John the Baptist

====Unification Church====

The [[Unification Church]] teaches that [[God]] intended John to help Jesus during his public ministry in Judea. In particular, John should have done everything in his power to persuade the Jewish people that Jesus was the Messiah. He was to become Jesus' main disciple and John's disciples were to become Jesus' disciples. Unfortunately, John did not follow Jesus and continued his own way of baptizing people. Moreover, John also denied that he was Elijah when queried by several Jewish leaders,<ref>{{bibleverse|John|1:21|NKJV}}</ref> contradicting Jesus who stated John is Elijah who was to come.<ref>{{bibleverse|Matthew|11:14|NKJV}}</ref> Many Jews therefore could not accept Jesus as the Messiah because John denied being Elijah, as the prophet's appearance was a prerequisite for the Messiah's arrival as stated in Malachi 4:5.<ref>{{bibleverse|Malachi|4:5|NKJV}}</ref> According to the Unification Church, "John the Baptist was in the position of representing Elijah's physical body, making himself identical with Elijah from the standpoint of their mission."

According to Matthew 11:11, Jesus stated "there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist."<ref>{{bibleverse|Matthew|11:11|NKJV}}</ref> However, in referring to John's blocking the way of the Jews' understanding of him as the Messiah, Jesus said "yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." John's failure to follow Jesus became the chief obstacle to the fulfillment of Jesus' mission.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unification.net/dp96/dp96-1-4.html |title=Exposition of the Divine Principle, 1996 Translation, Chapter 4 |publisher=unification.net |access-date=1 July 2018 |archive-date=17 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617175131/http://www.unification.net/dp96/dp96-1-4.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Divine Principle – PART I – CHAPTER 4. ADVENT OF THE MESSIAH|url=https://www.unification.net/dp73/dp73-1-4.html#1|access-date=23 July 2020|website=www.unification.net|archive-date=22 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200122005539/http://www.unification.net/dp73/dp73-1-4.html#1|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>5. The Fact That Jesus of Nazareth Was Not Accepted as Messiah Was Not Due to the People's Lack Of Faith In God. https://www.tparents.org/Library/Unification/Publications/Other-Pub/Uc-jewsh.htm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120111754/https://www.tparents.org/Library/Unification/Publications/Other-Pub/Uc-jewsh.htm |date=20 November 2018 }}</ref>