The name “John” indicates a gift from God (“God is kind”). No wonder this name was given to the Precursor of Christ (Juan el Batista) because his birth was a gift from God to his parents and elders (Zechariah and Elizabeth). His conception, his birth, his mission and his martyrdom were a special grace from God for the good of all. He was sanctified with the special grace of the Holy Spirit, already from his mother’s womb, after Mary’s greeting (cf. Lk 1,15.44). He prepared himself in the desert with prayer and penance. His mission was to “prepare the way for the Lord” (Jn 1:23).
He is the “prophet of the Most High” (Lk 1,76), as a synthesis of the previous prophets and as a link between the Old and New Testaments. His message focuses on announcing the Messiah already present, as the “Lamb that takes away the sin of the world” (Jn 1,29), calling for a “baptism of penance” (Acts 13,24) that would be a prelude to the new baptism in the Holy Spirit, conferred by Jesus (cf. Mc 1,8; Lk 3,16; Jn 1,33).
Jesus presented him to the people as “greater than a prophet”, in the form of a new Elijah (cf. Lk ,17), “sent to prepare the paths” for the Messiah (cf. Mt 11:9-15). The prologue of the gospel according to Saint John presents him as a qualified witness “There was a man, sent by God, his name was John. This man came… to bear witness to the light, so that through him all might believe” (Jn 1:6-7).
The attitude of the Baptist is one of authenticity, as transparency and instrument he does not feel worthy, he only prepares the way, he is not the Christ, he announces the Lord already present, his joy is to make Christ (“the Bridegroom”) known and loved (“grow”), while he “diminishes” (causing his disciples to join Jesus’ group), remaining only as a qualified witness.
He therefore lives his apostolic “identity”, without doubts or complexes, with the joy of being “the friend of the Bridegroom” (Jn 3:29), fulfilling his mission until “martyrdom”, with a death that precedes that of Jesus. (cf. Mk 6,28). Every baptized person is called to be the “forerunner” of Christ, and, to a certain extent, to be a witness “greater” than him (Mt 11:11).
References Advent, visitation.
Reading of documents CEC 523, 717-720.
Bibliography P. BENOIT, L’infanzia di Giovanni Battista secondo Luca. Esegesi e teologia (Paoline 1971); A. POPPI, L’inizio del vangelo. Predicazione del Battista… (Padova, Messaggero, 1976); A. SALAS, The message of the Baptist. Redaction and theology in Mt 3,7-12 Biblical Studies 29 (1970) 55-72; S. VIRGULIN, Juan Bautista, in New Dictionary of Biblical Theology (Madrid, Paulinas, 1990) 932-938.
(ESQUERDA BIFET, Juan, Dictionary of Evangelization, BAC, Madrid, 1998)
Source: Dictionary of Evangelization
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SUMMARY: 1. sources of the story of the Baptist: Mark, Matthew, Luke, John. -two. The origins of the Baptist. – 3. The message of John the Baptist. – 4. The baptism of John. -5. The baptism of Jesus. – 6. John the Baptist and Herod. – 7. The disciples of the Baptist. – 8. The death of John the Baptist. – 9. John the Baptist and Qumran.
John the Baptist is one of the characters in the New Testament who has the greatest connection with the Old Testament. His figure has been framed throughout history as the bridge that unites the two traditions, the link between the Jewish Bible and the first writings of the Christian tradition. His personality hides a marked prophetic character as reflected by the first fathers of the Church, placing him as the Last Prophet of the Old Testament and the spokesman for the arrival of the Savior. Through the figure of him the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River takes place, which makes him one of the key figures in the beginning of the public life of Jesus.
The role played by John the Baptist is situated in two initial moments: at the time of the gestation and birth of the Savior through the image of Mary visiting her relative Elizabeth, and at the beginning of his public life through his baptism in the Jordan. Two key moments in the life of Jesus that guided his life prefigured him from the beginning of time.
The ascetic and austere life of John the Baptist has made him the prototype of preparation for the coming of Jesus. The controversial figure of him makes him a model of austerity and sacrifice that has been present throughout the history of the Church. The literature of the New Testament and other contemporary historical writings testify to the life option adopted by the Baptist. The popularity of John the Baptist not only reached its peak with the birth of the first Christian communities that assumed the figure of the Baptist as the herald of Jesus, but also his personality had acquired a great impact on the society of the intertestamental period. Juan Bautista was a well-known character and even admired by his contemporaries as he has been reflected in the evangelical writings and in the chronicles of the historian Flavio Josefo. His testimony represented the defender of social justice, equality and social freedom. Added to these testimonies is a long tradition – beginning with the Holy Fathers – that has interpreted the Baptist’s lifestyle as a point of reference in the life of the Christian and as a bastion of a liturgical season such as Advent.
The nickname with which he has been recognized from the earliest times honors his spiritual mission. John dedicated himself to announcing conversion and preparation for the coming of the Messiah through baptism. His baptism with water took place in the Jordan River, in the vicinity of its mouth in the Dead Sea. He was approached by all kinds of people who listened to him and made a purpose of conversion of life through the liturgy of immersion in the waters of the river. His announcement and preparation message had caused a profound social upheaval at a time when society yearned for the coming of a liberator of the Hebrew people, a leader, heir to the Mosaic tradition, who would remove his people from the power of the Jews. Romans. The messianic announcement of John the Baptist caused a group of disciples to adhere to him who followed him as a prophet.
John the Baptist or John the Baptist is one of the main protagonists of the childhood of Jesus. Although we know very little about his life, enough testimonies have reached us to give us an idea of the importance of his figure and the content of his message. John the Baptist is the bridge that unites the Old with the New Testament. He was in charge of preparing the way for the Lord and announcing to all the people that the time of his coming was getting closer.
1. The sources of the Baptist story
The search for data on the personality and figure of John the Baptist we have to do in the first place in the sacred texts of the New Testament. Although we consider John as the last prophet of the Old Testament tradition, there is no reference in the Old Testament to the figure of him. The New Testament is the first place we should look for allusions to his person. The four gospels and the book of the Acts of the Apostles are the main sources and, although to a lesser degree, the epistolary literature. Outside of the sacred texts, we find abundant data on John the Baptist in the historical and narrative writings of the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus.
begins his gospel with the preaching of John the Baptist in the desert (Mk 1, 2-4) and baptizing in the Jordan (Mk 1, 5-8), before recounting the baptism of Jesus in the river (Mk 1, 9 -eleven). There are also references to the Baptist and his disciples in the controversies between Jesus and the Pharisees on the occasion of the fulfillment of the laws that the disciples of John followed and those of Jesus did not (Mk 2, 18-22). John the Baptist is remembered again by the evangelist Mark on the occasion of Peter’s messianic confession in Caesarea when Jesus asks his disciples who the people say he is and they reply: someone other than John the Baptist. Finally, it is Jesus himself who alludes to the Baptist demonstrating his social character and respect for him by the population by affirming his authority questioned by the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders; and Jesus asks them if the baptism with which John baptized was from God or from men (Mk 11, 27-33). Mark amply describes the death of the Baptist in his Gospel as an event that determined the option of Jesus (Mk 6, 14-29).
begins his gospel with the description of the genealogy of Jesus, that makes the story of John the Baptist go to the third chapter of the gospel. From the first moment Matthew where he makes it clear that the mission of the Baptist is to be the precursor of Jesus (Mt 3, 1-12) to describe, immediately afterwards, the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River (Mt 3, 13-17 ). However, the most novel content for the story of John is found in the first part of chapter eleven of the gospel where we have John in prison who sends his disciples to speak with Jesus (Mt 11, 1-19). We have another reference made by the evangelist to John the Baptist in the final words of the event of the Transfiguration (Mt 17, 9-13). In Matthew, the discussion about fasting by Jesus with the Pharisees has John the Baptist and his disciples as a central reference (Mt 9, 14-17). As in the case of Mark, Matthew sets the model of John the Baptist and his disciples in the story about the questioned authority of Jesus (Mt 21, 23-27), who is referred to again in the following verses on the occasion of the parable of the two sons (Mt 21, 28-32). Matthew describes in detail the death of John the Baptist (Mt 14, 1-12), and recalls the figure of the Baptist when describing Peter’s confession about the figure of Jesus and what people say about him (Mt 16, 14).
presents John the Baptist at the beginning of his gospel through the double announcement of the birth of John and Jesus. The announcement of the birth of John takes place at the moment of the description of the appearance of the angel to Zacharias (Lk 1, 5-25). Immediately afterwards and after the description of the announcement to Mary of her virginal conception, the story of the visitation becomes the point of connection between the two stories and the two births, both of a spectacular nature and of supernatural dimensions, since they have the intervention of God. Next, Luke describes the birth of John (Lk 1, 57-80) which includes the proclamation of the Benedictus by Zechariah (Lk 1, 68-79). For the evangelist, the baptism of Jesus is again an object of special interest, above all because of the presence of the Baptist (Lk 3, 21-22). A baptism that the evangelist describes after having presented us with the figure of John and his preaching in the desert (Lk 3, 1-20). Luke does not forget the question about fasting and the example they set for Jesus about the difference between the discipleship of John and that of Jesus (Lk 5, 33-39). Finally, Luke grants a special relevance to the words of Jesus pronounced before the embassy of the disciples of John the Baptist about the authority of Jesus and…