John the Baptist

8th June 2020 at 1:30pm
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Contenido

Notable data about John himself
  • Levite
  • Josephus refers to John in Antiquities 18.109–119 ( = 18.5.2)
  • No one was called 'baptizer' but John. This implies that baptizing as he did, in some way, was a distinct, out of the ordinary thing he did
  • Standing in OT prophetic tradition
    • Ascetic lifestyle - desert, clothing and diet
    • Harsh, brave preaching admonishing Israel
      • Criticism of religious leaders (brood of vipers!)
      • Criticism of Herod
    • Identification as Elijah
  • Presented as humble - he must increase, I must decrease
  • Some scholars connect him to Qumran [see Stein for parallels]
    • Qumran used Isaiah 40.3 in a way similar to John (Lexham BD)
    • Qumran focused on ritual cleansing with water
    • Quman separated from Israel to the desert
    • Qumran expected judgment to fall on Israel and urged repentance
    • However, these may just be similarities due to a larger cultural context, rather than indicating a causal relationship

John's death
  • Slight discrepancy between Josephus and the Gospels:
    • Josephus presents Herod Antipas as fearing an uprising because of John's popularity and preaching
    • Gospels present Herod as angry for John's criticism of his marriage to his brother's wife, Herodias.
    • Not contradictory but complementary
  • John's death establishes the danger of what Jesus is doing, and prepares the reader for the death of Jesus

Importance of John the Baptist
  • Greater 'celebrity' than Jesus?
  • Arguments
    • Miraculous birth
      • Announced by an angel
      • Jumping in the womb when Mary arrives
      • His father could not speak until he was born
      • Zechariah's prophecy about him
    • Josephus' reference to him
    • The large number of passages he and/or his disciples appear in, in all four Gospels (see here)
      • The Gospels appear concerned, apologetically, to show Jesus' relation to John (see below)
    • The large number of people that went to see him / numerous groups mentioned
    • What others say about him in the Gospels
      • Messiah?
      • Filled with the Holy Spirit
      • Prophet
      • Righteous and holy man
      • Jesus contrasted him with a cane blown in by the wind. Probable criticism of Herod, who used the cane as his symbol. - Cummins, 441
      • Greatest of all those who came before
      • Elijah!
        • John denies it in John 1.21 - John was not literally a reincarnation of Elijah
        • Jesus affirms it in Matthew 11.14 - John was the fulfillment of Malachi's prophecy
    • Disciples of his were still around as an identifiable group, years later, in Acts
    • The Gospels connect him to the OT
      • Descriptions of Elijah in 2 Kings 1.8
      • Elijah's connection to the Jordan river in 2 Kings 2.6
      • John as the fulfillent of Isaiah 40.3
      • John's preaching probably alludes to Isaiah 51.1-2
      • John as the fulfillment of Malachi 3.1, 4.5-6
        • [This is probably the place to mention that Sirah 48:10 and 2 Esdras 6:2f also mention the coming of an Eliah]

Relation of John and Jesus
  • The Gospels all preface Jesus with the story of John
  • Birth narratives - relatives, parallels (see here for parallels
  • John's prediction Jesus' coming
  • John's hesitancy to baptize Jesus,
  • John's identification of Jesus as Lamb of God
  • John's self-designation as a precursor
  • Same content in their preaching, word for word, in Matt. 3:2 >>> 4:17
  • Jesus took some of his disciples from John's disciples
  • John questions Jesus
  • John testifies about Jesus: He must become greater, I must become less
  • Listed as one of the witnesses to Jesus in John 5
  • People thought Jesus might be the resurrection of John

John's baptism
  • Distinct from ritual washings
    • Focus on repentance from sin, not ritual purity [although see Stein]
    • He baptized them, they did not baptize themselves
    • Done once, not repeated
  • Radical statement
    • Implied alternative to priests and temple sacrifices!
  • Preparation
    • Initial water baptism in preparation for One to come, who will baptize by fire
    • Preparation for the coming kingdom of God
    • Popularity of John's baptism due to threat of judgment and appeal to prepare
  • Parallels with Christian baptism
    • Instituted by God
    • Associated with radical change of lifestyle
    • Associated with forgiveness of sins
    • Used water
  • Differences from Christian baptism
    • Future focused (Christian baptism looks back to what Jesus did)
    • For Israel, not for other nations
    • Not in the name of Jesus
    • Not accompanied by reception of the Spirit
    • Not about forming a new community

Jesus' baptism by John
  • John's hesitancy and Jesus' insistence
    • The problem of explaining why Jesus would need a baptism of repentance
    • Best to see Jesus as a representative of those 'in him'
  • Supernatural events
    • The heavens open
    • The voice from heaven
    • The dove settles on Jesus
  • Was Jesus baptized by immersion?
  • As his body came out of the water after the act of immersion? Or as he came out of the river?
  • The problem of the meaning / background of the dove
    • (not modern symbol of peace)
    • Genesis 1.2?
    • The dove Noah sent out?
    • Both of the above, creation, new creation, and new creation?
    • The name Jonah?

John's preaching and disciples
  • Criticism of sins
    • Criticism of presumption based on Jewish ethnicity
    • Criticism of stingyness
    • Criticism of extortion and corruption
    • Criticism of adultery
    • Probably an allusion to Isaiah 51.1-2
    • Implies that Jewish people are now outside the kingdom and must enter just as the Gentiles always needed to
  • One coming to baptize
  • Coming promised kingdom of God
  • Coming judgment
    • Language of coming wrath, images of axe chopping down tree, and of chaff burning at threshing floor
  • Need for repentance
  • Offer of forgiveness
  • Necessity of bearing fruit
    • What each group (everyone / publicans / soldiers) should do in Lk 3.10-14
  • Striking images
    • Fire, axe, wind/Spirit, flood
  • Disciples
    • Practiced fasting and prayer
    • Came into conflict with Jesus' disciples

Baptism in Jesus' ministry
  • Not much information
    • John 4.1-2 - more baptisms than John, but qualification that it was the disciples
    • Jesus referred to his passion and death as a baptism
    • Jesus commands his disciples to baptize others in the Great Commission

Notable facts specific to each Gospel
  • The Synoptics seem to go out of their way to hide any chronological overlap between Jesus, whereas John emphasizes their overlap
  • Mark omits theme of judgment from John's preaching
  • Luke's presentation of the birth narratives show many parallels between John's birth and Jesus' birth.
  • John is not called 'baptist' or 'baptizer' in John's Gospel.

Sources
  • giffmex.org/wiki, based on:
    • Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, New Combined Edition. (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1996), 623-624.
    • S. A. Cummins, “John the Baptist,” ed. Joel B. Green, Jeannine K. Brown, and Nicholas Perrin, Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, Second Edition (Downers Grove, IL; Nottingham, England: IVP Academic; IVP, 2013)
    • Charles G. Dennison, “How is Jesus the Son of God? Luke’s Baptism Narrative and Christology,” en Calvin Theological Journal. (17:1982, pp. 19-20)
    • E. Ferguson, “Baptism,” ed. Joel B. Green, Jeannine K. Brown, y Nicholas Perrin, Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, Second Edition (Downers Grove, IL; Nottingham, England: IVP Academic; IVP, 2013)
    • Donald A. Hagner, Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 33a: Matthew 1-13. (Dallas, Texas: Word Books, Publisher) 1998.
    • John Nolland, Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 35a: Luke 1:1-9:20. (Dallas, Texas: Word Books, Publisher) 1998.
  • 2020 research
    • DJG2
    • EDBT
    • Dunn, Jesus Remembered
    • Lexham BD