St. John the Baptist

St. John the Baptist was a Jewish prophet who preached repentance in the Judean wilderness around the year 28, baptised in the River Jordan, identified Jesus of Nazareth as the Lamb of God, and was beheaded by Herod Antipas for condemning the tetrarch's marriage. He is the son of the priest Zechariah and of Elizabeth, a kinswoman of the Virgin Mary, and Jesus said of him that among those born of women none is greater (Luke 7:28). The Church keeps two feasts for him: his birth on 24 June and his death on 29 August.

John is one of the few figures of the New Testament attested independently outside it. The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, writing at the end of the first century for a Roman audience with no Christian interest to serve, describes John, his preaching, his baptism and his execution by Herod Antipas. That gives the Gospel accounts an unusual anchor.

1. Who John the Baptist Was

Luke gives John a family and a date. His father Zechariah was a priest of the division of Abijah, his mother Elizabeth was a descendant of Aaron, and both were old and childless (Luke 1:5 to 7). Gabriel announced John's birth to Zechariah at the altar of incense in the Temple and told him the child would go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah (Luke 1:17). Zechariah asked for proof and was struck mute until the boy was named.

Elizabeth was a kinswoman of Mary (Luke 1:36), and when Mary came to visit, the child in Elizabeth's womb leapt at the sound of Mary's greeting (Luke 1:41). At his circumcision the neighbours assumed the boy would carry his father's name, Elizabeth insisted on John, Zechariah wrote "His name is John", and his speech returned (Luke 1:59 to 64). The song Zechariah then sang, the Benedictus, is prayed every morning by priests, religious and laypeople across the Church in the Liturgy of the Hours.

Luke closes the childhood in a sentence: the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel (Luke 1:80). Everything between is silence. He was roughly six months older than Jesus.

2. The Bridge

John is the hinge between the Old and New Testaments. He lived in the desert, wore camel hair, and ate locusts (high protein, low carb). He was the voice crying in the wilderness, telling everyone to get their act together because the King was coming.

The details are signals rather than colour. Camel hair and a leather belt around the waist (Mark 1:6) is the description given of Elijah in 2 Kings 1:8, and the last verses of the Old Testament promise that God will send Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord (Malachi 4:5). Jesus makes the link explicit: "if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come" (Matthew 11:14). John himself, asked directly whether he was Elijah, said no (John 1:21), which is a genuine difference of framing the Gospels leave standing. John denies being Elijah returned in person. Jesus says he fulfils the role Elijah's return was to fill.

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord" is from Isaiah 40:3, quoted in all four Gospels. The Catechism describes him as the Lord's immediate precursor, sent to prepare his way, and as the last of the prophets who begins the Gospel (Catechism of the Catholic Church 523). He stands on the seam: the last man of the old covenant, the first witness of the new.

3. What He Preached, and the Baptism He Gave

John preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins in the region around the Jordan (Mark 1:4, Luke 3:3). Crowds went out to him from Jerusalem and Judea and were baptised, confessing their sins (Matthew 3:5 to 6).

His preaching was specific and it named names. When crowds asked what they should do, he told them: whoever has two coats should share with the one who has none, and whoever has food should do the same. To tax collectors: collect no more than you are authorised to. To soldiers: no extortion, no false accusation, be content with your wages (Luke 3:10 to 14). To the religious leadership: do not presume on descent from Abraham, because God can raise up children to Abraham from stones (Matthew 3:9). None of that is abstract.

He was also clear about the limits of what he was doing. His baptism was with water for repentance; the one coming after him, whose sandals he was not worthy to carry, would baptise with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Matthew 3:11). Catholic teaching keeps the distinction: John's baptism prepared people to receive Christ, and Christian baptism, which confers the forgiveness of sins and new birth in the Holy Spirit, is a different thing. When Jesus came to be baptised, John tried to prevent him, saying he needed to be baptised by Jesus instead (Matthew 3:14). Jesus insisted, and at the baptism the Spirit descended as a dove and the voice from heaven named him Son (Matthew 3:16 to 17).

4. "Behold the Lamb of God"

John did not draw attention to himself. He pointed to another. When he saw Jesus, he declared: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" These words are repeated by the priest at every Mass.

The phrase carries a great deal. A lamb was the Passover sacrifice whose blood marked the doors in Egypt (Exodus 12), and the servant of Isaiah 53:7 is led like a lamb to the slaughter. John names Jesus in terms of sacrifice at the start of his public life, before anyone has heard a parable or seen a miracle. The Book of Revelation then uses the same title for the risen Christ more than twenty times. At Mass the priest holds up the host and says "Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world", and the congregation answers with the words of the centurion. John's sentence has been said aloud in the Church every day for centuries.

5. The Ultimate Humility

When his own disciples started leaving him to follow Jesus, John didn't get jealous. He rejoiced, saying, "He must increase, but I must decrease." Zero ego. He knew his job was to be the Best Man, not the Groom.

The best man image is John's own. In John 3:29 he calls himself the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and listens and rejoices at the bridegroom's voice, and says his joy is now complete. Then comes the line: "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30).

John had a genuine movement. He had disciples of his own, some of whom later followed Jesus (John 1:35 to 37), and Acts records people in Ephesus decades later who knew only the baptism of John (Acts 19:1 to 7). He had the standing to build something around himself. He spent it pointing elsewhere and let it go without complaint.

6. The Question He Sent From Prison

One episode is usually left out of the summaries, and it is the most human thing in his story. In prison, John sent his disciples to Jesus with a question: "Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?" (Matthew 11:2 to 3, Luke 7:18 to 20).

The man who had identified Jesus at the Jordan asked for confirmation while facing execution. Jesus did not rebuke him. He sent back a report of what was happening, in the words of Isaiah: the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news preached to them (Matthew 11:4 to 5). Then, once the messengers had gone, he told the crowd that among those born of women none had risen greater than John (Matthew 11:11).

The praise comes after the doubt, not before it. Whatever John's question was, it did not lower him in Christ's estimation. That is worth remembering by anyone who assumes that a hard question is a sign of a failing faith.

7. His Death, and What Josephus Records

Mark tells it plainly. John had told Herod Antipas that it was not lawful for him to have his brother's wife, Herodias (Mark 6:17 to 18). Herodias wanted him killed; Herod feared him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man, and used to listen to him gladly while being perplexed by him (Mark 6:20). At a birthday banquet the daughter of Herodias danced, Herod swore an oath to give her whatever she asked, she was prompted by her mother, and she asked for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Herod was sorry, and because of his oaths and his guests he gave the order (Mark 6:21 to 28).

Josephus records the same death from outside the Christian tradition, in the Antiquities of the Jews. He describes John as a good man who urged the Jews to justice toward one another and piety toward God, and to come to baptism. He reports that Herod Antipas, alarmed by John's influence over the crowds and fearing it could lead to a rising, had him put to death, and he names the fortress of Machaerus as the place. Josephus also mentions the marriage dispute. His account and the Gospels differ in emphasis, which is what you would expect from a Roman-facing historian and from the evangelists, and they agree on the substance.

John died for saying that a ruler's marriage was unlawful. The charge was telling a powerful man an uncomfortable truth about his private life, which is why he has been the patron of unpopular moral witness ever since.

8. Later Legend, Relics and the Name Salome

Three things people say about John are not in the Gospels, and it is worth being clear about them.

Salome

The Gospels never name the girl who danced. They call her the daughter of Herodias. The name Salome comes from Josephus, who names a daughter of Herodias called Salome in his account of the Herodian family. Josephus does not connect her to the dance. The identification is ancient and reasonable, and it is an inference.

The relics of his head

Several places have claimed to hold the head of John the Baptist, including churches in Rome, Amiens in France, and the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, which is revered by Muslims as well. They cannot all be right, and the Church has never defined the authenticity of any of them. Relics of this kind are honoured where they are venerated, and the honour goes to the saint. Nothing in Catholic faith depends on the identification.

John outside Christianity

John is a prophet in Islam, where he is called Yahya and is named in the Qur'an. He is also central to the Mandaeans, a small ancient religious community of Iraq and Iran who revere him as their chief teacher and reject Jesus. Christians should represent both of those views as their holders state them. Neither affects the Catholic account, which rests on the Gospels and on Josephus.

9. Feast Days, Patronage and Devotion

John has two feasts in the Roman calendar. The Nativity of St. John the Baptist on 24 June is a solemnity, six months before Christmas, in keeping with Luke's timing. The Passion of St. John the Baptist, his beheading, is a memorial on 29 August.

Only three birthdays are celebrated in the Roman calendar: the birth of Jesus at Christmas, the birth of the Virgin Mary on 8 September, and the birth of John the Baptist on 24 June. The reason given in the tradition is that John was sanctified in the womb at the Visitation.

His patronages are wide. He is patron of baptism and of converts, of the island of Malta and of the Order of St. John, of Puerto Rico, whose capital San Juan carries his name, of Quebec and French-speaking Canada, where 24 June is the national holiday, and of the cities of Florence, Genoa and Amman. Tailors and furriers claim him from the camel hair. Midsummer bonfires on the eve of 24 June are kept from Scandinavia to Spain to Latin America, a folk custom the Church absorbed and read in terms of John as the lamp that burned and shone (John 5:35).

10. What a Reader Can Take From Him

Point away from yourself

John had a following and used it to send people to someone else. Anyone with influence, in a parish, a family, a company or an audience, has the same choice on a smaller scale every week.

Repentance is specific

John did not tell the crowds to feel bad. He told them to give away the spare coat, stop overcharging, stop extorting. Confession works the same way. Naming an actual act is the beginning, and the sacrament is free.

Tell the truth to people who can hurt you

John died for saying one sentence about a marriage. The Christian obligation to speak the truth does not come with a guarantee of a good outcome.

Doubt is survivable

John asked, from prison, whether he had been right about Jesus. He received an answer and no reproach. Bring the question. It is not a betrayal.

11. Frequently Asked Questions

When is the feast day of St. John the Baptist?

He has two. The Nativity of St. John the Baptist on 24 June is a solemnity in the Roman calendar, set six months before Christmas because Luke says Elizabeth was six months pregnant at the Annunciation. The Passion of St. John the Baptist, marking his beheading, is a memorial on 29 August. John is one of only three people whose earthly birth the Roman calendar celebrates, with Jesus and the Virgin Mary.

Was John the Baptist related to Jesus?

Yes. Luke 1:36 says that Elizabeth, John's mother, was a kinswoman of the Virgin Mary. The Greek word indicates a relative without specifying the degree, so the exact relationship is not stated in Scripture. John was about six months older than Jesus, and Luke records that he leapt in his mother's womb when Mary arrived to visit Elizabeth.

Why was John the Baptist killed?

He told Herod Antipas that his marriage to Herodias, who had been the wife of his brother, was unlawful. Mark reports that Herodias wanted him dead, that Herod feared and respected him, and that Herod finally ordered the beheading after a rash oath at a banquet where Herodias's daughter danced. The historian Josephus adds that Antipas feared John's influence over the crowds could lead to a rebellion, and he names the fortress of Machaerus as the place of the execution.

Is John the Baptist mentioned outside the Bible?

Yes. Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian writing for a Roman audience at the end of the first century, describes John in his Antiquities of the Jews as a good man who called the Jews to justice and piety and to baptism, and reports that Herod Antipas executed him at Machaerus out of fear of his influence. Josephus had no Christian interest to serve, which makes his account an independent anchor for the Gospel record.

Was John the Baptist Elijah?

Jesus said of John, "if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come" (Matthew 11:14), and Gabriel told Zechariah that his son would go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah. John himself, asked directly by priests from Jerusalem whether he was Elijah, answered no (John 1:21). The Church reads these together: John denies being Elijah returned in person, and fulfils the role that Malachi's promise of Elijah's coming described.

What is St. John the Baptist the patron saint of?

He is the patron of baptism and of converts, of Malta and of the Order of St. John, of Puerto Rico and its capital San Juan, of Quebec and French-speaking Canada, where 24 June is the national holiday, and of Florence, Genoa and Amman. Tailors and furriers claim him because of his camel hair clothing. Midsummer bonfires on the eve of his feast are kept from Scandinavia to Latin America.