- John the Baptist, sometimes referred to as "Yahya" and
sometimes referred to as "the former" because Jesus preceded him to prepare the way for him, is the messenger sent by God to prepare the way before Christ. John the son of Zechariah the priest, of the division of Abia and his mother of the daughters of Aaron, and called Elizabeth.
It is known from John's parents that they were righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and judgments of the Lord. John was not a normal man, but a righteous prophet sent from God.
How was the birth of John the Baptist?
How can we realize that he was a righteous man who was different from other people? - The story of the birth of John indicates this. The story is funny, and perhaps rare. The Bible says that Zechariah the priest, Father John, and Elizabeth, his wife, were righteous and had no children. Elizabeth was sterile and did not give birth to children, and both were old. They asked God to give them a child. One day, while Zechariah the priest was in the temple, the angel Gabriel appeared to him, and Zechariah was afraid. The angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elisabeth will give birth to a son and you will call him John. And many of the children of Israel shall return unto the LORD their God, and shall come before him in the spirit of Elijah and his strength; and the hearts of the fathers shall be returned unto the children, and the infallible to the thought of the righteous, to prepare the LORD for a ready people "(Luke 13: 1-17).
Where did John the Baptist live?
- We do not know much about John's first life. All we know about him is that he was growing and strong in spirit, and was in the prairie until the day of his appearance "(Luke 80: 1). The word of God came from him and he lived in a desolate wilderness stretching from Jericho and the Jordan valley to the south, to the shores of the Dead Sea. John the Baptist lived in the wilderness a life of austerity, simplicity and asceticism, and he wore the camel's hair, and put on his loins a region of skin, and his food was grass and wild honey (Matthew 3). The work of John was purely spiritual, and consists of calling for repentance. He had to pave the way for Christ to preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. In the days of John's childhood, Zechariah the priest referred to the future that awaited him, based on the words of the angel Gabriel: "And you, the child, the prophet of the Most High shall be called, because you shall come before the face of the LORD to prepare his ways." John the Baptist was a continuation of what was said in one of the prophecies of the Old Testament: "Behold, send my angel and prepare the way before me, and suddenly come to his temple the Lord that you seek, . As Isaiah said in his prophecy about John: "A loud voice in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the LORD; raise up in the wilderness a way for our God" (Isaiah 3:40). John's message was to announce the coming of Christ by saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near" (Matthew 2: 3). What was Christ's testimony about John and his work? Jesus was proud of John and his works, and said of him that he was greater than a prophet. He also said about him, "Truly I say to you, there is no greater among the children born than women than John the Baptist" (Matthew 11:11).
How did John's life end?
- His life ended by separating his head from his body because he rebuked King Herod the ruler of his country, Palestine, for marrying Herod, the wife of his brother Philip, as illegitimate marriage, and for many sins committed by that ruler. Thus ended the life of John the righteous, who paved the way for Christ and called people to repentance, which he baptized, so named John the Baptist.