The Prophet Who Baptized Jesus
The New Testament records that John was born to the priest Zechariah and Elizabeth in their old age, and lived a simple ascetic life in the wilderness, clothed in camel hair and eating locusts and wild honey, preaching "repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near" and baptizing the people — regarded as the prophet who "prepared the way" for the Messiah. He baptized Jesus in the Jordan, and was later imprisoned for condemning King Herod’s unlawful marriage and finally beheaded. Islamic tradition too honors him as the prophet Yahya.
John preached in the wilderness of Judea, calling himself, in the words of the prophet Isaiah, "a voice of one crying in the wilderness: prepare the way for the Lord, make straight his paths," and drawing people from Jerusalem and all Judea to be baptized in repentance. To those who came to be baptized but whose deeds belied it he said plainly, "you brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?"
When Jesus came to be baptized, John at first demurred, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" At Jesus’ insistence John baptized him, and the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove, and a voice from heaven said, "this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" — a scene often cited in Christian teaching on the Trinity.
Islamic tradition honors John the Baptist as the prophet Yahya, also recorded in the Quran — another instance of the prophetic line shared by Christianity and Islam.
Below are how modern works borrow or reinterpret this name or story — not the original material. The two differ, so keep them apart.
That email didn’t look right? Free · unsubscribe anytime · Privacy