Ch. 14, John the Baptist

“Son of Man: Urantia,” 2nd edition

John the Baptist

John did not grow up with the benefit of formal schooling. He was instead educated by his father, Zacharias, who himself had been educated as a priest and his mother, Elizabeth, who was better educated than the average Judean woman: she was also a member of the priesthood because she was a daughter of Aaron.

John Becomes a Nazarite

When John was fourteen years old he did not have a school from which to graduate. Instead, Zacharias and Elizabeth took John to Engedi close to the Dead Sea and had him formally inducted into the Nazarite brotherhood. John went through the ceremonies including the required vows to not drink alcohol, to not cut his hair, and to not touch dead people. The Jews gave Nazarites almost the same respect as the high priest, and Nazarites who had enough time in the order were the only other people besides the high priest who could enter the holy of holies in the temple. In joining the Nazarite brotherhood John was following a line of many distinguished men, including Samson and the prophet Samuel.

After the initiation ceremonies, John returned home with his parents. He continued to tend his father’s flock of sheep, and in the process matured into a stout man over six feet tall with a noble character. When he was sixteen years old John read about Elijah, the prophet of Mount Carmel. He was so impressed with Elijah that he decided to dress like him, and from then on John always wore a hairy rawhide pullover for a tunic with a wide leather belt held up by suspenders cinched around his waist. Between his long flowing hair, his physical size and strength, and his cloths remnant of ancient heroes John was an imposing sight when he preached.

Zacharias’ Death

Zacharias died in July, A.D. 12: John was just over eighteen years old. A couple of months later in September, John and his mother went to Nazareth to visit with Mary and Jesus. John and Jesus discussed their futures and Jesus advised John to return home, take care of his mother, and wait until the coming of the Father’s hour. Jesus was advising John to do as he himself was doing—meeting the needs of the day as he matured enough for his coming mission. John accepted Jesus’ advice and followed his example. When John and Elizabeth left to return home, it was the last time Jesus saw John until the day he baptized Jesus in the Jordan River.

After a couple of years John and Elizabeth were out of money. They took their sheep and headed south into Hebron to live, an area known as the wilderness of Judea. They found a place along a stream going down to the Dead Sea at Engedi, and there they joined the other Nazarites tending their flocks in the countryside. John made frequent visits to Engedi to visit with the Nazarite brotherhood but he stood out from the others and did not develop many close friendships, except with Abner, the leader of the colony.

The Life of a Shepherd

John lived a rugged life out in the wilderness safeguarding his flocks. He had a lad who helped him at times, and together they used stones to build a dozen or more shelters to guard his sheep. The two subsisted mostly on a diet of mutton, goat’s milk, wild honey, and edible locusts. John had plenty of time to ponder over the many contradictions in his mind. His mother still insisted that Jesus was the coming messiah. She believed that Jesus was going to take the throne of David, and that John was going to be the one to announce the coming of Jesus as the Messiah. Then after Jesus had assumed power, John would be his right-hand man as Jesus ruled over all of the kingdoms on Earth. But there was a problem—what John had read in the scriptures and what Jesus had told him during their conversations did not fit with what his mother believed.

Regardless of how he and Jesus were to approach their missions, John decided that from what he could see of the world with all of its vice, wickedness, and moral barrenness it looked like the end of an age was at hand. John thought that the world was ripe for a new and divine era—the kingdom of heaven on Earth. The more he thought about this, the more convinced John became that he was supposed to be both the last of the prophets of the old age and the first prophet of the new era. The excitement was building up in John as he roamed the wilderness of Judea. He felt like he was about to burst with all of his pent-up desire to go forth into the world and tell everyone to “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.”

Elizabeth’s Death

Elizabeth died suddenly on August 17, A.D. 22. John was twenty-eight years old. After the funeral John returned to Engedi, gave his sheep to the Nazarite brotherhood, and went into seclusion for some time to fast and pray. He stayed at Engedi for two and a half years, and while he was there he convinced most of the Nazarite brotherhood that the end of the age was at hand and that the kingdom of heaven was about to appear. John was eager to go forth into the world and announce the coming kingdom, but he held himself back for a couple of years because he believed, according to the scriptures, that it was the prophet Elijah that God was going to send to warn the people about the coming wrath of God. John got this idea about Elijah from reading the prophet Malachi, and it just added to his confusion about his future role in the coming kingdom of God on Earth.

The stories of Elijah molded John’s approach to the people, and caused him to be blunt when condemning the sins of others. He was like the old prophet in many ways: John dressed like Elijah, he was a tall strong man of the wilderness, and he was just as daring and fearless when preaching the word of God. John was literate and knew the scriptures well, but he was hardly tactful or cultured. Eventually John came to a plan. He swept aside all doubts and left Engedi in March, A.D. 25 to tell people the Messiah was coming and the Kingdom of God was on them.

The Kingdom of God

John was the match that set Palestine ablaze with the message of the coming messiah. At the time the Jews were in a historical and religious predicament. On the one hand they had been ruled over by gentiles for the last hundred years, but on the other hand their holy books said the situation should be otherwise. They were the Jews: they were supposed to be God’s chosen people and he was supposed to have rewarded them with riches and power because they were the most righteous people on Earth. But that obviously had not happened and they wondered why.

About a hundred years before this time a group of religious teachers called the apocalyptists had explained the Jew’s situation by saying that they were paying God for their nation’s sins. But they added never fear because the time was near for their debt to be paid, the current era of oppression to end, and the kingdom of heaven to be established on Earth. That was when God the Messiah was going to rule over all of the kingdoms of humanity in absolute perfection, just like he did in heaven. In other words the ancient hope, “Your will be done on Earth as in heaven” was about to happen.

The people were anxious for the coming kingdom. Many of them already believed they were living in the final days. They thought God was tired of the gentiles and their rule over the Jews was coming to an end. While the people had different ideas about what this new era would look like, they all pretty much agreed that there had to be a cleansing of all of the evil and wickedness on Earth before a new age could begin. And again, there were various ideas about how God was going to do this. What most of the people did agree on was that God would probably appoint a ruler to represent him on Earth, and that person would be the Messiah. And just to be clear, holy people who spoke of or predicted the coming new era were called prophets; the Messiah, though, was that person who would actually bring into existence the kingdom of heaven on Earth.

While most of the Jews agreed with the idea that God would appoint a messiah to act in between him and them, there were many ideas about who that person would be. The elders held to the old beliefs that the Messiah would be the son of David, while many of the younger teachers believed that he would be a divine personality: someone who had been with God in heaven before coming to Earth. This group was closest to the truth in their belief that the Messiah would be a heavenly prince, someone who was both the son of man and a son of God.

This mixing of ideas all united under a general expectancy that a new era was dawning, set the stage for John’s entrance onto the scene. And enter he did. With sincerity, confidence, enthusiasm and looking like a rugged man of the desert John went forth and boldly told his people to flee the wrath to come, “To repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

John Begins to Preach

John began his mission early in March, A.D. 25 and set-up camp on the Jordan River near Jericho. There was a shallow place at this point in the river called the Bethany ford where most people crossed when going back and forth: this was where the Jews had first entered the land in ancient times. The people who heard John speak knew there was something special about this mysterious man who walked out of the wilds looking like Elijah of old and thundering forth their need to repent right now because the kingdom of heaven was here. Never before in their history had the Jewish people been so eager to hear and believe this message of their salvation and divine future.

John baptized his followers for the remission of their sins. Up until then the Jews had never undergone this rite: baptism had only been used to cleanse the gentiles who wanted to be friends of the Jews. Over the next fifteen months John baptized over one hundred thousand people, or roughly two hundred twenty-five people a day.

Four months later John moved his camp up the Jordan River. He preached the entire way and as reports of this man who was more than a prophet spread across the land tens of thousands of people from across Judea, Perea, and Samaria came and listened to his message. When the priests and Levites sent messengers to ask John if he was the Messiah and who gave him the right to preach, John told them “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 will be filled and every hill and mountain will be brought low; the uneven ground will become a plain, while the rough places will become a smooth valley; and all flesh will see the salvation of God.’”

As mentioned earlier John was rough around the edges; tact, the fulcrum of social leverage, was not in his personality. One day when he was preaching by the river a group of Pharisees and Sadducees arrived and asked to be baptized. John said he would baptize them, but before taking them down to the river he scolded them saying “Who warned you to flee like 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. Do not tell me that Abraham is your father. I declare that God is able with these twelve stones here before you to raise up worthy children for Abraham. And even now is the ax laid to the roots of the trees. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is destined to be cut down and cast into the fire.”

In between baptizing people John lectured: he told the rich to feed the poor, and the tax gatherers to not extort more than they were allowed. To the soldiers he said to be content with your wages instead of taking from the people, and above all he told everyone to make ready for the end of the age because the kingdom of heaven was at hand.

John Journeys North

John’s spirit was firm, but he was still confused about the nature of the coming kingdom and Jesus’ role. At times he wished he could talk with Jesus, but they had agreed not to see each other until he presented himself to be baptized. John traveled north teaching and preaching at various spots along the Jordan expanding his message as he himself learned from answering his follower’s questions. An increasing number of people came to be baptized, and many stayed at the river camp and then followed along with John.

When John was camped at Adam, one of his disciples asked him if he was the Messiah. John said no, he was not the Messiah. He went on to say “There will come after me one who is more noble 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; his shovel is in his hand to cleanse his threshing floor; he will gather the wheat into his granary, but the chaff he will burn up with the judgment fire.”

John and Jesus Meet

News of John spread across Palestine. Since Jesus had spoken well of John and his message many of the people in Capernaum had been baptized, including Zebedee’s sons—John and James. These two brothers went to see John once a week, and they kept Jesus up to date on his activities. Jesus’ brothers, Jude and James, had wanted to be baptized but they thought it best to first ask Jesus what they should do: they did so on Saturday, January 12, A.D. 26.Jesus did not answer them right away saying that first he wanted to sleep on it. They all agreed to meet the next day at the boat shop for lunch, and Jesus said he would give them an answer then.

That night Jesus slept little, instead talking with his Thought Adjuster. The next day his brothers arrived at the boat shop early and waited out in the woodshed for Jesus to take his lunch break. Shortly before noon, Jesus who was at his bench inside put down his tools, took off his work apron, and told the other three men in the room “My hour has come.” He then went outside to where Jude and James where waiting and told them the same thing adding “let’s go see John.” They left immediately and the three ate the lunch that Jude and James had brought as they walked down the road.

When the three arrived at the Jordan River, John was in the water baptizing one person after the other from a long line of believers that stretched off into the country. It was not until John looked up and saw Jesus standing in front of him that he knew they were there. John greeted Jesus and his brothers, and then he asked Jesus why he had come down in the water to meet him. Jesus replied that he was there to be baptized. When John heard this he said that it was he who needed to be baptized by Jesus asking “Why do you come to me?” And then Jesus leaned over and 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.”

John, who was now trembling with emotion, did as he was told by the creator of our universe and baptized Jesus and his two brothers at noon on Monday, January 14, A.D. 26. After baptizing the three, John told the other people in line that he was done for the day but that he would start baptizing again the next day at noon. As the people started to leave, John, Jesus, Jude, and James—who were all still in the water—heard a strange sound as a spirit presence appeared above Jesus’ head. Then the four of them heard, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”Immediately a great change came over Jesus. Without saying a word he got out of the water and started walking toward the hills far off to the east, and no one saw him again for forty days. John tried speaking to Jesus as he was walking away, but Jesus would not reply. Before giving up John told Jesus, “Now I know of a certainty that you are the Deliverer.”

Forty Days of Preaching

Over the next forty days thousands of people arrived at John’s camp to see the new messiah. When they did not find him many doubted he existed. About three weeks after Jesus wandered off into the hills, another group of priests and Pharisees showed up to again question John. This group of Jewish religious leaders wanted to know if John was the prophet Elijah or if he was the Messiah. When John said he was neither, they then wanted to know by what right was he here in the river baptizing people and causing all of this commotion? 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.”

Early in the morning Saturday, February 23^rd John looked up from his breakfast and saw Jesus walking down the trail toward the camp. John immediately climbed to the top of a large rock close by. Standing tall and raising his voice for all to hear John yelled out, “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 reason came I out of the wilderness to preach repentance, and to baptize with water announcing that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Now comes one who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit; I beheld the divine spirit descending on this man and I heard the voice of God declare ‘This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.’”

Jesus ate breakfast with John, and then early the next day he left for Galilee. Jesus did not tell them what he was doing or when they would again see him. John asked Jesus for advice about his own mission and preaching, but all Jesus would tell him was that his Father would guide him now and in the future as he had in the past. When Jesus left that day for Galilee it was the last time that he and John saw each other in this lifetime.

John Journeys South

Since Jesus was heading north to Galilee, John decided to go south and backtrack his journey up to that point. John was a changed man after parting from Jesus: he was sad and lonely. John sensed that the responsibility for the coming kingdom was no longer his, and while he continued to preach and to baptize people he did so with less fire than he had in earlier times. John’s preaching shifted to now being more about mercy for the common people, while at the same time he redoubled his criticism of corrupt political and religious leaders. One of these public condemnations occurred when John was camped near Adam and Herod Antipas stole the wife of another man—that outburst eventually cost John dearly.

By June A.D. 26 John and the disciples that were still with him were camped back at the Bethany ford, the same place where a year before he had begun his preaching mission. John’s activities and his denouncement of Herod Antipas finally caught up with him. Herod’s agents came early the morning on June 12^th before the crowds arrived, arrested John, and marched him off to prison. After several weeks his disciples left the Bethany ford camp and scattered across Palestine, many of them going to Galilee to follow Jesus.

John in Prison

John rotted in prison for over a year and a half. During this time only a few visitors were allowed to see him. John had many doubts during this period. His loyalty to Jesus, his faith in God, and even the memories of his own mission and experiences were at times brought into question under his suffering and isolation. After John had been incarcerated for a couple of months, two of his disciples were allowed to see him. They told John about Jesus’ public activities, and then they 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 sinners and tax collectors. You bore courageous witness to him and yet he does nothing to affect your deliverance.”

John replied “This man can do nothing unless it has been given to 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 close by and hears him rejoices immensely because of the bridegroom’s voice. This, my joy, 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 that I speak are true and abiding.”

John’s words amazed his disciples, and they left carrying his message. But John was still sad that Jesus had not come to see him or used any of his power to release him from prison. These were horrible times for John, but Jesus knew everything that was happening with him. He also knew that John’s work on Earth was finished, and the glory that awaited him if John did not lose his faith. It was also not Jesus’ intention to interfere with the natural unfolding of John’s life.

Close to the end of his days on Earth, John sent a message to Jesus again wanting to know what he should do. John was doubting himself and looking for guidance. Jesus told the messengers, “Go back to John and tell him that I have not forgotten and to suffer me this also, because 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 will be abundantly blessed in the age to come if he finds no occasion to doubt and stumble over me.” This was the last word John ever heard from Jesus and it comforted his heart, stabilized his faith, and girded him to meet his end soon to come.

Death of John the Baptist

When John was arrested he was taken to the fort in Machaerus, Perea, where Herod Antipas kept one of his homes. Herod was perplexed and he did not know what to do with John. He was afraid to let him go because John might start a rebellion, and he was afraid to kill him because he was a Jewish holy man; Herod did not want to stir up trouble with the Sanhedrin. Furthermore, when he had asked John more than once to just leave his lands or to stop preaching, John refused. To top it all off, Herodias, the illegal wife that Herod had stolen from the man back in Adam—the one that John had publicly condemned Herod for taking—hated John with a passion and had already asked Herod several times to kill him. So not knowing what to do, Herod just left John in prison.

For his birthday Herod had planned a grand feast for all of the most important people in Perea and Galilee. Herodias decided to use this event to plot John’s death, and she devised a plan involving her daughter and much wine. Late in the evening of his birthday party after Herod was well drunk, Herodias had her daughter dance for him and the other guests as his birthday gift. Herod was so enthralled with the young woman’s performance that afterwards he 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.”

The daughter then went and asked her mother what she should request from Herod for her gift. Herodias replied that her daughter was to go back and tell Herod that she, the daughter, right then and there wanted the head of John the Baptist delivered on a platter. When Herod heard this he was filled with fear and sorrow, but in his drunken state and embarrassed that everyone was watching he could not see a way to break his word to the daughter. Herod sent a soldier to the prison where the guards chopped off John’s head, and after putting it on a platter they returned to the banquet room and gave it to Herodias’ daughter later that night. When John’s disciples learned that John had been killed they came to collect his body and a messenger was sent to tell Jesus.