John the Baptist

===In Matthew===
[[File:Mattia Preti - San Giovanni Battista Predicazione.jpg|thumb|''St. John the Baptist Preaching'', {{circa|1665}}, by [[Mattia Preti]]]]
The Gospel of Matthew account begins with the same modified quotation from Isaiah,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+40.3&version=NRSV|title=Isaiah 40.3 NRSV – A voice cries out: "In the wilderness|work=Bible Gateway|access-date=2 December 2014|archive-date=16 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150116091851/https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+40.3&version=NRSV|url-status=live}}</ref> moving the Malachi and Exodus material to later in the text, where it is quoted by Jesus.<ref name="Moyise2011">{{cite book|author=Steve Moyise|title=Jesus and Scripture: Studying the New Testament Use of the Old Testament|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C9PRrvnVdzcC&pg=PA40|date=1 September 2011|publisher=Baker Books|isbn=978-1-4412-3749-1|page=40|access-date=28 November 2015|archive-date=26 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231026090921/https://books.google.com/books?id=C9PRrvnVdzcC&pg=PA40#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> The description of John is possibly taken directly from Mark ("clothing of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey"), along with the proclamation that one was coming who would baptize with the Holy Spirit "and fire".<ref>{{bibleref2|Matthew|3:1–12|NRSV}}</ref> The book of Matthew next has Jesus coming to John to be baptized, but John objects because he is not worthy because Jesus is the one that brings the baptism in the Spirit.<ref name="Evans2014">{{cite book|author=Craig A. Evans|title=The Routledge Encyclopedia of the Historical Jesus|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=StasAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA55|date=14 January 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-72224-3|pages=55–|access-date=13 November 2020|archive-date=26 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231026090921/https://books.google.com/books?id=StasAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA55#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

Unlike Mark, Matthew describes John as critical of Pharisees and Sadducees and as preaching "the kingdom of heaven is at hand" and a "coming judgment".

Matthew shortens the account of the beheading of John, and adds two elements: that Herod Antipas wants John dead, and that the death is reported to Jesus by his disciples.<ref name="Wink2006">{{cite book|author=Walter Wink|title=John the Baptist in the Gospel Tradition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zWNe6CwgPKwC&pg=PA27|date=November 2006|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-03130-1|page=27|access-date=28 November 2015|archive-date=26 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231026090927/https://books.google.com/books?id=zWNe6CwgPKwC&pg=PA27#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> Matthew's approach is to shift the focus away from Herod and onto John as a prototype of Jesus. Where Mark has Herod killing John reluctantly and at Herodias' insistence, Matthew describes him as wanting John dead.<ref>Robert Horton Gundry, ''Matthew: A Commentary on His Handbook for a Mixed Church Under Persecution'' (Eerdmans, 1994) p. 286.</ref>
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