CHRISTIANS PLEASE! What is the story of JOHN the Baptist?

John The Baptist was the First Cousin Jesus, his Mother Elizabeth and Jesus's Mother Mary, were Sisters. The Angel of The LORD, Gabriel told them both who they would give birth to. You see, John The Baptist was very special indeed. See here below Luke 1 and Below that in John 1 , I have listed John The Baptist's on Testimony of who he was

The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

5 ¶ There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zechari'ah, of the course of Abi'jah: 1 Chr. 24.10 and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.

6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

7 And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren; and they both were now well stricken in years.

8 ¶ And it came to pass, that, while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course,

9 according to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.

10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.

11 And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

12 And when Zechari'ah saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zechari'ah: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.

14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.

15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; Num. 6.3 and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.

16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.

17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Eli'jah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, Mal. 4.5, 6 and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

18 And Zechari'ah said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.

19 And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, Dan. 8.16 ; 9.21 that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to show thee these glad tidings.

20 And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.

21 And the people waited for Zechari'ah, and marveled that he tarried so long in the temple.

22 And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple; for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless.

23 And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house.

24 ¶ And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,

25 Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.

Jesus' Birth Foretold

26 ¶ And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

27 to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. Mt. 1.18

28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God.

31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. Mt. 1.21

32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

33 and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Is. 9.7

34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

37 For with God nothing shall be impossible. Gen. 18.14

38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

Mary Visits Elisabeth

39 ¶ And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah;

40 and entered into the house of Zechari'ah, and saluted Elisabeth.

41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:

42 and she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

44 For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.

45 And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.

46 And Mary said,

My soul doth magnify the Lord,

47 and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

48 For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden:

for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

49 For he that is mighty hath done to me great things;

and holy is his name.

50 And his mercy is on them that fear him

from generation to generation.

51 He hath showed strength with his arm;

he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

52 He hath put down the mighty from their seats,

and exalted them of low degree.

53 He hath filled the hungry with good things;

and the rich he hath sent empty away.

54 He hath holpen his servant Israel,

in remembrance of his mercy;

55 as he spake to our fathers,

to Abraham, Gen. 17.7 and to his seed for ever. 1 Sam. 2.1-10

56 And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house.

John 1:19-34

The Testimony of John the Baptist

Mt. 3.11, 12 · Mk. 1.7, 8 · Lk. 3.15-17

19 ¶ And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?

20 And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.

21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Eli'jah Mal. 4.5 ? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that Prophet Deut. 18.15, 18 ? And he answered, No.

22 Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?

23 He said, I am

the voice of one crying in the wilderness,

Make straight the way of the Lord,

as said the prophet Isaiah. Is. 40.3

24 ¶ And they which were sent were of the Pharisees.

25 And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Eli'jah, neither that Prophet?

26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;

27 he it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoelatchet I am not worthy to unloose.

28 These things were done in Bethab'ara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Behold the Lamb of God

29 ¶ The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world!

30 This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me; for he was before me.

31 And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.

32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.

33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.

34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.

John the Baptist was a man even thou he possesed the mantle of Elijah.. Jesus himself said that he was made a little lower than angels. Jesus was a servant as he said the least shall be the greatest. Jesus obviously became the greatest. Thus John the baptist was a prophet, a man, the spirit of Elijah and the one making the way straight for the Lord. John the baptist will receive a prophets reward. What was in heaven was greater than all. Christians or those that sleep in Jesus are not in heaven, they are in paradise. Matthew 5:34 Heaven is the throne of God. We pray that the Kingdom comes. Be just a little more accurate with your doctrine. In the scripture you quoted it said HE. How come not SHE. Because the one in the Kingdom was "GOD". Lucifer went to the pits of hell for saying he shall ascend to heaven. Isaiah 14. When Jesus comes he will bring those that sleep in Jesus. The King and his domain. God Bless

He was a member of the same extended family as Jesus. According to Luke's Gospel, their mothers were cousins, but cousin and sibling are the same word in Aramaic so it's hard to be exact.

John started his mission first. He preached repentance and baptised people in the River Jordan. Jesus came to where John was baptising and was baptised by him.

Herod was the ruler of Galilee (the one at the time - there was a whole dynasty of Herods) He was rather touchy having survived two assassination attempts. Because John's preaching criticised Herod's lifestyle, Herod had him imprisoned and he was subsequently beheaded. The story is that Herod's daughter asked for the head of John the Baptist in return for dancing, but this has been embroidered over the centuries.

If you want the full story, it's all in Luke.

He was a voice crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, he ate locust's and wild honey out in the desert, he baptized Jesus, he was beheaded in prison when the daughter of an adulterous woman danced for her king who was very fond of her, and he said what will you ask me for up to half my kingdom, because he loved her dance, but his adulterous relationship told her to ask him for the head of john the baptist on a platter, it displeased the king very much that she should ask this, because although he was not obedient to God in any way he did fear God's judgment and knew that John the baptist was a man of God, that's why John the baptist called Him and the adulterous woman to their face adulterers but the king did nothing about it, but the woman hated him. And yes, just as Monte54q has mentioned, he was Jesus's cousin, his mother was Elizabeth, who also had an angel tell her, she would have a child and she should call him John, just as mary had an angel visit and was told to call hers Jesus.

You've already recvd good info about John here so nothing to add except to correct Jame's incorrect statements..

Neither Jesus or John are mentioned in the Torah or Tanakh!!!! You're free to misinterpret what you call the OT but far from the truth..

Being Jewish & studying both I know the Torah/Tanach a heck of a lot better than Christians..

Shalom/peace

John the Baptist was the son of Zechariah and Elizbeth, who were of the priestly house of Aaron, and Zechariah was a priest of the division of Abijah (Luke 1:5-6).

It became Zechariah's turn to enjoy the rare privilege of offering incense in the sanctuary. As he did this the angel Gabriel appeared and told him that he would have a son, and he was to call his name John. This would be a miracle because he and his wife were too old to have a baby (Luke 1:7-17).

When Elizabeth was 6 mths pregnant, Mary (the mother of Jesus, and who was a relative) paid her a visit. As soon as she heard Mary's greeting, John leapt for joy in her womb(Luke 1:26, 36, 39-45).

Then at the birth of John, all the relatives and neighbors wanted to call the child by his fathers name, but Elizabeth said no. Then they asked the father, and because he had been told that he would be unable to speak from the meeting with the angel Gabriels announcement to him, he wrote on a tablet 'John is its name'. Then as soon as he did this he could speak, and everyone knew that this was at the hand of God (Luke 1:18-20, 57-66).

That's up to his birth anyway. About his death, Herod had imprisioned John and at his birthday party, he asked his wife's daughter to dance for him. He said he would give her anything she asked for. She then asked her mother (Herodias) what she should ask for, and then because her mother had a grudge against John. She said to ask for John's head on a platter. The girl danced, John's head was cut off and brought to the girl, who then gave it to her mother (Matthew 14:1-12, Mark 6:21-29).

Obviously there's lot's in between, but that's the beginning and the end...

By the way, John is the English equivalent of Jehohanan, which means 'Jehovah has shown favor, Jehovah has been gracious'.

John the Baptist was Jesus' cousin. When he was old enough he left his parents and lived in the desert, He lived off the land and clothed himself with animal skins. (yes, animal skins given to us by God to use and enjoy.) He left the desert and went to Judea where he preached the word of God and prepared the way for Our Lord to start His mission. Like Jesus said,"No greater man was ever born than John the Baptist." And can you imagine the Son of Man having to be Baptized by John. There's more but I need a book. Oh, by the way Jesus Baptized John when John was in his mother's womb. When Our blessed Mother visited Elizabeth. How do I know that you ask, it's in Maria of Agreda's book. The Blessed Mother told her.

St. John the Baptist was the Herald of the Christ.

He Baptized Christ, thus, starting His(Christ's)Ministry.

He was Martyred for speaking out against Herod & Herodias'unlawful marriage, by beheading.

There is a tiny religion which venerates him as their Prophet.

This religion is called Mandeanism, & most of its adherants are in Iran & Iraq.

John the Baptist was man named in the New Testament who lived "in the wilderness", and appears in the New Testament preaching repentance. He was likely an Essene monk. He was known for baptising people into a baptism of repentence and is also identified as the person who baptized Jesus.

He condemned King Herod for marrying his brother's ex-wife, and was eventually executed for it. There was nothing in particular about him that was "supernatural".

He is alos mentioned by the historian Josephus as a pious Jews who was executed by Herod.

According to the bible, John the Baptist was Jesus' cousin (not first cousins though). His mother Elizabeth was a cousin of Jesus' mother Mary, and Elizabeth was considered baren and in her later years when she finally has John.

So the story goes that when Mary visited Elizabeth, the baby (John) lept in Elizabeth's womb when Mary arrived (supposedly a recognition of the presence of god). this implies that John was older than Jesus.

John apparently baptized Jesus at Jesus' own insistence. Later John was beheaded under Herod's rein at the insitence of his daughter's request.

It was John the Baptist who held the presidency of this priesthood in the days of his ministry as the forerunner of Jesus Christ. As a Levite, and his authority coming to him by divine right of descent, he was the rightful presiding priest of the Aaronic order in Israel. This authority had come to him by lineage, and the Lord has made it known that John "was baptized while he was yet in his childhood, and was ordained by the angel of God at the time he was eight days old unto this power, to overthrow the kingdom of the Jews, and to make straight the way of the Lord before the face of his people, to prepare them for the coming of the Lord, in whose hands is given all power."

Had the Church of God been in existence with the Jews in that day, instead of the Jews being in a dreadful state of apostasy, then John the Baptist would have taken his proper place as the presiding priest of the Aaronic order. But they recognized him not and failed to understand his authority, even as they failed to comprehend the authority of our Lord. The authority of John was that which was conferred upon Aaron and which came down by right of lineage to Eleazar and his posterity after him; but the Jews failed to recognize John and rejected him. By right of his authority John laid the foundation for the overthrow of their kingdom, or power, which was based on a false foundation. Had they accepted John then also would they have accepted Christ, the Lord, their rightful King and the great High Priest of their salvation.