John the Baptist was a relative and precursor of Jesus who lived in the Judean desert. He baptized people in the Jordan River and preached repentance. John recognized Jesus as the Messiah and baptized him, marking the start of Jesus' public ministry. However, John criticized Herod Antipas for marrying his brother's wife, resulting in Herod beheading John at the request of Salome. John paved the way for Jesus and is considered the forerunner of the Messiah.

2. John the BaptistJohn the Baptist was a relative
of Jesus.
His parents were Elizabeth and
Zachariah
In the Gospel of Luke,
John’s birth was foretold to
Zachariah, a Temple Priest.
Because he did not believe
the angel, Zachariah was
struck mute until after John
was born. (Luke 1:7)
John was born in Judea

3. John’s ministry is shown in all four
gospels.
John the Baptist was a preacher and
prophet. He baptized in the Jordan River
and converted many people

4. John was an Essene, living a simple life
of repentance; he lived in the Judean
desert, eating locusts and wild honey. He
likely wore clothes made from camel hair.
John the Baptist was the first to publicly
recognize Jesus as the Messiah

6. Jesus’ own baptism marks the
beginning of His public ministry.
In the Gospel of John, John the
Baptist introduces Jesus as the Lamb
of God.

7. Many of the
disciples (students
devoted to their
teacher) of John the
Baptist became
followers of Jesus
Jesus’ disciples took
over the job of
baptizing the people,
telling them to repent,
as John had told them

8. John’s disciples came and said to him, 'Rabbi, the one who was
with you across the Jordan, to whom you testified, here he is
baptizing and everyone is coming to him.'
John answered “. . .You yourselves can testify that I
said that I am not the Messiah, but that I was sent
before him. . . this joy of mine has been made
complete. . . He must increase; I must decreaseHe must increase; I must decrease . . .”. . .”

9. John the Baptist’s ministry ended less than
a year after he baptized Jesus
John the Baptist had spoken out against Herod
Antipas and his marriage to Herodias
Herodias had been the wife of Herod’s brother,
Philip
Herod Antipas had John the Baptist arrested
because of his remarks

10. Herod Antipas
told Salome, the
daughter of
Herodias, that he
would grant her
any wish.
(Matthew 14:8-10)

11. At her mother’s
request, Salome
demanded the
head of John the
Baptist on a
platter
On Herod’s
order, John the
Baptist was
beheaded.

14. John the Baptist is called
The Forerunner of Jesus
because he paved the way
for Jesus’ ministry
In the Roman Catholic
Church, there are two feast
days to commemorate John
the Baptist:
•June 24 recalls his birth
•August 29 recalls his death

15. ⇒ Most of what we know
about John the Baptist
comes from:
- the Gospel of Luke
- other Scripture
- and First-Century
Roman historian named
Josephus

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