Portal:Catholic Church/Patron Archive/June 24 2007

John the Baptist (also called the Baptiser) was a 1st century Jewish preacher and ascetic regarded as a prophet by four religions: Christianity, Islam, Mandaeanism, and the Baháʼí Faith. The title of prophet is asserted in the Synoptic Gospels, the Qur'an, and the Baháʼí Writings.

According to Luke 1:36, he was a relative of Jesus. He is also commonly referred to as John the Forerunner or Precursor because Christians consider him as the forerunner of Christ.

Unlike the other Synoptic Gospels, which introduce John the Baptist into the narrative as an adult, the Gospel of Luke provides an account of his infancy. According to Luke, John the Baptist was the son of Zacharias and Elisabeth, who previously "had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years" Luke 1:7 (in a way which reminds Abraham and Sarah Gen 17:17). His birth, name, and office were foretold by the angel Gabriel to Zacharias, while Zacharias was performing his functions as a priest in the temple of Jerusalem. According to Luke, Zacharias was a priest of the course of Abijah, and his wife, Elisabeth, was of the Daughters of Aaron Luke 1:5; consequently John automatically held the priesthood of Aaron, which, to the Jews' eyes, gave him authority to baptize in the name of God.

Luke states that John was born about six months before Jesus, and that Zacharias' unbelief over the birth of his son led to him losing his power of speech, which was only restored on the occasion of John's circumcision (Luke 1:64). On the basis of Luke's account, the Catholic calendar placed the feast of John the Baptist on June 24, six months before Christmas.

According to Luke, Jesus Christ and John the Baptist were related; their mothers, Mary and Elisabeth, were cousins. (Luke 1:36).

In Christianity John is known as "the Baptist" from his practice of preaching and baptizing Jews in the River Jordan. Most notably he is the one who recognized Jesus as the messiah, and, on Jesus' request, baptised him. The baptism marked the beginning of Jesus' life as a teacher.

According to the Canonical Gospels, John the Baptist's public ministry was suddenly brought to a close, probably about six months after he had baptized Jesus. According to these Gospel narratives, Herod Antipas jailed him, with the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of Mark arguing that Herod was punishing John for condemning Herod's marriage to Herodias, the former wife of Herod Philip I, Herod's own brother (Luke 3:19). Some academics have argued that John was imprisoned in the Machaerus fortress on the southern extremity of Peraea, nine miles east of the Dead Sea. {Josephus Jewish Antiquities XVIII:5:1–2}

According to (Matthew 14:6–8) the daughter of Herodias danced for King Herod and delighted him so much that he vowed to give her anything she wanted: after consulting with her mother she requested the head of John the Baptist.

Neither Josephus nor the Gospels state where John was buried, though the Gospels state that John's disciples took his body and placed it in a tomb. In the time of Julian the Apostate, however, his tomb was shown at Samaria, where the inhabitants opened it and burned part of his bones. The rest of the alleged remains were saved by some Christians, who carried them to an abbot of Jerusalem named Philip.
Attributes: Cross, lamb, his own head
Patronage: patron saint of French Canada, Puerto Rico, Knights Hospitaller of Jerusalem, Florence, Genoa, many other places