This Herod was married to the daughter of Aretas, an Arabian prince. John the Baptist. John the Baptist, like so many of the Old Testament prophets, was contrary and confrontational. John the Baptist plays an important role in Christian historiography, but it is important to remember that John was not Christian—there was no such thing at the time—and his “baptism” was not the same thing as the later Christian ritual of initiation. 1 – John the Baptist Church. “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. He succeeded his father, Herod the Great, and served as tetrarch (appointed by the emperor Augustus to rule over one quarter of his father’s kingdom) from 4 B.C. The existence of John the Baptist within the same time frame as Jesus, and his eventual execution by Herod Antipas is attested to by 1st-century historian Flavius Josephus and the overwhelming majority of modern scholars view Josephus' accounts of the activities of John the Baptist as authentic. https://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/bible-videosJohn the Baptist is born. St. John the Baptist was an ascetic Jewish prophet known in Christianity as the forerunner of Jesus. Matthew 11:12-13 . Their story is told in the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke. We have but fragmentary and imperfect accounts of him in the Gospels. Just east of the Jordan River, about 9 kilometers north of the dead sea modern explorers discovered the ruins and foundations of a large number of sandstone piers related to a Byzantine church built at the time of Emperor Anastasius (491-518 AD). Learn more in the online course: Four Portraits, One Jesus. The birth of John the Baptist is a beautiful story because it shows, yet again, the mercy and kindness of God. The Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist is June 24, and the Memorial of the Passion of St. John the Baptist is Aug. 29, so it’s an excellent time to catch up on him. As already mentioned, Jesus is speaking to the crowds about John the Baptist’s ministry. Perhaps they’d given up hope of ever attending a shower for their own baby since the Bible tells us they were “advanced in years” (Luke 1:7). until 39 A.D., almost exactly the lifetime of Jesus. He boldly proclaimed God’s message to both the common man and the hypocritical Pharisees of his day. Some of his followers became the very first Christians! And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. Matthew 11:14. He called sin, sin. John the Baptist. John the Baptist was a fiery preacher who preached a convicting message of repentance. He drew attention to things usually passed over in … John the Baptist, however, by this time was confined in one of Herod’s prisons and sent his own disciples to inquire of Jesus whether or not He really was the One Israel had been waiting for. To be baptized by John was to admit your sin and repent of it—which was, of course, a great way to be prepared for the Savior’s coming. News that a baby was on the way was first announced only to Zechariah, in the privacy of the temple, by the angel Gabriel (vv. John was the fulfillment of this prophecy. For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. He called the people to repentance and to a renewal of their covenant relation with God. John the Baptist didn’t pull any punches. John appeared publicly on the religious scene of his day about six months before Jesus began preaching. ... John’s ministry was to confront the people of his time with their sin, their need of salvation, and the reality of the soon-to-be arriving Savior. In 1834, when Bishop Michael Anthony Fleming revealed his plan to erect a large and imposing stone church as a Cathedral for Newfoundland, St. John’s, was a small town of some 14,000 inhabitants, of … In this gospel, John is not called "the Baptist."