John the Baptist

==Scholarship==
[[File:Giovanni di paolo, scene della vita del battista, 1454, 02 partenza per il deserto 1.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|John the Baptist setting off into the desert, by [[Giovanni di Paolo]], 1454]]
Scholars studying John the Baptist's relationship with Jesus of Nazareth have commented on the differences in their respective approaches.

[[James F. McGrath]] writes "In the first half of the 20th century, the [[Mandaeans]] received significant attention from New Testament scholars who thought that their high view of John the Baptist might mean they were the descendants of his disciples. Many historians think that Jesus of Nazareth was a disciple of John the Baptist before breaking away to form his own movement, and I am inclined to agree."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://theconversation.com/this-tiny-minority-of-iraqis-follows-an-ancient-gnostic-religion-and-theres-a-chance-they-could-be-your-neighbors-too-160838|title=This tiny minority of Iraqis follows an ancient Gnostic religion – and there's a chance they could be your neighbors too|website=www.theconversation.com|date=21 June 2021|access-date=8 September 2021|archive-date=8 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210908161131/https://theconversation.com/this-tiny-minority-of-iraqis-follows-an-ancient-gnostic-religion-and-theres-a-chance-they-could-be-your-neighbors-too-160838|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[L. Michael White]] says John the Baptist should be thought of "...primarily as one who was calling for a return to an intensely Jewish piety [...] to follow the way of the Lord [...] to make oneself pure... to be right with God [...] And it seems to be that he calls for baptism as a sign of rededication or repurification of life in a typically Jewish way before God."<ref name=pbs>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/portrait/john.html|title=A Portrait Of Jesus' World – John The Baptist &#124; From Jesus To Christ – The First Christians &#124; FRONTLINE &#124; PBS|website=www.pbs.org|access-date=14 January 2021|archive-date=25 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125031718/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/portrait/john.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[John Dominic Crossan]] sees John the Baptist as an apocalyptic eschatologist, whose message was that "God, very soon, imminently, any moment, is going to descend to eradicate the evil of this world in a sort of an apocalyptic consummation..."<ref name=pbs/> When Jesus says John is the greatest person ever born on earth, but the least in the Kingdom of God is greater than John, it means Jesus is changing his vision of God and the Kingdom of God from what he has taken from John. For Crossan, Jesus is an ethical eschatologist that sees "...the demand that God is making on us, not us on God so much as God on us, to do something about the evil in the world."<ref name=pbs/>

Michael H. Crosby, O.F.M.Cap. states there was "no biblical evidence indicating that John the Baptist ever became a disciple of Jesus." He believes that John's concept of what a messiah should be was in contrast to how Jesus presented himself, and kept him from becoming a disciple of Jesus. Crosby states, "an unbiased reading leaves us with the figure of John the Baptist as a reformist Jew who also may have wanted desperately to become a believer but was unable to become convinced of Jesus' messiahship..."<ref>Crosby, Michael H. "Why Didn't John the Baptist Commit Himself to Jesus as a Disciple?"; Biblical Theology Bulletin, Volume 38 Nov 2008; p158 -162 [http://michaelcrosby.net/images/uploads/documents/BTBNov08JohnTheBaptist.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120111755/http://michaelcrosby.net/images/uploads/documents/BTBNov08JohnTheBaptist.pdf|date=20 November 2018}}</ref> Crosby considers John's effectiveness as a "precursor" in encouraging others to follow Jesus as very minimal, since the scriptures record only two of his own followers having become Jesus' disciples.

Professor [[Candida Moss]] noted that John and Jesus become "de facto competitors in the ancient religious marketplace." Even after baptizing Jesus, John did not follow Jesus but maintained a separate ministry. After John's death, Jesus' followers had to differentiate him from the executed prophet, "countering the prevalent idea that Jesus was actually John raised from the dead." Moss also references the incident in Matthew 16 where disciples indicated some people believed Jesus was John the Baptist.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.christianpost.com/news/were-jesus-and-john-the-baptist-competitors-finding-jesus-professor-describes-their-relationship.html|title=Were Jesus and John the Baptist Competitors? 'Finding Jesus' Professor Describes Their Relationship|website=www.christianpost.com|date=10 March 2015|access-date=7 February 2019|archive-date=9 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209124550/https://www.christianpost.com/news/were-jesus-and-john-the-baptist-competitors-finding-jesus-professor-describes-their-relationship.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Pastor Robert L. Deffinbaugh views John's sending two of his disciples to ask Jesus if he were the Messiah or whether another should be sought as the Baptist's issuing a public challenge since the message was presented to Jesus while he was with a gathered crowd. Deffinbaugh suggests that John might have been looking for inauguration of the kingdom of God in a more dramatic way than what Jesus was presenting, as John had previously warned that the "Messiah would come with fire." Jesus answered by indicating his miracle works and teachings which themselves gave evidence of his identity: "The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor".<ref>{{bibleref2|Luke|7:22|NET}}</ref><ref>Deffinbaugh, Bob (22 June 2004). [https://bible.org/seriespage/22-johns-problem-jesus-luke-718-35 "John's Problem with Jesus (Luke 7:18-35)."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802194400/https://bible.org/seriespage/22-johns-problem-jesus-luke-718-35 |date=2 August 2020 }} ''Bible.org''. Retrieved 8 July 2023.</ref>

[[Harold W. Attridge]] agrees with Crossan that John was an apocalyptic preacher. Attridge says most contemporary scholars would see the idea of John as the "forerunner" of Jesus as a construct developed by the early church to help explain the relationship between the two. "For the early church it would have been something of an embarrassment to say that Jesus, who was in their minds superior to John the Baptist, had been baptized by him, and thereby proclaimed some sort of subordination to him, some sort of disciple relationship to him..."<ref name=pbs/>

[[Barbara Thiering]] questions the dating of the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] and suggests that the [[Teacher of Righteousness]] (leader of the [[Essenes]]) preached coming fiery judgment, said "the axe is laid to the roots of the tree", called people "vipers", practiced baptism and lived in the wilderness of Judea. Due to these reasons, she believes there is a strong possibility that the Teacher of Righteousness was John the Baptist.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkhqd0xVejg|title=The Riddle of the Dead Sea Scrolls|website=YouTube – Discovery Channel documentary|year=1990|access-date=11 March 2022|archive-date=5 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220305135100/https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=Vkhqd0xVejg|url-status=live}}</ref>