Реферат: Biography Of John The Baptist Essay Research

Biography Of John The Baptist Essay, Research Paper

John the Baptist

We are given the story of the ministry of John the Baptist, called the Precursor or

Forerunner of the Lord, with some variation of detail, in the three synoptic Gospels of

Matthew, Mark, and Luke, as well as in the Book of John. Luke tells us of the birth of

John the Baptist in a town of Judaea, about six months before the birth of the Saviour.

The attendant circumstances, which we have already recounted under the headings of *St.

Elizabeth* and *St. Zachary*, his parents, suggest the miraculous and wonderful. The

New Testament tells us nothing of John’s early years, but we know that his pious, virtuous

parents must have reared the boy with care, conscious always of the important work to

which he was appointed, and imbuing him with a sense of his destiny.

When John began final preparations for his mission, he was probably in his thirty-second

year. He withdrew into the harsh, rocky desert beyond the Jordan to fast and pray, as was

the ancient custom of holy men. We are told that he kept himself alive by eating locusts

and wild honey and wore a rough garment of camel’s hair, tied with a leathern girdle.

When he came back to start preaching in the villages of Judaea, he was haggard and

uncouth, but his eyes burned with zeal and his voice carried deep conviction. The Jews

were accustomed to preachers and prophets who gave no thought to outward

appearances, and they accepted John at once; the times were troubled, and the people

yearned for reassurance and comfort. So transcendant was the power emanating from the

holy man that after hearing him many believed he was indeed the long-awaited Messiah.

John quickly put them right, saying he had come only to prepare the way, and that he was

not worthy to unloose the Master’s sandals. Although his preaching and baptizing

continued for some months during the Saviour’s own ministry, John always made plain

that he was merely the Forerunner. His humility remained incorruptible even when his

fame spread to Jerusalem and members of the higher priesthood came to make inquiries

and to hear him. “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand,”-this was John’s

oft-repeated theme. For the evils of the times his remedy was individual purification.

“Every tree,” he said, “that is not bringing forth good fruit is to be cut down and thrown

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