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Urantia Book Paper 135 John The Baptist
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Subjects Archive The Urantia Book Urantia Book PART IV: The Life and Teachings
of Jesus : The Bestowal Of Michael On Urantia The Times Of Michael's Bestowal
Birth And Infancy Of Jesus The Early Childhood Of Jesus The Later Childhood Of
Jesus Jesus At Jerusalem The Two Crucial Years The Adolescent Years Jesus'
Early Manhood The Later Adult Life Of Jesus On The Way To Rome The World's
Religions The Sojourn At Rome The Return From Rome The Transition Years John
The Baptist Baptism And The Forty Days Tarrying Time In Galilee Training The
Kingdom's Messengers The Twelve Apostles The Ordination Of The Twelve Beginning
The Public Work The Passover At Jerusalem Going Through Samaria At Gilboa And
In The Decapolis Four Eventful Days At Capernaum First Preaching Tour Of
Galilee The Interlude Visit To Jerusalem Training Evangelists At Bethsaida The
Second Preaching Tour The Third Preaching Tour Tarrying And Teaching By The
Seaside Events Leading Up To The Capernaum Crisis The Crisis At Capernaum Last
Days At Capernaum Fleeing Through Northern Galilee The Sojourn At Tyre And
Sidon At Caesarea-philippi The Mount Of Transfiguration The Decapolis Tour
Rodan Of Alexandria Further Discussions With Rodan At The Feast Of Tabernacles
Ordination Of The Seventy At Magadan At The Feast Of Dedication The Perean
Mission Begins Last Visit To Northern Perea The Visit To Philadelphia The
Resurrection Of Lazarus Last Teaching At Pella The Kingdom Of Heaven On The Way
To Jerusalem Going Into Jerusalem Monday In Jerusalem ...
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Paper 135 John The Baptist
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Introduction
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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Nazarites of lifelong consecration were the only persons, except high priests,
who were ever permitted to enter the holy of holies in the temple.
John returned home from Jerusalem to tend his father's sheep and grew up to be
a strong man with a noble character.
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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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.
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."
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.
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."
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4. THE DEATH OF ELIZABETH
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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5. THE KINGDOM OF GOD
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.
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."
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.
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.
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,
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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.
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.
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! "
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
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.
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 chil-
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dren 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.'"
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.)
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:
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"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
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.
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."
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
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.
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 serv-
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ices, 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. 26. 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.
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.
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.
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."
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. 26. 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.
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.
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9. FORTY DAYS OF PREACHING
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.
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.
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.
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."
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.
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."
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
top of page - 1506
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.'"
Jesus bade them return to their food while he sat down to eat with John, his
brothers James and Jude having returned to Capernaum.
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
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.
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.
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
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
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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.
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."
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.
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.
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12. DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
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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Subjects Archive The Urantia Book Urantia Book PART IV: The Life and Teachings
of Jesus : The Bestowal Of Michael On Urantia The Times Of Michael's Bestowal
Birth And Infancy Of Jesus The Early Childhood Of Jesus The Later Childhood Of
Jesus Jesus At Jerusalem The Two Crucial Years The Adolescent Years Jesus'
Early Manhood The Later Adult Life Of Jesus On The Way To Rome The World's
Religions The Sojourn At Rome The Return From Rome The Transition Years John
The Baptist Baptism And The Forty Days Tarrying Time In Galilee Training The
Kingdom's Messengers The Twelve Apostles The Ordination Of The Twelve Beginning
The Public Work The Passover At Jerusalem Going Through Samaria At Gilboa And
In The Decapolis Four Eventful Days At Capernaum First Preaching Tour Of
Galilee The Interlude Visit To Jerusalem Training Evangelists At Bethsaida The
Second Preaching Tour The Third Preaching Tour Tarrying And Teaching By The
Seaside Events Leading Up To The Capernaum Crisis The Crisis At Capernaum Last
Days At Capernaum Fleeing Through Northern Galilee The Sojourn At Tyre And
Sidon At Caesarea-philippi The Mount Of Transfiguration The Decapolis Tour
Rodan Of Alexandria Further Discussions With Rodan At The Feast Of Tabernacles
Ordination Of The Seventy At Magadan At The Feast Of Dedication The Perean
Mission Begins Last Visit To Northern Perea The Visit To Philadelphia The
Resurrection Of Lazarus Last Teaching At Pella The Kingdom Of Heaven On The Way
To Jerusalem Going Into Jerusalem Monday In Jerusalem Tuesday Morning In The
Temple The Last Temple Discourse Tuesday Evening On Mount Olivet Wednesday, The
Rest Day Last Day At The Camp The Last Supper The Farewell Discourse Final
Admonitions And Warnings In Gethsemane The Betrayal And Arrest Of Jesus Before
The Sanhedrin Court The Trial Before Pilate Just Before The Crucifixion The
Crucifixion The Time Of The Tomb The Resurrection Morontia Appearances Of Jesus
Appearances To The Apostles And Other Leaders Appearances In Galilee Final
Appearances And Ascension Bestowal Of The Spirit Of Truth After Pentecost The
Faith Of Jesus
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