on
Monday, January 14, A.D. Thus did John baptize Jesus and his two
brothers James and Jude. And when John had baptized these three,
he dismissed the others for the day, announcing that he would
resume baptisms at noon the next day. As the people were
departing, the four men still standing in the water heard a
strange sound, and presently there appeared for a moment an
apparition immediately over the head of Jesus, and they heard a
voice saying, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."
A great change came over the countenance of Jesus, and coming up
out of the water in silence he took leave of them, going toward
the hills to the east. And no man saw Jesus again for forty days.
135:8.7
John followed Jesus a sufficient distance to tell him the story of
Gabriel's visit to his mother ere either had been born, as he had
heard it so many times from his mother's lips. He allowed Jesus to
continue on his way after he had said, "Now I know of a certainty
that you are the Deliverer." But Jesus made no reply.
9. FORTY DAYS OF PREACHING
135:9.1 When John returned to his disciples (he
now had some twenty-five or thirty who abode with him constantly),
he found them in earnest conference, discussing what had just
happened in connection with Jesus' baptism. They were all the more
astonished when John now made known to them the story of the
Gabriel visitation to Mary before Jesus was born, and also that
Jesus spoke no word to him even after he had told him about this.
There was no rain that evening, and this group of thirty or more
talked long into the starlit night. They wondered where Jesus had
gone, and when they would see him again.
135:9.2 After the experience of this day the
preaching of John took on new and certain notes of proclamation
concerning the coming kingdom and the expected Messiah. It was a
tense time, these forty days of tarrying, waiting for the return
of Jesus. But John continued to preach with great power, and his
disciples began at about this time to preach to the overflowing
throngs which gathered around John at the Jordan.
135:9.3 In the course of these forty days of
waiting, many rumors spread about the countryside and even to
Tiberias and Jerusalem. Thousands came over to see the new
attraction in John's camp, the reputed Messiah, but Jesus was not
to be seen. When the disciples of John asserted that the strange
man of God had gone to the hills, many doubted the entire story.
135:9.4 About three weeks after Jesus had left
them, there arrived on the scene at Pella a new deputation from
the priests and Pharisees at Jerusalem. They asked John directly
if he was Elijah or the prophet that Moses promised; and when John
said, "I am not," they made bold to ask, "Are you the Messiah?"
and John answered, "I am not." Then said these men from Jerusalem:
"If you are not Elijah, nor the prophet, nor the Messiah, then why
do you baptize the people and create all this stir?" And John
replied: "It should be for those who have heard me and received my
baptism to say who I am, but I declare to you that, while I
baptize with water, there has been among us one who will return to
baptize you with the Holy Spirit."
135:9.5 These forty days were a difficult period
for John and his disciples. What was to be the relation of John to
Jesus? A hundred questions came up for discussion. Politics and
selfish preferment began to make their appearance. Intense
discussions grew up around the various ideas and concepts of the
Messiah. Would he become a military leader and a Davidic king?
Would he smite the Roman armies as Joshua had the Canaanites? Or
would he come to establish a spiritual kingdom? John rather
decided, with the minority, that Jesus had come to establish the
kingdom of heaven, although he was not altogether clear in his own
mind as to just what was to be embraced within this mission of the
establishment of the kingdom of heaven.
135:9.6 These were strenuous days in John's
experience, and he prayed for the return of Jesus. Some of John's
disciples organized scouting parties to go in search of Jesus, but
John forbade, saying: "Our times are in the hands of the God of
heaven; he will direct his chosen Son."
135:9.7 It was early on the morning of Sabbath,
February 23, that the company of John, engaged in eating their
morning meal, looked up toward the north and beheld Jesus coming
to them. As he approached them, John stood upon a large rock and,
lifting up his sonorous voice, said: "Behold the Son of God, the
deliverer of the world! This is he of whom I have said, `After me
there will come one who is preferred before me because he was
before me.' For this cause came I out of the wilderness to preach
repentance and to baptize with water, proclaiming that the kingdom
of heaven is at hand. And now comes one who shall baptize you with
the Holy Spirit. And I beheld the divine spirit descending upon
this man, and I heard the voice of God declare, `This is my
beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.'"
135:9.8 Jesus bade them return to their food
while he sat down to eat with John, his brothers James and Jude
having returned to Capernaum.
135:9.9 Early in the morning of the next day he
took leave of John and his disciples, going back to Galilee. He
gave them no word as to when they would again see him. To John's
inquiries about his own preaching and mission Jesus only said, "My
Father will guide you now and in the future as he has in the
past." And these two great men separated that morning on the banks
of the Jordan, never again to greet each other in the flesh.
10. JOHN JOURNEYS SOUTH
135:10.1 Since Jesus had gone north into
Galilee, John felt led to retrace his steps southward.
Accordingly, on Sunday morning, March 3, John and the remainder of
his disciples began their journey south. About one quarter of
John's immediate followers had meantime departed for Galilee in
quest of Jesus. There was a sadness of confusion about John. He
never again preached as he had before baptizing Jesus. He somehow
felt that the responsibility of the coming kingdom was no longer
on his shoulders. He felt that his work was almost finished; he
was disconsolate and lonely. But he preached, baptized, and
journeyed on southward.
135:10.2 Near the village of Adam, John tarried
for several weeks, and it was here that he made the memorable
attack upon Herod Antipas for unlawfully taking the wife of
another man. By June of this year (A.D. 26) John was back at the
Bethany ford of the Jordan, where he had begun his preaching of
the coming kingdom more than a year previously. In the weeks
following the baptism of Jesus the character of John's preaching
gradually changed into a proclamation of mercy for the common
people, while he denounced with renewed vehemence the corrupt
political and religious rulers.
135:10.3 Herod Antipas, in whose territory John
had been preaching, became alarmed lest he and his disciples
should start a rebellion. Herod also resented John's public
criticisms of his domestic affairs. In view of all this, Herod
decided to put John in prison. Accordingly, very early in the
morning of June 12, before the multitude arrived to hear the
preaching and witness the baptizing, the agents of Herod placed
John under arrest. As weeks passed and he was not released, his
disciples scattered over all Palestine, many of them going into
Galilee to join the followers of Jesus.
11. JOHN IN PRISON
135:11.1 John had a lonely and somewhat bitter
experience in prison. Few of his followers were permitted to see
him. He longed to see Jesus but had to be content with hearing of
his work through those of his followers who had become believers
in the Son of Man. He was often tempted to doubt Jesus and his
divine mission. If Jesus were the Messiah, why did he do nothing
to deliver him from this unbearable imprisonment? For more than a
year and a half this rugged man of God's outdoors languished in
that despicable prison. And this experience was a great test of
his faith in, and loyalty to, Jesus. Indeed, this whole experience
was a great test of John's faith even in God. Many times was he
tempted to doubt even the genuineness of his own mission and
experience.
135:11.2 After he had been in prison several
months, a group of his disciples came to him and, after reporting
concerning the public activities of Jesus, said: "So you see,
Teacher, that he who was with you at the upper Jordan prospers and
receives all who come to him. He even feasts with publicans and
sinners. You bore courageous witness to him, and yet he does
nothing to effect your deliverance." But John answered his
friends: "This man can do nothing unless it has been given him by
his Father in heaven. You well remember that I said, `I am not the
Messiah, but I am one sent on before to prepare the way for him.'
And that I did. He who has the bride is the bridegroom, but the
friend of the bridegroom who stands near-by and hears him rejoices
greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. This, my joy, therefore
is fulfilled. He must increase but I must decrease. I am of this
earth and have declared my message. Jesus of Nazareth comes down
to the earth from heaven and is above us all. The Son of Man has
descended from God, and the words of God he will declare to you.
For the Father in heaven gives not the spirit by measure to his
own Son. The Father loves his Son and will presently put all
things in the hands of this Son. He who believes in the Son has
eternal life. And these words which I speak are true and abiding."
135:11.3 These disciples were amazed at John's
pronouncement, so much so that they departed in silence. John was
also much agitated, for he perceived that he had uttered a
prophecy. Never again did he wholly doubt the mission and divinity
of Jesus. But it was a sore disappointment to John that Jesus sent
him no word, that he came not to see him, and that he exercised
none of his great power to deliver him from prison. But Jesus knew
all about this. He had great love for John, but being now
cognizant of his divine nature and knowing fully the great things
in preparation for John when he departed from this world and also
knowing that John's work on earth was finished, he constrained
himself not to interfere in the natural outworking of the great
preacher-prophet's career.
135:11.4 This long suspense in prison was
humanly unbearable. Just a few days before his death John again
sent trusted messengers to Jesus, inquiring: "Is my work done? Why
do I languish in prison? Are you truly the Messiah, or shall we
look for another?" And when these two disciples gave this message
to Jesus, the Son of Man replied: "Go back to John and tell him
that I have not forgotten but to suffer me also this, for it
becomes us to fulfill all righteousness. Tell John what you have
seen and heard -- that the poor have good tidings preached to them
-- and, finally, tell the beloved herald of my earth mission that
he shall be abundantly blessed in the age to come if he finds no
occasion to doubt and stumble over me." And this was the last word
John received from Jesus. This message greatly comforted him and
did much to stabilize his faith and prepare him for the tragic end
of his life in the flesh which followed so soon upon the heels of
this memorable occasion.
12. DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST
135:12.1 As John was working in southern Perea
when arrested, he was taken immediately to the prison of the
fortress of Machaerus, where he was incarcerated until his
execution. Herod ruled over Perea as well as Galilee, and he
maintained residence at this time at both Julias and Machaerus in
Perea. In Galilee the official residence had been moved from
Sepphoris to the new capital at Tiberias.
135:12.2 Herod feared to release John lest he
instigate rebellion. He feared to put him to death lest the
multitude riot in the capital, for thousands of Pereans believed
that John was a holy man, a prophet. Therefore Herod kept the
Nazarite preacher in prison, not knowing what else to do with him.
Several times John had been before Herod, but never would he agree
either to leave the domains of Herod or to refrain from all public
activities if he were released. And this new agitation concerning
Jesus of Nazareth, which was steadily increasing, admonished Herod
that it was no time to turn John loose. Besides, John was also a
victim of the intense and bitter hatred of Herodias, Herod's
unlawful wife.
135:12.3 On numerous occasions Herod talked with
John about the kingdom of heaven, and while sometimes seriously
impressed with his message, he was afraid to release him from
prison.
135:12.4 Since much building was still going on
at Tiberias, Herod spent considerable time at his Perean
residences, and he was partial to the fortress of Machaerus. It
was a matter of several years before all the public buildings and
the official residence at Tiberias were fully completed.
135:12.5 In celebration of his birthday Herod
made a great feast in the Machaerian palace for his chief officers
and other men high in the councils of the government of Galilee
and Perea. Since Herodias had failed to bring about John's death
by direct appeal to Herod, she now set herself to the task of
having John put to death by cunning planning.
135:12.6 In the course of the evening's
festivities and entertainment, Herodias presented her daughter to
dance before the banqueters. Herod was very much pleased with the
damsel's performance and, calling her before him, said: "You are
charming. I am much pleased with you. Ask me on this my birthday
for whatever you desire, and I will give it to you, even to the
half of my kingdom." And Herod did all this while well under the
influence of his many wines. The young lady drew aside and
inquired of her mother what she should ask of Herod. Herodias
said, "Go to Herod and ask for the head of John the Baptist." And
the young woman, returning to the banquet table, said to Herod, "I
request that you forthwith give me the head of John the Baptist on
a platter."
135:12.7 Herod was filled with fear and sorrow,
but because of his oath and because of all those who sat at meat
with him, he would not deny the request. And Herod Antipas sent a
soldier, commanding him to bring the head of John. So was John
that night beheaded in the prison, the soldier bringing the head
of the prophet on a platter and presenting it to the young woman
at the rear of the banquet hall. And the damsel gave the platter
to her mother. When John's disciples heard of this, they came to
the prison for the body of John, and after laying it in a tomb,
they went and told Jesus.
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