gospel of john bible study for youth pdf

Jesus comes to John, and is baptized by him in the river Jordan.

John proclaims baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin, and says another will come after him who will not baptize with water, but with the Holy Spirit.īeheading of St John the Baptist by Massimo Stanzione, 1635 John is described as wearing clothes of camel's hair, and living on locusts and wild honey. The Gospel of Mark introduces John as a fulfillment of a prophecy from the Book of Isaiah (in fact, a conflation of texts from Isaiah, Malachi and Exodus) about a messenger being sent ahead, and a voice crying out in the wilderness. The Synoptic Gospels ( Mark, Matthew and Luke) describe John baptising Jesus in the Gospel of John this is inferred by many to be found in John 1:32. John the Baptist is mentioned in all four canonical Gospels and the non-canonical Gospel of the Nazarenes. See also: Baptism of Jesus and Beheading of Saint John the Baptist Salome is given the severed head of John the Baptist, Onorio Marinari, 1670s In the Roman martyrology, apart from Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary, John is the only saint whose birth and death are both commemorated. In modern times, the followers of John the Baptist are the Mandaeans, an ancient ethnoreligious group who believe that he is their greatest and final prophet. John the Baptist by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1566įollowers of John existed well into the 2nd century AD, and some proclaimed him to be the messiah. Josephus also mentions John in the Antiquities of the Jews and states that he was executed by order of Herod Antipas in the fortress at Machaerus. Īccording to the New Testament, John was sentenced to death and subsequently beheaded by Herod Antipas around AD 30 after John rebuked him for divorcing his wife Phasaelis and then unlawfully wedding Herodias, the wife of his brother Herod Philip I.

Most biblical scholars agree that John baptized Jesus, and several New Testament accounts report that some of Jesus' early followers had previously been followers of John. John used baptism as the central symbol or sacrament of his pre-messianic movement. Some scholars maintain that John belonged to the Essenes, a semi- ascetic Jewish sect who expected a messiah and practiced ritual baptism. According to the Gospel of Luke, John and Jesus were relatives. Jesus himself identifies John as ' Elijah who is to come', which is a direct reference to the Book of Malachi (Malachi 4:5), that has been confirmed by the angel who announced John's birth to his father, Zechariah. According to the New Testament, John anticipated a messianic figure greater than himself, and the Gospels portray John as the precursor or forerunner of Jesus.

He is considered to be a prophet of God by all of the aforementioned faiths, and is honoured as a saint in many Christian denominations. John is mentioned by the Roman Jewish historian Josephus and he is revered as a major religious figure in Christianity, Islam, the Baháʼí faith, the Druze faith, and Mandaeism, the latter in which he is considered to be the final and most vital prophet. He is sometimes alternatively referred to as John the Baptiser.

He is also known as John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist Christian traditions, and Prophet Yahya in Islam. AD 30) was a Judaean preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early 1st century AD. Red martyr, camel-skin robe, cross, lamb, scroll with words 'Ecce Agnus Dei-', platter with own head, pouring water from hands or scallop shell

Gospel of john bible study for youth pdf