John the Baptist

{{see also|Baptism of Jesus|Beheading of John the Baptist}}

File:Onorio Marinari Salomé con la cabeza del Bautista 1680 Minneapolis MA.jpg is given the severed head of John the Baptist. Onorio Marinari, 1670s.]]

John the Baptist is mentioned in all four canonical Gospels and the non-canonical Gospel of the Nazarenes. The Synoptic Gospels (Mark, Matthew and Luke) describe John baptising Jesus; in the Gospel of John this is inferred by many to be referred to in John 1:32.{{bibleverse|John|1:32–1:34|NKJV}}{{cite book|author=Mark L. Strauss|title=Four Portraits, One Jesus: A Survey of Jesus and the Gospels|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E54dDWTI0i0C&pg=PA308|date=1 March 2011|publisher=Zondervan Academic|isbn=978-0-310-86615-2|pages=308–|access-date=13 November 2020|archive-date=26 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231026085913/https://books.google.com/books?id=E54dDWTI0i0C&pg=PA308#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}

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)Carl R. Kazmierski, John the Baptist: Prophet and Evangelist (Liturgical Press, 1996) p. 31. about a messenger being sent ahead, and a voice crying out in the wilderness. John is described as wearing clothes of camel's hair, and living on locusts and wild honey. 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.

File:Massimo Stanzione - Beheading of St John the Baptist - WGA21701.jpg, 1635]]

Jesus comes to John, and is baptized by him in the river Jordan. The account describes how, as he emerges from the water, Jesus sees the heavens open and the Holy Spirit descends on him "like a dove", and he hears a voice from heaven that says, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased".{{bibleverse|Mark|1:11|NRSV}}

Later in the gospel there is an account of John's death. It is introduced by an incident where the Tetrarch Herod Antipas, hearing stories about Jesus, imagines that this is John the Baptist raised from the dead. It then explains that John had rebuked Herod for marrying Herodias, the ex-wife of his brother (named here as Philip). Herodias demands his execution, but Herod, who "liked to listen" to John, is reluctant to do so because he fears him, knowing he is a "righteous and holy man".

The account then describes how Herodias's unnamed daughter dances before Herod, who is pleased and offers her anything she asks for in return. When the girl asks her mother what she should request, she is told to demand the head of John the Baptist. Reluctantly, Herod orders the beheading of John, and his head is delivered to her, at her request, on a plate. John's disciples take the body away and bury it in a tomb.{{bibleverse|Mark|6:17–29|NRSV}}

The Gospel refers to Antipas as "King"John R. Donahue, Daniel J. Harrington, The Gospel of Mark (Liturgical Press, 2006) p. 195. and the ex-husband of Herodias is named as Philip, but he is known to have been called Herod.{{cite book|author=Florence Morgan Gillman|title=Herodias: At Home in that Fox's Den|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rFRFe8QdO1gC|year=2003|publisher=Liturgical Press|isbn=978-0-8146-5108-7|pages=54–55|access-date=28 November 2015|archive-date=26 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231026085913/https://books.google.com/books?id=rFRFe8QdO1gC|url-status=live}} Although the wording clearly implies the girl was the daughter of Herodias, many texts describe her as "Herod's daughter, Herodias". Since these texts are early and significant and the reading is 'difficult', many scholars see this as the original version, altered in later versions and in Matthew and Luke.Geoff R. Webb, Mark at the Threshold: Applying Bakhtinian Categories to Markan Characterisation, (BRILL, 2008) pp 110–11.John R. Donahue, Daniel J. Harrington, The Gospel of Mark (Liturgical Press, 2005) p. 198. Josephus says that Herodias had a daughter by the name of Salome.{{cite book|author=Flavius Josephus|title=The New Complete Works of Josephus|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kyaoIb6k2ccC&pg=PA7|year=1999|publisher=Kregel Academic|isbn=978-0-8254-2924-8|pages=7–|access-date=13 November 2020|archive-date=26 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231026090419/https://books.google.com/books?id=kyaoIb6k2ccC&pg=PA7#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}

Scholars have speculated about the origins of the story. Since it shows signs of having been composed in Aramaic, which Mark apparently did not speak, he is likely to have got it from a Palestinian source.Gillman 2003, p. 80. There are a variety of opinions about how much actual historical material it contains, especially given the alleged factual errors.Gillman 2003, pp. 81–83 Many scholars have seen the story of John arrested, executed, and buried in a tomb as a conscious foreshadowing of the fate of Jesus.Geoff R. Webb, Mark at the Threshold: Applying Bakhtinian Categories to Markan Characterisation, (Brill, 2008) p. 107.

File:Mattia Preti - San Giovanni Battista Predicazione.jpg]]

The Gospel of Matthew account begins with the same modified quotation from Isaiah,{{cite web|url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+40.3&version=NRSV|title=Isaiah 40.3 NRSV – A voice cries out: "In the wilderness|work=Bible Gateway|access-date=2 December 2014|archive-date=16 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150116091851/https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+40.3&version=NRSV|url-status=live}} moving the Malachi and Exodus material to later in the text, where it is quoted by Jesus.{{cite book|author=Steve Moyise|title=Jesus and Scripture: Studying the New Testament Use of the Old Testament|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C9PRrvnVdzcC&pg=PA40|date=1 September 2011|publisher=Baker Books|isbn=978-1-4412-3749-1|page=40|access-date=28 November 2015|archive-date=26 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231026090921/https://books.google.com/books?id=C9PRrvnVdzcC&pg=PA40#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}} The description of John is possibly taken directly from Mark ("clothing of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey"), along with the proclamation that one was coming who would baptize with the Holy Spirit "and fire".{{bibleverse|Matthew|3:1–12|NRSV}} The book of Matthew next has Jesus coming to John to be baptized, but John objects because he is not worthy because Jesus is the one that brings the baptism in the Spirit.{{cite book|author=Craig A. Evans|title=The Routledge Encyclopedia of the Historical Jesus|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=StasAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA55|date=14 January 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-72224-3|pages=55–|access-date=13 November 2020|archive-date=26 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231026090921/https://books.google.com/books?id=StasAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA55#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}

Unlike Mark, Matthew describes John as critical of Pharisees and Sadducees and as preaching "the kingdom of heaven is at hand" and a "coming judgment".

Matthew shortens the account of the beheading of John, and adds two elements: that Herod Antipas wants John dead, and that the death is reported to Jesus by his disciples.{{cite book|author=Walter Wink|title=John the Baptist in the Gospel Tradition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zWNe6CwgPKwC&pg=PA27|date=November 2006|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-03130-1|page=27|access-date=28 November 2015|archive-date=26 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231026090927/https://books.google.com/books?id=zWNe6CwgPKwC&pg=PA27#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}} Matthew's approach is to shift the focus away from Herod and onto John as a prototype of Jesus. Where Mark has Herod killing John reluctantly and at Herodias' insistence, Matthew describes him as wanting John dead.Robert Horton Gundry, Matthew: A Commentary on His Handbook for a Mixed Church Under Persecution (Eerdmans, 1994) p. 286.

{{Main|Nativity of Saint John the Baptist}}

File:Piero, battesimo di cristo 04.jpg, {{c.|1448–50}}]]

The Gospel of Luke adds an account of John's infancy, introducing him as the miraculous son of Zechariah, an old priest, and his wife Elizabeth, who was past menopause and therefore unable to have children.Libby Ahluwalia, Understanding Philosophy of Religion (Folens, 2008), p. 180.Just, Arthur A.; Oden, Thomas C. (2003), [https://books.google.com/books?id=Gh6sFDUfq8cC&q=%22barrenness+and+virginity%22&pg=PA10 Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture – Luke: New Testament III] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405002933/https://books.google.com/books?id=Gh6sFDUfq8cC&q=%22barrenness+and+virginity%22&pg=PA10 |date=5 April 2023 }}, InterVarsity Press; p. 10. {{ISBN|978-0830814886}}{{bibleverse|Luke|1:7|9}} According to this account, the birth of John was foretold by the angel Gabriel to Zechariah while he was performing his functions as a priest in the temple of Jerusalem. Since he is described as a priest of the course of Abijah and Elizabeth as one of the daughters of Aaron,{{bibleverse|Luke|1:5|NRSV}} this would make John a descendant of Aaron on both his father's and mother's side.'Aaron', In: Mills, Watson E. (ed.) (1998) Mercer Dictionary of the Bible, Vol. 5, Macon GA: Mercer University Press, {{ISBN|0-86554-299-6}}; p. 1 On the basis of this account, the Catholic as well as the Anglican and Lutheran liturgical calendars placed the feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist on 24 June, six months before Christmas.{{cite book|last=Englebert|first=Omer|title=The Lives of the Saints|place=New York|publisher=Barnes & Noble|isbn=978-1-56619-516-4|year=1951|page=[https://archive.org/details/livesofsaintshis00omer/page/529 529]|url=https://archive.org/details/livesofsaintshis00omer/page/529}}

Elizabeth is described as a "relative" of Mary the mother of Jesus, in Luke 1:36.{{Bibleverse|Luke|1:36|NIV}} There is no mention of a family relationship between John and Jesus in the other Gospels, and Raymond E. Brown has described it as "of dubious historicity".Brown, Raymond Edward (1973), The Virginal Conception and Bodily Resurrection of Jesus, Paulist Press, p. 54 Géza Vermes has called it "artificial and undoubtedly Luke's creation".Vermes, Geza. The Nativity, p. 143. The many similarities between Luke's story of the birth of John and the Old Testament account of the birth of Samuel suggest that Luke's account of the annunciation and birth of Jesus are modeled on that of Samuel.Freed, Edwin D. (2001), The Stories of Jesus' Birth: a Critical Introduction, Continuum International, pp. 87–90.

Uniquely in the Gospel of Luke, John explicitly teaches charity, baptizes tax-collectors, and advises soldiers. He teaches his disciples to pray.{{bibleverse|Luke|11:1}} Frederic Farrar notes that John travels around the Jordan region to reach people, whereas in the accounts in the other gospels, the crowds come to him.Farrar, F. W. (1891), [https://biblehub.com/commentaries/cambridge/luke/3.htm Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges] on Luke 3, accessed on 1 April 2025

The text briefly mentions that John is imprisoned and later beheaded by Herod, but the Gospel of Luke lacks the story of a step-daughter stripping for Herod and requesting John's head.

The Book of Acts portrays some disciples of John becoming followers of Jesus,{{bibleverse|Acts|18:24–19:6|NRSV}} a development not reported by the gospels except for the early case of Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.{{bibleverse|John|1:35–42|NRSV}}

The fourth gospel describes John the Baptist as "a man sent from God" who "was not the light", but "came as a witness, to bear witness to the light, so that through him everyone might believe".{{bibleverse|John|1:6–8|NKJV}} John confirms that he is not the Christ nor Elijah nor 'the prophet' when asked by Jewish priests and Pharisees; instead, he described himself as the "voice of one crying in the wilderness".{{bibleverse|John|1:19–23|NKJV}}, compare {{bibleverse|Isaiah|40:3|NKJV}}

Upon literary analysis, it is clear that John is the "testifier and confessor par excellence", particularly when compared to figures like Nicodemus.{{citation|last=Vande Vrede|first=Keith|title=A Contrast Between Nicodemus and John the Baptist in the Gospel of John|volume=57|date=December 2014|pages=715–26|editor-last=Kostenberger|editor-first=Andreas|journal=Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society|issue=4|issn=0360-8808|editor-link=Andreas J. Köstenberger}}

File:Mathis Gothart Grünewald 024.jpg, detail of the Isenheim Altarpiece|upright]]

Jesus's baptism is implied but not depicted. Unlike the other gospels, it is John himself who testifies to seeing "the Spirit come down from heaven like a dove and rest on him". John explicitly announces that Jesus is the one "who baptizes with the Holy Spirit" and John even professes a "belief that he is the Son of God" and "the Lamb of God".

The Gospel of John reports that Jesus' disciples were baptizing and that a debate broke out between some of the disciples of John and another Jew about purification.{{bibleverse|John|3:22–36}} In this debate John argued that Jesus "must become greater," while he (John) "must become less."{{bibleverse|John|3:30}}Latin Vulgate:Ioannes|3:30|VULGATE|illum oportet crescere me autem minui

The Gospel of John then points out that Jesus' disciples were baptizing more people than John.{{bibleverse|John|4:2}} Later, the Gospel relates that Jesus regarded John as "a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light".{{bibleverse|John|5:35|ESV}}

All four Gospels start Jesus' ministry in association with the appearance of John the Baptist.{{cite book|author=Mark L. Strauss|title=Four Portraits, One Jesus, 2nd Edition: A Survey of Jesus and the Gospels|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VVyeDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT493|date=24 March 2020|publisher=Zondervan Academic|isbn=978-0-310-52868-5|pages=493–|access-date=13 November 2020|archive-date=26 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231026090922/https://books.google.com/books?id=VVyeDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT493#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}} Simon J. Joseph has argued that the Gospel demotes the historical John by depicting him only as a prophetic forerunner to Jesus whereas his ministry actually complemented Jesus'.{{cite book|author=Simon J. Joseph|title=Jesus, Q, and the Dead Sea Scrolls: A Judaic Approach to Q|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eskHkKgnxk8C&pg=PA130|year=2012|publisher=Mohr Siebeck|isbn=978-3-16-152120-1|pages=147–|access-date=21 February 2018|archive-date=26 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231026090930/https://books.google.com/books?id=eskHkKgnxk8C&pg=PA130#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}

Although the Gospel of Mark implies that the arrival of John the Baptist is the fulfilment of a prophecy from the Book of Isaiah, the words quoted ("I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way – a voice of one calling in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'") are actually a composite of texts from Isaiah, Malachi and the Book of Exodus. (Matthew and Luke drop the first part of the reference.)

File:Limestone panel with the figure of St Jogn (the Baptist) in relief. Early 17th c. (8384480270).jpg, Byzantine and Christian Museum, Greece]]

The gospels differ on the details of the Baptism. In Mark and Luke, Jesus himself sees the heavens open and hears a voice address him personally, saying, "You are my dearly loved son; you bring me great joy". They do not clarify whether others saw and heard these things. Although other incidents where the "voice came out of heaven" are recorded in which, for the sake of the crowds, it was heard audibly, John did say in his witness that he did see the spirit coming down "out of heaven" (John 12:28–30, John 1:32).

In Matthew, the voice from heaven does not address Jesus personally, saying instead "This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased."

In the Gospel of John, John the Baptist himself sees the spirit descend as a dove, testifying about the experience as evidence of Jesus's status.

John's knowledge of Jesus varies across gospels. In the Gospel of Mark, John preaches of a coming leader, but shows no signs of recognizing that Jesus is this leader. In Matthew, however, John immediately recognizes Jesus and John questions his own worthiness to baptize Jesus. In both Matthew and Luke, John later dispatches disciples to question Jesus about his status, asking "Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?" In Luke, John is a familial relative of Jesus whose birth was foretold by Gabriel. In the Gospel of John, John the Baptist himself sees the spirit descend like a dove and he explicitly preaches that Jesus is the Son of God.

{{see also|Matthew 3:4}}

The Gospels vary in their depiction of John's relationship to Elijah. Matthew and Mark describe John's attire in a way reminiscent of the description of Elijah in 2 Kings 1:8, who also wore a garment of hair and a leather belt. In Matthew, Jesus explicitly teaches that John is "Elijah who was to come" (Matthew 11:14 – see also Matthew 17:11–13); many Christian theologians have taken this to mean that John was Elijah's successor. In the Gospel of John, John the Baptist explicitly denies being Elijah. In the annunciation narrative in Luke, an angel appears to Zechariah, John's father, and tells him that John "will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God," and that he will go forth "in the spirit and power of Elijah."{{Bibleverse|Luke|1:16–17|NAB}}

{{John the Baptist narrative comparison}}

An account of John the Baptist is found in all extant manuscripts of the Antiquities of the Jews (book 18, chapter 5, 2) by Flavius Josephus (37–100):"Josephus, Flavius." In: Cross, F. L. (ed.) (2005) The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd ed. Oxford University Press

{{blockquote|Now some of the Jews thought that the destruction of Herod's [Antipas's] army came from God, and that very justly, as a punishment of what he did against John, that was called the Baptist: for Herod slew him, who was a good man, and commanded the Jews to exercise virtue, both as to righteousness towards one another, and piety towards God, and so to come to baptism; for that the washing [with water] would be acceptable to him, if they made use of it, not in order to the putting away [or the remission] of some sins [only], but for the purification of the body; supposing still that the soul was thoroughly purified beforehand by righteousness. Now when [many] others came in crowds about him, for they were very greatly moved [or pleased] by hearing his words, Herod, who feared lest the great influence John had over the people might put it into his power and inclination to raise a rebellion, (for they seemed ready to do any thing he should advise,) thought it best, by putting him to death, to prevent any mischief he might cause, and not bring himself into difficulties, by sparing a man who might make him repent of it when it would be too late. Accordingly he was sent a prisoner, out of Herod's suspicious temper, to Macherus, the castle I before mentioned, and was there put to death. Now the Jews had an opinion that the destruction of this army was sent as a punishment upon Herod, and a mark of God's displeasure to him.Flavius Josephus, [http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/ant-18.htm Jewish Antiquities 18. 5. 2.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000901024533/http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/ant-18.htm |date=1 September 2000 }} (Translation by William Whiston). [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0145%3Abook%3D18%3Awhiston+chapter%3D5%3Awhiston+section%3D2 Original Greek] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210901045622/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0145%3Abook%3D18%3Awhiston+chapter%3D5%3Awhiston+section%3D2 |date=1 September 2021 }}.}}

According to this passage, the execution of John was blamed for the defeat Herod suffered. Some have claimed that this passage indicates that John died near the time of the destruction of Herod's army in AD 36. However, in a different passage, Josephus states that the end of Herod's marriage with Aretas's daughter (after which John was killed) was only the beginning of hostilities between Herod and Aretas, which later escalated into the battle.{{cite book|last1=Hoehner|first1=Harold W.|title=Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ|page=101|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fS28b9GC1dcC&pg=PA101|isbn=9780310877103|date=10 August 2010|publisher=Zondervan Academic|access-date=18 June 2017|archive-date=26 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231026090936/https://books.google.com/books?id=fS28b9GC1dcC&pg=PA101#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}

Biblical scholar John Dominic Crossan differentiates between Josephus's account of John and Jesus, saying, "John had a monopoly, but Jesus had a franchise." To get baptized, Crossan writes, a person went only to John; to stop the movement one only needed to stop John (therefore his movement ended with his death). Jesus invited all to come and see how he and his companions had already accepted the government of God, entered it and were living it. Such a communal praxis was not just for himself, but could survive without him, unlike John's movement.Crossan, John Dominic (2007), God and Empire, London: HarperCollins, p. 117 ff

File:Nabi Yahya Mosque, Sebastia, c. 1920.jpg, traditionally held as the burial site of John the Baptist, in Sebastia, near Nablus]]

{{see also|Beheading of John the Baptist#Relics}}

Matthew 14:12 records that "his disciples came and took away [John's] body and buried it."{{bibleverse|Matthew|14:12|NKJV}} Theologian Joseph Benson refers to a belief that they managed to do so because "it seems that the body had been thrown over the prison walls, without burial, probably by order of Herodias."[http://biblehub.com/commentaries/benson/matthew/14.htm Benson's Commentary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170209194514/http://biblehub.com/commentaries/benson/matthew/14.htm |date=9 February 2017 }} on Matthew 14, accessed 17 January 2017

What became of the head of John the Baptist is difficult to determine. Ancient historians Josephus, NicephorusNicephorus, Ecclesiastical History I, ix. See Patrologia Graeca, cxlv.–cxlvii. and Symeon Metaphrastes assumed that Herodias had it buried in the fortress of Machaerus.

An Eastern Orthodox tradition holds that, after being buried, the head was discovered by John's followers and was taken to the Mount of Olives, where it was twice buried and discovered, the latter events giving rise to the Orthodox feast of the First and Second Finding of the Head of St. John the Baptist. Other writers say that it was interred in Herod's palace in Jerusalem; there it was found during the reign of Constantine, and thence secretly taken to Emesa (modern Homs, in Syria), where it was concealed, the place remaining unknown for years, until it was manifested by revelation in 452,{{Cite book|last1=Dumper|first1=Michael|last2=Stanley|first2=Bruce E.|last3=Abu-Lughod|first3=Janet L.|title=Cities of the Middle East and North Africa: A Historical Encyclopedia|page=172|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2007|isbn=978-1-57607-919-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3SapTk5iGDkC&q=First+crusade+emesa&pg=PA172|access-date=12 October 2020|archive-date=23 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923081049/https://books.google.com/books?id=3SapTk5iGDkC&q=First+crusade+emesa&pg=PA172|url-status=live}} an event celebrated in the Orthodox Church as the Third Finding.

An apocryphal tradition claims that after John's death, his mother Elizabeth was told by an angel to bury him where his father lay. She was then led by the angel to the temple in which John's father was killed by Herod I, at which point a voice called out, an earthquake rumbled, and thunder struck, and the altar of the temple opened, revealing Zechariah's body. Elizabeth then buried John's body under this altar.{{Cite book|title=Anecdota Graeco-Byzantina A. Vassiliev p.2-3}}

File:The shrine of John the Baptist, Damascus, April 2008.jpg, which purportedly houses John the Baptist's head]]

Two Catholic churches and one mosque claim to have the head of John the Baptist: the Umayyad Mosque, in Damascus (Syria); the church of San Silvestro in Capite, in Rome; and Amiens Cathedral, in France (the French king would have had it brought from the Holy Land after the Fourth Crusade). A fourth claim is made by the Residenz Museum in Munich, Germany, which keeps a reliquary containing what the Wittelsbach rulers of Bavaria believed to be the head of Saint John.{{Cite web|title=The Relics of Munich Residenz|url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-relics-of-munich-residenz|access-date=14 August 2021|website=Atlas Obscura|language=en|archive-date=5 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405092630/https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-relics-of-munich-residenz|url-status=live}}

According to the Christian Arab Ibn Butlan, the church of Cassian in Antioch held the right arm of John the Baptist until it was smuggled to Chalcedon and later to Constantinople.{{cite book |last1=Giorgi |first1=Andrea U. De |last2=Eger |first2=A. Asa |title=Antioch: A History |date=30 May 2021 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-54041-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hRgoEAAAQBAJ|page=251 |access-date=8 February 2024 |language=en}} An Orthodox Christian monastery in Cetinje, Montenegro, and the Catholic Cathedral of Siena, in Italy, both claim to have John the Baptist's right arm and hand, with which he baptised Jesus.{{Cite web |last=Hecker |first=Francesca |title=The Holy Finger at the Nelson-Atkins is an unusual piece of biblical history |url=https://www.columbiamissourian.com/special_section/tourism/kansas_city/the-holy-finger-at-the-nelson-atkins-is-an-unusual-piece-of-biblical-history/article_ebcf19d6-7b5b-11ea-98a9-d727ed4f4fe1.html |access-date=14 August 2021 |website=Columbia Missourian |date=21 May 2020 |language=en |archive-date=27 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210927061625/https://www.columbiamissourian.com/special_section/tourism/kansas_city/the-holy-finger-at-the-nelson-atkins-is-an-unusual-piece-of-biblical-history/article_ebcf19d6-7b5b-11ea-98a9-d727ed4f4fe1.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Hooper |first=Simon |date=30 August 2010 |title=Are these the bones of John the Baptist? |publisher=Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. |url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/08/12/bulgaria.john.baptist.relics/index.html |access-date=31 August 2011 |archive-date=2 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220702040705/http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/08/12/bulgaria.john.baptist.relics/index.html |url-status=live }} According to the Catholic account, in 1464 Pope Pius II donated what was identified as the right arm and hand of John the Baptist to the Siena Cathedral.{{Cite journal |last=Pula |first=Milena Joksimović |date=2017 |title=Pope Pius II's charter of donation of the arm of St John the Baptist to Siena cathedral |url=http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0350-1361/2017/0350-13611741095J.pdf |journal=Zograf |volume=41 |pages=95–105 |access-date=2 May 2022 |archive-date=23 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220423212146/http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0350-1361/2017/0350-13611741095J.pdf |url-status=live }} The donation charter identifies the relic as "the arm of blessed John the Baptist. And this is the very arm that baptized the Lord." The relic is displayed on the high altar of the Siena Cathedral annually in June.

Topkapi Palace, in Istanbul, claims to have John's right hand index finger.

File:Armenian Chinsurah 2.jpg Armenian kisses the hand of St John the Baptist at Chinsurah.]]

John the Baptist's right hand is allegedly preserved in the Armenian Apostolic Church of St. John at Chinsurah, West Bengal, in India, where each year on "Chinsurah Day" in January it blesses the Armenian Christians of Calcutta.

The decapitation cloth of Saint John, the cloth which covered his head after his execution, is said to be kept at the Aachen Cathedral, in Germany.{{Cite web|title=The relics {{!}} Heiligtumsfahrt 2021|url=https://heiligtumsfahrt-aachen.de/en/the-aachen-pilgrimage/the-relics/|access-date=14 August 2021|website=heiligtumsfahrt-aachen.de|archive-date=14 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814205658/https://heiligtumsfahrt-aachen.de/en/the-aachen-pilgrimage/the-relics/|url-status=dead}}

File:Surp Garabed Vank (Hampikian, 1923).jpg, where Armenian tradition holds that his remains were laid to rest by Gregory the Illuminator{{cite book|last1=Kharatyan|first1=Lusine|url=http://www.anadolukultur.org/images/UserFiles/Documents/Editor/Moush_Sweet_Moush.pdf|title=Moush, sweet Moush: Mapping Memories from Armenia and Turkey|last2=Keskin|first2=Ismail|last3=Keshishyan|first3=Avetis|last4=Ozturk|first4=S. Aykut|last5=Khachatryan|first5=Nane|last6=Albayrak|first6=Nihal|last7=Hakobyan|first7=Karen|date=2013|publisher=The Institute for International Cooperation of the German Adult Education Association (dvv international)|isbn=978-3-942755-12-2|page=69|quote=The Saint Karapet Monastery is one of the oldest Armenian monasteries in Moush Valley, dating back to the 4th century when Gregory the Illuminator, founder of the Armenian Apostolic Church, is believed to have buried the relics of Saint John the Baptist (Karapet) here.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150103033505/http://www.anadolukultur.org/images/UserFiles/Documents/Editor/Moush_Sweet_Moush.pdf|archive-date=3 January 2015}}{{cite book|last=Avetisyan|first=Kamsar|url=http://armenianhouse.org/avetisyan/taron.html|title=Հայրենագիտական էտյուդներ [Armenian studies sketches]|publisher=Sovetakan Grogh|year=1979|location=Yerevan|page=204|language=hy|contribution=Տարոնի պատմական հուշարձանները [Historical monuments of Taron]|quote=...ըստ ավանդության, Գրիգոր Լուսավորիչը ամփոփել է ս. Կարապետի և Աթանագինե եպիսկոպոսի նշխարները։|author-link=:hy:Կամսար Ավետիսյան|access-date=25 October 2014|archive-date=7 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141107092712/http://armenianhouse.org/avetisyan/taron.html|url-status=live}}]]

According to Armenian tradition, the remains of John the Baptist would in some point have been transferred by Gregory the Illuminator to the Saint Karapet Armenian Monastery.

In 2010, bones were discovered in the ruins of a Bulgarian church in the St. John the Forerunner Monastery (4th–17th centuries) on the Black Sea island of Sveti Ivan (Saint John) and two years later, after DNA and radio carbon testing proved the bones belonged to a Middle Eastern man who lived in the 1st century AD, scientists said that the remains could conceivably have belonged to John the Baptist.{{cite magazine| title=John the Baptist's Bones Found?| author=Ker Than| magazine=National Geographic| url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/06/120618-john-the-baptist-bones-jesus-christ-bible-bulgaria-science-higham/| date=19 June 2012| access-date=19 September 2012| archive-date=27 July 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727061044/https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/06/120618-john-the-baptist-bones-jesus-christ-bible-bulgaria-science-higham/| url-status=dead}}Moss, Candida. [http://candidamoss.com/national-geographic-search-for-the-head-of-john-the-baptist/ National Geographic: Search for the Head of John the Baptist.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140926150147/http://candidamoss.com/national-geographic-search-for-the-head-of-john-the-baptist/ |date=26 September 2014 }} 19 April 2014. The remains, found in a reliquarium, are presently kept in the Sts. Cyril and Methodius Cathedral in Sozopol.[http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=132804 Old Town Sozopol – Bulgaria's 'Rescued' Miracle and Its Modern Day Saviors.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220907142850/https://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=132804 |date=7 September 2022 }} Sofia News Agency, 10 October 2011.

File:St John the Baptists tomb.JPG monastery in Lower Egypt. The bones of Saint John the Baptist were said to have been found here.]]

The Coptic Orthodox Church also have claimed to hold the relics of Saint John the Baptist. A crypt and relics said to be John's and mentioned in 11th- and 16th-century manuscripts, were discovered in 1969 during restoration of the Church of St. Macarius at the Monastery of Saint Macarius the Great in Scetes, Egypt.{{cite web|url=http://www.stmacariusmonastery.org/eabout.htm|title=The Monastery of St. Macarius the Great|publisher=Stmacariusmonastery.org|access-date=14 February 2010|archive-date=9 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709120739/http://www.stmacariusmonastery.org/eabout.htm|url-status=dead}}

Additional relics are claimed to reside in Gandzasar Monastery's Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, in Nagorno-Karabakh.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

The bone of one of John the Baptist's left fingers is said to be at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri. It is held in a Gothic-style monstrance made of gilded silver that dates back to 14th century Lower Saxony.{{Cite web|title=Monstrance|url=https://art.nelson-atkins.org/objects/10809/monstrance;jsessionid=B81F0798B585C21F5C8711729BD29C6E|access-date=30 November 2020|website=art.nelson-atkins.org|language=en|archive-date=4 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220404150711/https://art.nelson-atkins.org/objects/10809/monstrance;jsessionid=B81F0798B585C21F5C8711729BD29C6E|url-status=live}}

Another obscure claim relates to the town of Halifax in West Yorkshire, United Kingdom, where, as patron saint of the town, John the Baptist's head appears on the official coat-of-arms.{{cite web |url=http://www.ngw.nl/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Halifax_(Yorkshire) |title=Heraldry of the World; Civic heraldry of the United Kingdom; Halifax (Yorkshire) |publisher=Ralf Hartemink |access-date=6 February 2017 |archive-date=17 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217065650/http://www.ngw.nl/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Halifax_(Yorkshire) |url-status=live }} One legend (among others) bases the etymology of the town's place-name on "halig" (holy) and "fax" (hair), claiming that a relic of the head, or face, of John the Baptist once existed in the town.{{Cite web|url=http://imbolcfire.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/holy-face-of-halifax.html|title=The Holy Face of Halifax|last=Roberts|first=Kai|date=19 June 2010|website=Omnia Exeunt in Mysterium|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160215165559/http://imbolcfire.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/holy-face-of-halifax.html|archive-date=15 February 2016|url-status=live|access-date=16 February 2017}}

The Gospels describe John the Baptist as having had a specific role ordained by God as forerunner or precursor of Jesus, who was the foretold Messiah. The New Testament Gospels speak of this role. In Luke 1:17 the role of John is referred to as being "to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."{{bibleverse|Luke|1:17}} In Luke 1:76 as "thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways"{{bibleverse|Luke|1:76}} and in Luke 1:77 as being "To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins."{{bibleverse|Luke|1:77}}

There are several passages within the Old Testament which are interpreted by Christians as being prophetic of John the Baptist in this role. These include a passage in the Book of Malachi that refers to a prophet who would "prepare the way of the Lord":

{{blockquote|Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the {{LORD}} of hosts.|Malachi 3:1{{bibleverse|Malachi|3:1|NRSV}}}}

Also at the end of the next chapter in Malachi 4:5–6 it says,

{{blockquote|Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the {{LORD}}: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.}}

The Jews of Jesus' day expected Elijah to come before the Messiah; indeed, some present day Jews continue to await Elijah's coming as well, as in the Cup of Elijah the Prophet in the Passover Seder. This is why the disciples ask Jesus in Matthew 17:10, "Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?"{{bibleverse|Matthew|17:10}} The disciples are then told by Jesus that Elijah came in the person of John the Baptist,

{{blockquote|Jesus replied, "To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands." Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.|Matthew 17:11–13 (see also 11:14: "...if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who was to come.")}}

These passages are applied to John in the Synoptic Gospels.{{bibleverse|Matthew|3:3}}

{{bibleverse|Mark|1:2–3}}{{bibleverse|Luke|1:16–17}} But where Matthew specifically identifies John the Baptist as Elijah's spiritual successor,{{bibleverse|Matthew 11.14, 17.13|multi=yes}} the gospels of Mark and Luke are silent on the matter. The Gospel of John states that John the Baptist denied that he was Elijah.

{{blockquote|Now this was John's testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. He did not deny, but confessed freely, "I am not the Christ." They asked him, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No."|John 1:19–21}}

Many scholars believe there was contact between the early church in the Apostolic Age and what is called the "Qumran-Essene community".{{Cite encyclopedia| publisher = Oxford University Press| isbn = 978-0-19-508450-4| title = Paul, Letters of| encyclopedia = Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls| date = 2008| doi = 10.1093/acref/9780195084504.001.0001| editor1-last = Schiffman| editor1-first = Lawrence H| editor2-last = Vanderkam| editor2-first = James C}}{{subscription required|OUP}} The Dead Sea Scrolls were found at Qumran, which the majority of historians and archaeologists identify as an Essene settlement.{{Cite encyclopedia| publisher = Oxford University Press| isbn = 978-0-19-506512-1| title = Essenes | encyclopedia = The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East| date = 2011| doi = 10.1093/acref/9780195065121.001.0001}}{{subscription required|OUP}} John the Baptist is thought to have been either an Essene or "associated" with the community at Khirbet Qumran. According to the Book of Acts, Paul met some "disciples of John" in Ephesus.{{bibleverse|Acts|19:1–7|NRSV}}

File:Cappella tornabuoni, 12, Nascita di san giovanni battista.jpg in Florence]]

The Catholic Church commemorates Saint John the Baptist on two feast days:

• 24 June – Nativity of Saint John the Baptist
• 29 August – Beheading of Saint John the Baptist

According to Frederick Holweck, at the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to his mother Elizabeth, as recounted in Luke 1:39–57, John, sensing the presence of his Jesus, upon the arrival of Mary, leaped in the womb of his mother; he was then cleansed from original sin and filled with the grace of God.{{citation-attribution|1=[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15480a.htm Holweck, Frederick. "Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 23 December 2018}} In her Treatise of Prayer, Saint Catherine of Siena includes a brief altercation with the Devil regarding her fight due to the Devil attempting to lure her with vanity and flattery. Speaking in the first person, Catherine responds to the Devil with the following words:

{{blockquote|[...] humiliation of yourself, and you answered the Devil with these words: "Wretch that I am! John the Baptist never sinned and was sanctified in his mother's womb. And I have committed so many sins [...]"|Catherine of Siena, A Treatise of Prayer, 1370.[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/catherine/dialog.iv.iv.ii.html Treatise of Prayer] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123154819/https://www.ccel.org/ccel/catherine/dialog.iv.iv.ii.html |date=23 January 2022 }}. Retrieved 15 January 2012.[http://www.catholictreasury.info/books/dialogue/diag51.php The Dialogue of Saint Catherine of Siena] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408164219/http://www.catholictreasury.info/books/dialogue/diag51.php |date=8 April 2022 }}. Retrieved 15 January 2012|title=|source=}}

====Eastern Christianity====

File:Meister von Gracanica (I) 001.jpg fresco from Gračanica Monastery, Kosovo, {{c.|1235}}]]

The Eastern Catholic Churches and Eastern Orthodox faith believe that John was the last of the Old Testament prophets, thus serving as a bridge between that period of revelation and the New Covenant. They also teach that, following his death, John descended into Hades and there once more preached that Jesus the Messiah was coming, so he was the Forerunner of Christ in death as he had been in life. Eastern Catholic and Orthodox churches will often have an icon of Saint John the Baptist in a place of honor on the iconostasis, and he is frequently mentioned during the Divine Services. Every Tuesday throughout the year is dedicated to his memory.

The Eastern Orthodox Church remembers Saint John the Forerunner on six separate feast days, listed here in order in which they occur during the church year (which begins on 1 September):

• 23 September – {{interlanguage link|Conception of the Honorable Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John|ru|Зачатие Иоанна Предтечи}}In late antiquity this feast in some churches marked the beginning of the Ecclesiastical Year; see Archbishop Peter (L'Huiller) of New York and New Jersey, "[http://www.orthodoxresearchinstitute.org/articles/liturgics/peter_archbishop_liturgical_matters.htm Liturgical Matters: "The Lukan Jump"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630055836/http://www.orthodoxresearchinstitute.org/articles/liturgics/peter_archbishop_liturgical_matters.htm |date=30 June 2017 }}", in: Newspaper of the Diocese of New York and New Jersey, Fall 1992.{{Cite web |title=Conception of the Honorable Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John |url=https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2024/09/23/102703-conception-of-the-honorable-glorious-prophet-forerunner-and-bapt |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240809150014/https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2024/09/23/102703-conception-of-the-honorable-glorious-prophet-forerunner-and-bapt |archive-date=9 August 2024 |access-date=7 September 2024 |website=OCA}}
• 12 October – Translation from Malta to Gatchina: of a Particle of the Life Giving Cross, the Filersk Icon of the Mother of God, and the relic of the {{Interlanguage link|Right Hand of John the Baptist|ru|Десница Иоанна Крестителя}}{{Cite web |title=Translation from Malta to Gatchina: of a Particle of the Life Giving Cross, the Filersk Icon of the Mother of God, and the relic of the Right Hand of John the Baptist |url=https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2024/10/12/102950-translation-from-malta-to-gatchina-of-a-particle-of-the-life-giv |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240809150011/https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2024/10/12/102950-translation-from-malta-to-gatchina-of-a-particle-of-the-life-giv |archive-date=9 August 2024 |access-date=7 September 2024 |website=OCA}}
• 7 January – {{Interlanguage link|Synaxis of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John|ru|Собор Иоанна Предтечи}}. This is John the Baptist's main feast day, immediately after Theophany on 6 January (7 January also commemorates the transfer of the relic of the right hand of John the Baptist from Antioch to Constantinople in 956){{Cite web |title=Synaxis of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John |url=https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2024/01/07/100109-synaxis-of-the-holy-glorious-prophet-forerunner-and-baptist-john |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240806164422/https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2024/01/07/100109-synaxis-of-the-holy-glorious-prophet-forerunner-and-baptist-john |archive-date=6 August 2024 |access-date=7 September 2024 |website=OCA}}

January 20 In the Serbian Orthodox Church, the feast day of Saint John the Baptist is called "Jovanjdan" and is celebrated on January 20 (according to the Gregorian calendar).

Key points about Jovanjdan:

Name: "Jovanjdan" directly translates to "John's Day" in Serbian.

Significance: This is a major feast day for Serbian Orthodox Christians, often considered a family "Slava" (patron saint day) where families celebrate with a special feast.

Calendar note: While the Gregorian calendar date is January 20, the Serbian Orthodox Church uses the Julian calendar, which can result in a slightly different date.

• 24 February – {{Interlanguage link|First and second finding of the Honorable Head of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist of the Lord, John|ru|Обретение главы Иоанна Предтечи}}{{Cite web |title=First and second finding of the Honorable Head of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist of the Lord, John |url=https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2024/02/24/100603-first-and-second-finding-of-the-honorable-head-of-the-holy-glori |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240809150013/https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2024/02/24/100603-first-and-second-finding-of-the-honorable-head-of-the-holy-glori |archive-date=9 August 2024 |access-date=7 September 2024 |website=OCA}}
• 25 May – {{Interlanguage link|Third Finding of the Honorable Head of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John|ru|Обретение главы Иоанна Предтечи}}{{Cite web |title=Third Finding of the Honorable Head of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John |url=https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2024/05/25/101531-third-finding-of-the-honorable-head-of-the-holy-glorious-prophet |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240809150014/https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2024/05/25/101531-third-finding-of-the-honorable-head-of-the-holy-glorious-prophet |archive-date=9 August 2024 |access-date=7 September 2024 |website=OCA}}
• 24 June – Nativity of Saint John the Forerunner{{Cite web |title=Nativity of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist, John |url=https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2024/06/24/101800-nativity-of-the-holy-glorious-prophet-forerunner-and-baptist-joh |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240809150014/https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2024/06/24/101800-nativity-of-the-holy-glorious-prophet-forerunner-and-baptist-joh |archive-date=9 August 2024 |access-date=7 September 2024 |website=OCA}}
• 29 August – The Beheading of Saint John the Forerunner, a day of strict fast and abstinence from meat and dairy products and foods containing meat or dairy products.{{Cite web |title=The Beheading of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist John |url=https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2024/08/29/102419-the-beheading-of-the-holy-glorious-prophet-forerunner-and-baptis |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240809150014/https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2024/08/29/102419-the-beheading-of-the-holy-glorious-prophet-forerunner-and-baptis |archive-date=9 August 2024 |access-date=7 September 2024 |website=OCA}}

In addition to the above, 5 September is the commemoration of Zacharias and Elizabeth, Saint John's parents.

The Russian Orthodox Church observes 12 October as the Transfer of the Right Hand of the Forerunner from Malta to Gatchina (1799).

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that modern revelation confirms the biblical account of John and also makes known additional events in his ministry. According to this belief, John was "ordained by the angel of God" when he was eight days old "to overthrow the kingdom of the Jews" and to prepare a people for the Lord. Latter-day Saints also believe that "he was baptized while yet in his childhood."{{cite web|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/84?lang=eng|title=Doctrine and Covenants 84:27–28|publisher=churchofjesuschrist.org|access-date=14 February 2010|archive-date=20 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190620141649/https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/84?lang=eng|url-status=live}}

Joseph Smith said: "Let us come into New Testament times – so many are ever praising the Lord and His apostles. We will commence with John the Baptist. When Herod's edict went forth to destroy the young children, John was about six months older than Jesus, and came under this hellish edict, and Zecharias caused his mother to take him into the mountains, where he was raised on locusts and wild honey. When his father refused to disclose his hiding place, and being the officiating high priest at the Temple that year, was slain by Herod's order, between the porch and the altar, as Jesus said."{{cite web |url=http://www.boap.org/LDS/Joseph-Smith/Teachings/T5.html |title=Section Five: 1842–1843 |access-date=15 May 2014 |archive-date=10 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210610161206/http://www.boap.org/LDS/Joseph-Smith/Teachings/T5.html |url-status=dead }}{{sourcetext|source=Teaching of The Prophet Joseph Smith Section Five 1842–43, p. 261}}

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints teaches that John the Baptist appeared on the banks of the Susquehanna River near Harmony Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, as a resurrected being to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery on 15 May 1829, and ordained them to the Aaronic priesthood.[D&C 13]; D&C 27:7–8Joseph Smith History 1:68–72 According to the Church's dispensational view of religious history, John's ministry has operated in three dispensations: he was the last of the prophets under the law of Moses; he was the first of the New Testament prophets; and he was sent to restore the Aaronic priesthood in our day (the dispensation of the fulness of times). Latter-day Saints believe John's ministry was foretold by two prophets whose teachings are included in the Book of Mormon: Lehi{{sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|version=1981|book=1 Nephi|chapter=10|verse=7|range=–10}} and his son Nephi.{{sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|version=1981|book=1 Nephi|chapter=11|verse=27}}{{sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|version=1981|book=2 Nephi|chapter=31|verse=4|range=–18}}

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,{{bibleverse|John|1:21|NKJV}} contradicting Jesus who stated John is Elijah who was to come.{{bibleverse|Matthew|11:14|NKJV}} 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.{{bibleverse|Malachi|4:5|NKJV}} 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."{{bibleverse|Matthew|11:11|NKJV}} 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.{{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 }}{{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}}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 }}

Among the early Judeo-Christian Gnostics the Ebionites held that John, along with Jesus and James the Just – all of whom they revered – were vegetarians.J Verheyden, Epiphanius on the Ebionites, in The image of the Judaeo-Christians in ancient Jewish and Christian literature, eds Peter J. Tomson, Doris Lambers-Petry, {{ISBN|3-16-148094-5}}, p. 188 "The vegetarianism of John the Baptist and of Jesus is an important issue too in the Ebionite interpretation of the Christian life. "Robert Eisenman (1997), James the Brother of Jesus, p. 240 – "John (unlike Jesus) was both a 'Rechabite' or 'Nazarite' and vegetarian", p. 264 – "One suggestion is that John ate 'carobs'; there have been others. Epiphanius, in preserving what he calls 'the Ebionite Gospel', rails against the passage there claiming that John ate 'wild honey' and 'manna-like vegetarian cakes dipped in oil. ... John would have been one of those wilderness-dwelling, vegetable-eating persons", p. 326 – "They [the Nazerini] ate nothing but wild fruit milk and honey – probably the same food that John the Baptist also ate.", p. 367 – "We have already seen how in some traditions 'carobs' were said to have been the true composition of John's food.", p. 403 – "his [John's] diet was stems, roots and fruits. Like James and the other Nazirites/Rechabites, he is presented as a vegetarian".James Tabor, The Jesus Dynasty p. 134 and footnotes p. 335, p. 134 – "The Greek New Testament gospels says John's diet consisted of "locusts and wild honey" but an ancient Hebrew version of Matthew insists that "locusts" is a mistake in Greek for a related Hebrew word that means a cake of some type, made from a desert plant, similar to the "manna" that the ancient Israelites ate in the desert on the days of Moses.(ref 9) Jesus describes John as "neither eating nor drinking," or "neither eating bread nor drinking wine." Such phrases indicate the lifestyle of one who is strictly vegetarian, avoids even bread since it has to be processed from grain, and shuns all alcohol.(ref 10) The idea is that one would eat only what grows naturally.(ref 11) It was a way of avoiding all refinements of civilization."{{Cite book|author=Bart D. Ehrman|title=Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew|pages=[https://archive.org/details/lostchristianiti00ehrm/page/102 102, 103]|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2003|isbn=978-0-19-514183-2|url=https://archive.org/details/lostchristianiti00ehrm/page/102}} p. 102 – "Probably the most interesting of the changes from the familiar New Testament accounts of Jesus comes in the Gospel of the Ebionites description of John the Baptist, who, evidently, like his successor Jesus, maintained a strictly vegetarian cuisine."James A. Kelhoffer, [https://books.google.com/books?id=uzTcB8yMnrcC&q=The+diet+of+John+the+Baptist:+%22Locusts+and+wild+honey%22+in+synoptic+and+patristic+interpretation The Diet of John the Baptist] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406111305/https://books.google.com/books?id=uzTcB8yMnrcC&q=The+diet+of+John+the+Baptist:+%22Locusts+and+wild+honey%22+in+synoptic+and+patristic+interpretation |date=6 April 2023 }}, {{ISBN|978-3-16-148460-5}}, pp. 19–21{{cite book|author=G.R.S. Mead|title=Gnostic John the Baptizer: Selections from the Mandæan John-Book|page=104|publisher=Forgotten Books|year=2007|isbn=978-1-60506-210-5|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/gno/gjb/gjb-3.htm|access-date=17 April 2011|archive-date=13 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200313222252/http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/gno/gjb/gjb-3.htm|url-status=live}} p. 104 – "And when he had been brought to Archelaus and the doctors of the Law had assembled, they asked him who he is and where he has been until then. And to this he made answer and spake: I am pure; [for] the Spirit of God hath led me on, and [I live on] cane and roots and tree-food." Epiphanius of Salamis records that this group had amended their Gospel of Matthew – known today as the Gospel of the Ebionites – to change where John eats "locusts" to read "honey cakes" or "manna".Tabor (2006) Jesus Dynasty p. 334 (note 9) – "The Gospel of the Ebionites as quoted by the 4th-century writer Epiphanius. The Greek word for locusts (akris) is very similar to the Greek word for "honey cake" (ekris) that is used for the "manna" that the Israelites ate in the desert in the days of Moses (Exodus 16:32)" & p. 335 (note 11) – "There is an old Russian (Slavic) version of Josephus's Antiquities that describes John the Baptizer as living on 'roots and fruits of the tree' and insists that he never touches bread, even at Passover."{{Cite book|author=Bart D. Ehrman|title=Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It into the New Testament|page=[https://archive.org/details/lostscripturesbo00ehrm/page/13 13]|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2003|isbn=978-0-19-514182-5|url=https://archive.org/details/lostscripturesbo00ehrm/page/13}} p. 13 – Referring to Epiphanius' quotation from the Gospel of the Ebionites in Panarion 30.13, "And his food, it says, was wild honey whose taste was of manna, as cake in oil".

{{Mandaeism}}

John the Baptist, or Yuhana Maṣbana ({{langx|myz|ࡉࡅࡄࡀࡍࡀ ࡌࡀࡑࡁࡀࡍࡀ|lit=John the Baptizer}} {{transliteration|myz|Iuhana Maṣbana}}){{cite book |url=https://livingwaterbooks.com.au/product/ginza-rba/ |last1=Gelbert |first1=Carlos |title=Ginza Rba |year=2011 |publisher=Living Water Books |location=Sydney |isbn=9780958034630 |access-date=17 February 2022 |archive-date=16 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220316031021/https://livingwaterbooks.com.au/product/ginza-rba/ |url-status=live }} is considered the greatest prophet of the Mandaeans. Mandaeans also refer to him as {{transliteration|myz|Yuhana bar Zakria}} (John, son of Zechariah). He plays a large part in their religious texts such as the Ginza Rabba and the Mandaean Book of John.Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press 2005 {{ISBN|978-0-19-280290-3}}), article Mandaeans Mandaeans believe that they descend directly from John's original disciples{{cite book|last=Drower|first=Ethel Stefana|title=The Haran Gawaita and the Baptism of Hibil-Ziwa|publisher=Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana|year=1953}} but they do not believe that their religion began with John, tracing their beliefs back to their first prophet Adam.Drower, Ethel Stefana. 2002. The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran: Their Cults, Customs, Magic Legends, and Folklore (reprint). Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press.{{rp|3}} According to Mandaeism, John was a great teacher, a Nasoraean and renewer of the faith.{{rp|24}}Drower. P3Willis Barnstone, Marvin Meyer The Gnostic Bible: Revised and Expanded Edition Shambhala Publications 2009 {{ISBN|978-0-834-82414-0}} p. 550 John is a messenger of Light ({{transliteration|myz|nhura}}) and Truth ({{transliteration|myz|kushta}}) who possessed the power of healing and full Gnosis ({{transliteration|myz|manda}}).{{cite web|author=Brikhah S. Nasoraia|title=Sacred Text and Esoteric Praxis in Sabian Mandaean Religion|year=2012|url=http://isamveri.org/pdfdrg/D201813/2012_I/2012_I_NASORAIAB.pdf|access-date=4 March 2022|archive-date=9 October 2022|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://isamveri.org/pdfdrg/D201813/2012_I/2012_I_NASORAIAB.pdf|url-status=live}}{{rp|48}} Mandaean texts make it abundantly clear that early Mandaeans were extremely loyal to John and viewed him as a prophetic reformer of the ancient Mandaean/Israelite tradition.Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2010). Turning the Tables on Jesus: The Mandaean View. In {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ncuQxl5Ate0C&dq=buckley+mandaean+turning+the+table+on+jesus&pg=PA109|title=Christian Origins|isbn=9781451416640|last1=Horsley|first1=Richard|date=March 2010|publisher=Fortress Press|access-date=31 March 2022|archive-date=26 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231026090924/https://books.google.com/books?id=ncuQxl5Ate0C&dq=buckley+mandaean+turning+the+table+on+jesus&pg=PA109#v=onepage&q=buckley%20mandaean%20turning%20the%20table%20on%20jesus&f=false|url-status=live}}(pp94-111). Minneapolis: Fortress Press{{rp|108}} Scholars such as Rudolf Macúch, E. S. Drower, Jorunn J. Buckley, and Şinasi Gündüz believe that the Mandaeans likely have a historical connection with John's original disciples.{{Cite web|url=https://www.academia.edu/26661213|title=Comparative Studies in Mandaean History and Theology|first=Samuel|last=Zinner|via=www.academia.edu|access-date=8 September 2021|archive-date=21 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211121014745/https://www.academia.edu/26661213|url-status=live}}{{Cite book | last =Drower | first =Ethel Stephana | author-link =E. S. Drower | date =1960 | title =The secret Adam, a study of Nasoraean gnosis | location =London | publisher =Clarendon Press | page =xvi | no-pp =true| url=http://holybooks.lichtenbergpress.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Secret-Adam-A-Study-of-Nasoraen-Gnosis.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140306132110/http://holybooks.lichtenbergpress.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Secret-Adam-A-Study-of-Nasoraen-Gnosis.pdf|archive-date=6 March 2014|url-status=live}}, p. xiv.{{cite journal|title=The Knowledge of Life: The Origins and Early History of the Mandaeans and Their Relation to the Sabians of the Qur'ān and to the Harranians|first=Şinasi|last=Gündüz|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=1994|issn=0022-4480|isbn=0-19-922193-6|journal=Journal of Semitic Studies Supplement|volume=3}}Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2002), The Mandaeans: ancient texts and modern people (PDF), Oxford University Press, ISBN 9780195153859 Mandaeans believe that John was married, with his wife named Anhar, and had children.Smith, Andrew Phillip. John the Baptist and the Last Gnostics: the Secret History of the Mandaeans. Watkins, 2016.(p155){{cite book|last=Nasoraia|first=Brikha H.S.|author-link=Brikha Nasoraia|title=The Mandaean gnostic religion: worship practice and deep thought|publisher=Sterling|publication-place=New Delhi|year=2021|isbn=978-81-950824-1-4|oclc=1272858968}}

Enišbai (Elizabeth) is mentioned as the mother of John the Baptist in chapters 18, 21, and 32 of the Mandaean Book of John.{{citation |mode=cs1 |url=http://www.gnosis.org/library/The_Mandaean_Book_of_John_Open_Access_Ve.pdf |first1=Charles G. |last1=Häberl |author-link1=Charles G. Häberl |first2=James F. |last2=McGrath |author-link2=James F. McGrath |date=2019 |title=The Mandaean Book of John: Text and Translation |version=Open Access Version |publisher=De Gruyter |place=Berlin/Boston |access-date=17 February 2022 |archive-date=9 October 2022 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.gnosis.org/library/The_Mandaean_Book_of_John_Open_Access_Ve.pdf |url-status=live }}{{cite book|last1=Gelbert|first1=Carlos|url=https://livingwaterbooks.com.au/product/john-the-baptist/|title=The Teachings of the Mandaean John the Baptist|isbn=9780958034678|location=Fairfield, NSW, Australia|publisher=Living Water Books|year=2017|oclc=1000148487|access-date=17 February 2022|archive-date=5 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220305010539/https://livingwaterbooks.com.au/product/john-the-baptist/|url-status=live}}

{{Main|John the Baptist in Islam}}

In Islam, John the Baptist is known as Yaḥyā ibn Zakariyā ({{langx|ar|يحيى بن زكريا}}){{cite web|title=Prophet John|url=http://www.islam101.com/history/people/prophets/john.htm|access-date=12 June 2012|archive-date=10 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120710095818/http://www.islam101.com/history/people/prophets/john.htm|url-status=dead}} and considered the maternal cousin of Jesus{{Cite book |last=Al-Bukhari |first=Muhammad |title=Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 4 |date=July 1997 |publisher=Darussalam |isbn=9960-717-35-6 |pages=401}} as well as a prophet. He is also believed by Muslims to have been a witness to the word of God who would herald the coming of Jesus."Yahya", Encyclopedia of Islam His father Zechariah was also an Islamic prophet. Islamic tradition maintains that John met Muhammad on the night of the Mi'raj, along with Jesus in the second heaven.Ibn Ishaq, Sirat Rasul Allah, Mi'raj John's story was also told to the Abyssinian king during the Muslim refugees' Migration to Abyssinia.Muhammad, Martin Lings, Abyssinia. etc. According to the Quran, John was one on whom God sent peace on the day that he was born and the day that he died.{{qref|19|13-15|b=y}}

The Quran claims that John the Baptist was the first to receive this name ({{qref|19|7-10|b=y}}) but since the name Yoḥanan occurs many times before John the Baptist,A. Geiger, Judaism And Islam (English translation of Was hat Mohammed aus dem Judenthume aufgenommen?), 1970, Ktav Publishing House Inc.: New York, p. 19. this verse is referring either to Islamic scholar consensus that "Yaḥyā" is not the same name as "Yoḥanan"{{cite web |url=http://www.islamic-awareness.org/Quran/Contrad/External/yahya.html |title=And No One Had The Name Yahya (= John?) Before: A Linguistic & Exegetical Enquiry Into Qur'an 19:7 |publisher=Islamic-awareness.org |access-date=20 October 2012 |archive-date=17 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220817034242/https://www.islamic-awareness.org/quran/contrad/external/yahya.html |url-status=live }} or to the Biblical account of the miraculous naming of John, which accounted that he was almost named "Zacharias" (Greek: {{Lang|grc|Ζαχαρίας}})Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη (1894 Scrivener NT). {{bibleverse|Luke 1:59, 1:5|multi=yes}}, et al. https://biblia.com/books/tr1894mr/Lk1?embeddedPreview=False {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210806100705/https://biblia.com/books/tr1894mr/Lk1?embeddedPreview=False |date=6 August 2021 }} after his father's name, as no one in the lineage of his father Zacharias (also known as Zechariah) had been named "John" ("Yohanan"/"Yoannes") before him.Bible {{Bibleverse|Luke|1:59–1:63|KJV}}

In the Quran, God frequently mentions Zechariah's continuous praying for the birth of a son. Zechariah's wife, mentioned in the New Testament as Elizabeth ({{Langx|ar|إيشاع}}) was barren and therefore the birth of a child seemed impossible.Lives of the Prophets, Leila Azzam, John and Zechariah As a gift from God, Zechariah ({{Langx|ar|زكريَا}}) was given a son by the name of "Yaḥya" or "John", a name specially chosen for this child alone. In accordance with Zechariah's prayer, God made John and Jesus, who according to exegesis was born six months later,A–Z of Prophets in Islam and Judaism, B. M. Wheeler, John the Baptist renew the message of God, which had been corrupted and lost by the Israelites. The Quran says:

{{Blockquote|˹The angels announced,˺ "O Zachariah! Indeed, We give you the good news of ˹the birth of˺ a son, whose name will be John—a name We have not given to anyone before."

He wondered, "My Lord! How can I have a son when my wife is barren, and I have become extremely old?"

An angel replied, "So will it be! Your Lord says, 'It is easy for Me, just as I created you before, when you were nothing!'"

Zachariah said, "My Lord! Grant me a sign." He responded, "Your sign is that you will not ˹be able to˺ speak to people for three nights, despite being healthy."|{{qref|19|7-10|c=y}}}}

According to the Quran, John was exhorted to hold fast to the Scripture and was given wisdom by God while still a child.{{qref|19|12|b=y}} He was pure and devout, and walked well in the presence of God. He was dutiful towards his parents and he was not arrogant or rebellious. John's reading and understanding of the scriptures, when only a child, surpassed even that of the greatest scholars of the time. Muslim exegesis narrates that Jesus sent John out with twelve disciples,Tabari, i, 712 who preached the message before Jesus called his own disciples. The Quran says:

{{blockquote|˹It was later said,˺ "O John! Hold firmly to the Scriptures." And We granted him wisdom while ˹he was still˺ a child,|{{qref|19|12|c=y}}}}

John was a classical prophet,Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation and Commentary, Note. 905: "The third group consists not of men of action, but Preachers of Truth, who led solitary lives. Their epithet is: "the Righteous." They form a connected group round Jesus. Zachariah was the father of John the Baptist, who is referenced as "Elias, which was for to come" (Matt 11:14); and Elias is said to have been present and talked to Jesus at the Transfiguration on the Mount (Matt. 17:3)." who was exalted high by God for his bold denouncing of all things sinful. Furthermore, the Quran speaks of John's gentle piety and love and his humble attitude towards life, for which he was granted the Purity of Life:

{{Blockquote|as well as purity and compassion from Us. And he was God-fearing,

and kind to his parents. He was neither arrogant nor disobedient.

Peace be upon him the day he was born, and the day of his death, and the day he will be raised back to life.|{{qref|19|13-15|c=y}}}}

John is also honored highly in Sufism as well as Islamic mysticism, primarily because of the Quran's description of John's chastity and kindness.Encyclopedia of Islam, Yahya ibn Zakkariya, Online web. Sufis have frequently applied commentaries on the passages on John in the Quran, primarily concerning the God-given gift of "Wisdom" which he acquired in youth as well as his parallels with Jesus. Although several phrases used to describe John and Jesus are virtually identical in the Quran, the manner in which they are expressed is different.Whereas the Quran itself gives blessings of peace to John ({{qref|19|15|b=y}}), Jesus, in contrast, gives himself the blessings of peace. ({{qref|19|33|b=y}})

Druze tradition honors several "mentors" and "prophets", and John the Baptist is honored as a prophet.{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Sacred Places, 2nd Edition [2 volumes]| first=Norbert |last= C. Brockman|year= 2011| isbn= 9781598846553| page = 259|publisher=ABC-CLIO|quote= They included Jesus, John the Baptist, Moses, and Mohammed—all teachers of monotheism}} Druze venerate John the Baptist and he is considered a central figure in Druzism.{{cite book|title=Historical Dictionary of the Druzes| first=Samy|last= Swayd|year= 2015| isbn= 9781442246171| page = 77|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|quote=}} Druze, like some Christians, believe that Elijah (al-Khidr) came back as John the Baptist,{{cite book|title=Cannabis and the Soma Solution| first=Chris|last= Bennett|year= 2010| isbn= 9781936296323| page = 77|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|quote=transmigration of the soul is a Druze tenet, and Druze believe that El Khidr and John the Baptist are one and the same. (Gibbs, 2008) The mythology of Khizr is thought to go back even further than the time of John the Baptist or Elija}} since they believe in reincarnation and the transmigration of the soul.{{cite book|title=Cannabis and the Soma Solution| first=Chris|last=Bennett|year= 2010| isbn= 9781936296323| page = 77|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|quote=transmigration of the soul is a Druze tenet, and Druze believe that El Khidr and John the Baptist are one and the same. (Gibbs, 2008) The mythology of Khizr is thought to go back even further than the time of John the Baptist or Elija}}

The Baháʼí Faith considers John to have been a prophet of God who like all other prophets was sent to instill the knowledge of God, promote unity among the people of the world, and to show people the correct way to live.{{Cite book|title = Epistle to the Son of the Wolf|last = Effendi|first = Shoghi|publisher = Baháʼí Publishing Trust|year = 1988|isbn = 9780877430483|location = Wilmette, Illinois|pages = 12}} There are numerous quotations in the writings of Bahá'u'lláh, founder of the Baháʼí Faith, mentioning John the Baptist. He is regarded by Baháʼís as a lesser Prophet. Bahá'u'lláh claimed that his forerunner, the Báb, was the spiritual return of John the Baptist. In his letter to Pope Pius IX, Bahá'u'lláh wrote:

{{blockquote|O followers of the Son! We have once again sent John unto you, and He, verily, hath cried out in the wilderness of the Bayán: O peoples of the world! Cleanse your eyes! The Day whereon ye can behold the Promised One and attain unto Him hath drawn nigh! O followers of the Gospel! Prepare the way! The Day of the advent of the Glorious Lord is at hand! Make ready to enter the Kingdom. Thus hath it been ordained by God, He Who causeth the dawn to break.{{cite book|author=Bahá'u'lláh|author-link=Bahá'u'lláh|year=2002|title=The Summons of the Lord of Hosts|publisher=Baháʼí World Centre|location=Haifa, Israel|page=63|isbn=978-0-85398-976-9|url=http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/SLH/slh-5.html#pg63|access-date=11 June 2007|archive-date=1 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210501021406/https://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/SLH/slh-5.html#pg63|url-status=live}}}}

John is believed to have had the specific role of foretelling and preparing the way for Jesus. In condemning those who had 'turned aside' from him, Bahá'u'lláh compared them to the followers of John the Baptist, who, he said, "protested against Him Who was the Spirit (Jesus) saying: 'The dispensation of John hath not yet ended; wherefore hast thou come?'" Bahá'u'lláh believed that the Báb played the same role as John in preparing the people for his own coming. As such, Bahá'u'lláh refers to the Báb as 'My Forerunner', the Forerunner being a title that Christians reserve for John the Baptist.{{Cite book|title = Epistle to the Son of the Wolf|last = Effendi|first = Shoghi|publisher = Baháʼí Publish Trust|year = 1988|isbn = 9780877430483|location = Wilmette, Illinois|pages = 157–158}} However, Baháʼís consider the Báb to be a greater Prophet (Manifestation of God) and thus possessed of a far greater station than John the Baptist.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}

File:Giovanni di paolo, scene della vita del battista, 1454, 02 partenza per il deserto 1.jpg, 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."{{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}}

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."{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/portrait/john.html|title=A Portrait Of Jesus' World – John The Baptist | From Jesus To Christ – The First Christians | Frontline | 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}}

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..." 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."

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..."Crosby, Michael H. "Why Didn't John the Baptist Commit Himself to Jesus as a Disciple?"; Biblical Theology Bulletin, Vol. 38 Nov 2008; pp. 158–162 [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}} 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. Charles Croll points out that five of John's disciples immediately followed Jesus, four of whom became apostles, one third of the twelve.{{Cite book |last=Croll |first=Charles |title=John the Baptist: A Biography |publisher=Malcolm Down Publishing |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-912863-15-0 |pages=138–139}}

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.{{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}}

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".{{bibleverse|Luke|7:22|NET}}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. Charles Croll counters this view, suggesting that John had realised that his time of preparing the way was over and he was saying to Jesus that he now had to testify himself that he was the Coming One. Jesus' affirmative yet indirect response was two fold, first by pointing out that he was doing the work expected of the Messiah, referencing his commissioning text in Isaiah. Secondly, he affirmed John's ministry and message by identifying him as the unshakeable prophet of Malachi 3:1, who was among the greatest people who have ever lived and was not one to bend in the wind (Luke 7:18-35).{{Cite book |last=Croll |first=Charles |title=John the Baptist: A Biography |publisher=Malcolm Down Publishing |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-912863-15-0 |pages=160–166}}

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..."

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", practised 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.{{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}} Charles Croll points out that the similarities are very superficial and there are many substantial differences between John the Baptist and the Qumran sect.{{Cite book |last=Croll |first=Charles |title=John the Baptist: A Biography |publisher=Malcolm Down Publishing |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-912863-15-0 |pages=51–54}}

File:John the Baptist by Prokopiy Chirin (1620s, GTG) (cropped).jpg John the Baptist – the Angel of the Desert (Stroganov school, 1620s) Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow]]

The earliest depictions of St John are found in the Baptism of Christ, one of the earliest scenes from the Life of Christ to be frequently depicted in Early Christian art, and John's tall, thin, even gaunt, and bearded figure is already established by the 5th century. Only he and Jesus are consistently shown with long hair from Early Christian times, when the apostles generally have trim classical cuts; in fact John is more consistently depicted in this way than Jesus.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

In Byzantine and later Eastern Orthodox art, John the Baptist and the Holy Virgin Mary often flank Jesus on either side. The composition of the Deesis came to be included in every Eastern Orthodox church, as remains the case to this day. Here John and the Theotokos (Mary the "God-bearer") flank a Christ Pantocrator and intercede for humanity.

In Orthodox icons, he often has angel's wings, since Mark 1:2{{bibleverse|Mark|1:2}} describes him as a messenger.

After the earliest images showing the Baptism of the Lord follow ones with St John shown as an ascetic wearing camel hair, with a staff and scroll inscribed (in Western art) {{lang|la|"Ecce Agnus Dei"}}, or bearing a book or dish with a lamb on it.

The Baptist is very often shown on altarpieces designed for churches dedicated to him, where the donor was named for him or where there was some other patronage connection. John the Baptist is the patron saint of Florence and has often been depicted in the art of that city,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EFhVehAvVyUC&q=Virgin+of+the+Rocks|title=Art in Renaissance Italy|first1=John T.|last1=Paoletti|first2=Gary M.|last2=Radke|date=15 May 2005|publisher=Laurence King Publishing|isbn=9781856694391|via=Google Books|access-date=14 January 2021|archive-date=26 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231026090931/https://books.google.com/books?id=EFhVehAvVyUC&q=Virgin+of+the+Rocks#v=snippet&q=Virgin%20of%20the%20Rocks&f=false|url-status=live}} and also frequently appears in baptistries, which are very often dedicated to him.Hall, 173 Major works depicting St John the Baptist can be found in the Florence Baptistery, including the mosaics on the vault, the bronze doors by Andrea Pisano, and the great silver altar{{Cite web|url=https://operaduomo.firenze.it/en/magazine/posts/the-silver-altar-also-named-the-saint-john-s-treasure|title=The Silver Altar, also named The Saint John's Treasure|website=operaduomo.firenze.it|access-date=14 January 2021|archive-date=9 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191209201919/https://operaduomo.firenze.it/en/magazine/posts/the-silver-altar-also-named-the-saint-john-s-treasure|url-status=live}} now in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo.

File:InfantJesus JohnBaptist.JPG, in The Holy Children with a Shell by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo]]

A number of narrative scenes from his life were often shown on the predella of altarpieces dedicated to John, and other settings, notably in the frescoes by Giotto for the Peruzzi Chapel{{Cite web|url=https://www.wga.hu/html_m/g/giotto/s_croce/1peruzzi/index.html|title=Frescoes in the Peruzzi Chapel (c. 1315)|website=www.wga.hu|access-date=14 January 2021|archive-date=16 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116194422/https://www.wga.hu/html_m/g/giotto/s_croce/1peruzzi/index.html|url-status=live}} in the church of Santa Croce, the large series in grisaille fresco in the Chiostro dello Scalzo, which was Andrea del Sarto's largest work, and the frescoed Life by Domenico Ghirlandaio in the Tornabuoni Chapel, all in Florence. There is another important fresco cycle by Filippo Lippi in Prato Cathedral. These include the typical scenes:See Tornabuoni Chapel for further information on these scenes the Annunciation to Zechariah; John's birth; his naming by his father; the Visitation; John's departure for the desert; his preaching in the desert; the Baptism of Christ; John before Herod; the dance of Herod's stepdaughter, Salome; his beheading; and the daughter of Herodias Salome carrying his head on a platter.Hall, 173–174, 337The story of his execution appears in the Bible books {{bibleverse|Matthew|14:8}} and {{bibleverse|Mark|6:25}}, without the name Salome.

His birth, which unlike the Nativity of Jesus allowed a relatively wealthy domestic interior to be shown, became increasingly popular as a subject in the late Middle Ages, with depictions by Jan van Eyck in the Turin-Milan Hours and Ghirlandaio in the Tornabuoni Chapel being among the best known. His execution, a church feast-day, was often shown, and by the 15th century scenes such as the dance of Salome became popular; sometimes, as in an engraving by Israhel van Meckenem, the interest of the artist is clearly in showing the life of Herod's court, given contemporary dress, as much as the martyrdom of the saint.{{cite web|url=https://collections.artsmia.org/art/47973/the-dance-at-the-court-of-herod-israhel-van-meckenem|title=The Dance at the Court of Herod, c. 1500 (engraving by Israhel van Meckenem)|publisher=Artsmia.org|access-date=12 October 2010|archive-date=13 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201013060329/https://collections.artsmia.org/art/47973/the-dance-at-the-court-of-herod-israhel-van-meckenem|url-status=live}} The execution was usually by a swordsman, with John kneeling in prayer, Salome often standing by with an empty platter, and Herod and Herodias at table in a cut-through view of a building in the background.

File:Head of St. John the Baptist on a Plate, Southern Netherlands, c. 1430, oak - Bode-Museum - DSC03181 (cropped).JPG

Salome bearing John's head on a platter equally became a subject for the Power of Women group: a Northern Renaissance fashion for images of glamorous but dangerous women (Delilah, Judith and others).On this see Chapter V, "The Power of Women", in H. Diane Russell;Eva/Ave; Women in Renaissance and Baroque Prints; National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1990; {{ISBN|1-55861-039-1}} It was often painted by Lucas Cranach the Elder and engraved by the Little Masters. When the head is brought to the table by Salome, Herod may be shown as startled, if not disgusted, but Herodias is usually not. These images remained popular into the Baroque, with Carlo Dolci painting at least three versions. John preaching, in a landscape setting, was a popular subject in Dutch art from Pieter Brueghel the Elder and his successors.Hall, 173–174 The isolated motif of the severed head, often on its platter, was a frequent image, often in sculpture, from the late Middle Ages onwards,Hall, 174 known as {{lang|la|Ioannes in disco}} (Latin for "John on a plate").

As a child (of varying age), he is sometimes shown from the 15th century in family scenes from the life of Christ such as the Holy Family,Hall, 172, 334–335 the Presentation of Christ, the Marriage of the Virgin and the Holy Kinship. In the Baptism of Christ his presence was obligatory.Hall, 39–40, 173 Leonardo da Vinci's two versions of the Virgin of the Rocks were influential in establishing a Renaissance fashion for variations on the Madonna and Child which included John. Raphael in particular painted many compositions of the subject, such as the Alba Madonna, {{lang|fr|La belle jardinière}}, the Garvagh Madonna, the {{lang|it|Madonna della seggiola}}, and the {{lang|it|Madonna dell'Impannata}}, which are among his best-known works.

John was also often shown by himself as an adolescent or adult, usually already wearing his distinctive dress and carrying a long thin wooden crossHall, 172 – another theme influenced by Leonardo, whose equivocal composition, with the camel-skin dress, was developed by Raphael, Titian and Guido Reni among many others. Often he is accompanied by a lamb, especially in the many Early Netherlandish paintings which needed this attribute as he wore normal clothes, or a red robe over a not very clearly indicated camel skin. Caravaggio painted an especially large number of works depicting John, from at least five largely nude youths attributed to him, to three late works on his death – the great Execution in Malta, and two sombre Salomes with his head, one in Madrid, and one in London.

File:John Everett Millais - Christ in the House of His Parents (`The Carpenter's Shop') - Google Art Project.jpg by John Everett Millais, 1849–50]]

Amiens Cathedral, which holds one of the alleged heads of the Baptist, has a biographical sequence in polychrome relief, dating from the 16th century. This includes the execution and the disposal of the saint's remains, which according to legend were burnt in the reign of Julian the Apostate (4th century) to prevent pilgrimages.

A remarkable Pre-Raphaelite portrayal is Christ in the House of His Parents by John Everett Millais. Here the Baptist is shown as a child, wearing a loin covering of animal skins, hurrying into Joseph's carpenter shop with a bowl of water to join Mary, Joseph, and Mary's mother Anne in soothing the injured hand of Jesus. Artistic interest enjoyed a considerable revival at the end of the 19th century with Symbolist painters such as Gustave Moreau and Puvis de Chavannes (National Gallery, London).{{Cite web|title=Sir John Everett Millais, Christ in the House of His Parents (article)|url=https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/becoming-modern/victorian-art-architecture/pre-raphaelites/a/sir-john-everett-millais-christ-in-the-house-of-his-parents|access-date=27 December 2021|website=Khan Academy|language=en|archive-date=27 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211227184536/https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/becoming-modern/victorian-art-architecture/pre-raphaelites/a/sir-john-everett-millais-christ-in-the-house-of-his-parents|url-status=live}} Oscar Wilde's play Salome was illustrated by Aubrey Beardsley, giving rise to some of his most memorable images.

Leonardo da Vinci - St John the Baptist - WGA12723.jpg|St. John the Baptist ({{c.|1513–1516}}), Leonardo da Vinci

Allori C San Giovanni.jpg|John the Baptist in the desert (1577–1621), Cristofano Allori

Fondazione Querini Stampalia - San Giovanni Battista (1674-81) - Michele Fabris.jpg|John the Baptist (17th century), Michele Fabris

Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre-Cécile - The Beheading of St John the Baptist - c. 1869.jpg|The Beheading of St John the Baptist, {{c.|1869}}, Puvis de Chavannes

The Italian Renaissance poet Lucrezia Tornabuoni chose John the Baptist as one of the biblical figures on which she wrote poetry.Robin, Larsen and Levin, p. 368

He is also referenced in "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot in stanza 12.

• Guido D'Arezzo (991/992 – after 1033) an Italian Benedictine monk founded the standard music stave based on a hymn to Saint John the Baptist. The hymn that begins with Ut Queant Laxis uses the first syllable for each line – Ut (later changed to Do), Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Si. The teaching is also known as the solmization syllable.Norman Davies, Europe: A History (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1996), pp. 271–7). {{ISBN|978-0-19-520912-9}}; {{ISBN|978-0-19-820171-7}}.
• This Is the Record of John, by English Tudor composer Orlando Gibbons is a well-known part-setting of the Gospel of John for solo voice, choir and organ or viol accompaniment.{{cite web|url=https://www.sjc.ox.ac.uk/discover/about-college/chapel-and-choir/ |title=History |publisher=St John's College Oxford |accessdate=29 November 2016}}
• The reformer Martin Luther wrote a hymn based on biblical accounts about the Baptist, "{{lang|de|Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam}}" (1541), based for a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach for the feast day on 24 June, {{lang|de|Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam, BWV 7 |italic=unset}} (1724).
• {{Interlanguage link|S. Giovanni Battista|scores|3=S. Giovanni Battista, G.3.3 (Stradella, Alessandro)|lt=S. Giovanni Battista}} (St. John the Baptist) is a 1676 oratorio by Alessandro Stradella.
• The well-known Advent hymn On Jordan's Bank the Baptist's cry was written by Charles Coffin.{{Cite web|title=Charles Coffin {{!}} Hymnary.org|url=https://hymnary.org/person/Coffin_C|access-date=23 July 2020|website=hymnary.org|language=en|archive-date=2 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802190022/https://hymnary.org/person/Coffin_C|url-status=live}}
• John the Baptist (Jokanaan), Baritone, is a character in the opera Salome by Richard Strauss, premiered 1905 in Dresden. The text is from Oscar Wilde's French play, translated into German by Hedwig Lachmann.The Victor Book of the Opera, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1968.
• In popular music, Bob Dylan dedicates four lines to John the Baptist in "Tombstone Blues", the second track of his 1965 album Highway 61 Revisited. He sings: "John the Baptist after torturing a thief/Looks up at his hero the Commander-in-Chief/Saying, "Tell me great hero, but please make it brief/Is there a hole for me to get sick in?".{{Cite web|url=http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/tombstone-blues/|title=Tombstone Blues {{!}} The Official Bob Dylan Site|website=www.bobdylan.com|access-date=12 July 2019|archive-date=12 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190712221213/http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/tombstone-blues/|url-status=live}}
• The song "John the Baptist (Holy John)" by Al Kooper on his 1971 album New York City (You're a Woman) is about John the Baptist. In the same year the song was also recorded by Blood, Sweat & Tears for their album Blood, Sweat & Tears 4.
• In his song "Everyman Needs a Companion", the closing track to his album Fear Fun, Father John Misty sings about the friendship between John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth: "John the Baptist took Jesus Christ/Down to the river on a Friday night/They talked about Mary like a couple of boys/With nothing to lose/Too scared to try."{{Citation|title=Father John Misty – Every Man Needs a Companion|url=https://genius.com/Father-john-misty-every-man-needs-a-companion-lyrics|language=en|access-date=12 July 2019|archive-date=12 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190712221216/https://genius.com/Father-john-misty-every-man-needs-a-companion-lyrics|url-status=live}}
• John the Baptist is referenced in the music of American heavy metal band Om in their 2009 song "Meditation Is the Practice of Death".{{Citation|title=Om (Band) (Ft. Lorraine Rath) – Meditation is the Practice of Death|url=https://genius.com/Om-band-meditation-is-the-practice-of-death-lyrics|language=en|access-date=19 July 2020|archive-date=19 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200719175108/https://genius.com/Om-band-meditation-is-the-practice-of-death-lyrics|url-status=live}} As well as this, John the Baptist is depicted on the cover art of Om's 2012 album, Advaitic Songs.

John the Baptist has appeared in a number of screen adaptations of the life of Jesus. Actors who have played John include James D. Ainsley in From the Manger to the Cross (1912), Nigel De Brulier in Salome (1923), Alan Badel in Salome (1953), Robert Ryan in King of Kings (1961),{{cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055047/fullcredits|title=King of Kings (1961)|via=www.imdb.com|access-date=29 October 2012|archive-date=16 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220916095704/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055047/fullcredits|url-status=live}} Mario Socrate in The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964),{{cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058715/fullcredits|title=The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964)|via=www.imdb.com|access-date=29 October 2012|archive-date=16 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616051908/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058715/fullcredits|url-status=live}} Charlton Heston in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965),{{cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059245/fullcredits|title=The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)|via=www.imdb.com|access-date=29 October 2012|archive-date=8 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408031050/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059245/fullcredits|url-status=live}} David Haskell in Godspell (1973),{{cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070121/fullcredits|title=Godspell (1973)|via=www.imdb.com|access-date=29 October 2012|archive-date=16 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616050851/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070121/fullcredits|url-status=live}} Michael York in Jesus of Nazareth (1977), Eli Cohen in Jesus (1979),{{cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075520/fullcredits|title=Jesus of Nazareth (TV Mini-Series 1977)|via=www.imdb.com|access-date=29 October 2012|archive-date=16 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616051306/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075520/fullcredits|url-status=live}} Andre Gregory in The Last Temptation of Christ (1988),{{cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095497/fullcredits|title=The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)|via=www.imdb.com|access-date=29 October 2012|archive-date=16 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616051041/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095497/fullcredits|url-status=live}} Christopher Routh in Mary, Mother of Jesus (1999), David O'Hara in Jesus (1999), Scott Handy in The Gospel of John (2003), Aidan McArdle in Judas (2004), Daniel Percival in Son of God (2014), Abhin Galeya in Killing Jesus (2015), and David Amito in "The Chosen" (2019-2022).{{Cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9471404/fullcredits?ref_=ext_shr_lnk |title=The Chosen (TV Series 2017– ) - Full Cast & Crew - IMDb |website=IMDb |access-date=30 September 2023 |archive-date=4 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004025011/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9471404/fullcredits?ref_=ext_shr_lnk |url-status=live }}

Snapaka Yohannan (John the Baptist), a 1963 Indian Malayalam-language film depicts life of St. John the Baptist and his death at the hands of Salome, Herod Antipas and Herodias.{{cite web |last1=Vijayakumar |first1=B. |title=Snapaka Yohannan, 1963 |url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/snapaka-yohannan-1963/article3754188.ece |website=The Hindu |language=en-IN |date=12 August 2012 |access-date=5 January 2021 |archive-date=7 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107213403/https://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/snapaka-yohannan-1963/article3754188.ece |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=Snaapaka Yohannaan [1963] |url=https://en.msidb.org/m.php?3639 |website=en.msidb.org |access-date=5 January 2021 |archive-date=8 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210108131228/https://en.msidb.org/m.php?3639 |url-status=live }}

Christian festivals associated with Saint John the Baptist and Forerunner are celebrated at various days by different denominations and are dedicated to his conception, birth, and death, as well as in correlation to the baptism of Jesus. The Eastern Church has feast days for the finding of his head (first, second, and third finding), as well as for his parents, Elizabeth and Zechariah. In the Russian Orthodox Church there is a feast day of the Transfer of the Right Hand of the Forerunner from Malta to Gatchina.{{refn|For more see in this article at "Religious views: Christianity", under "Catholic Church" and "Eastern Christianity".|group=note}}

The Feast of the nativity of Saint John closely coincides with the June solstice, also referred to as Midsummer in the Northern Hemisphere. The Christian holy day is fixed at 24 June; but in most countries festivities are mostly held the night before, on Saint John's Eve. "In England, 'Saint John's Tide' is combined with a midsummer celebration. Instead of the date of the summer solstice, they chose June 24. This may be because of the Baptist's own words, 'He must increase, but I must decrease' (John 3:30). John was, of course, referring to Jesus. John's day comes at the time when the sun is beginning to decrease..."{{cite book|last=McNamara|first=Beth Branigan|title=Christian Beginnings|year=2000|publisher=Our Sunday Visitor|language=en|isbn=9780879730765}}

{{Main category|Saint John's Day}}

File:Ein Kerem Church of St John the Baptist by David Shankbone.jpg]]

Saint John the Baptist's beheading is said to have taken place in Machaerus, in central Jordan.{{Cite web|title=Castle of Herod the Great {{!}} Mukawir, Jordan Attractions|url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/jordan/mukawir/attractions/castle-of-herod-the-great/a/poi-sig/1443203/1299086|access-date=27 September 2021|website=Lonely Planet|language=en|archive-date=27 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210927123751/https://www.lonelyplanet.com/jordan/mukawir/attractions/castle-of-herod-the-great/a/poi-sig/1443203/1299086|url-status=live}}{{Cite journal|last=Vörös|first=Győző|title=Machaerus: The Golgotha of Saint John the Baptist|date=2012|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44092160|journal=Revue Biblique|volume=119|issue=2|pages=232–270|jstor=44092160|access-date=23 December 2020|archive-date=6 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220406140212/https://www.jstor.org/stable/44092160|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|date=6 June 2020|title=Machaerus: Beyond the Beheading of John the Baptist|url=https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/biblical-archaeology-sites/machaerus-beyond-the-beheading-of-john-the-baptist/|access-date=27 September 2021|website=Biblical Archaeology Society|language=en|archive-date=25 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925180305/https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/biblical-archaeology-sites/machaerus-beyond-the-beheading-of-john-the-baptist/|url-status=live}}

File:St John the Baptist Titular Statue of Xewkija Gozo, Malta.jpg, 1845, Xewkija.]]

In Spain, Saint John was venerated during the feast of the Alhansara in Granada, and also in Gaztelugatxe{{cite journal|author=Adriano Duque|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09518967.2022.2115746|title=Aspects of tree veneration around the cult of John the Baptist in medieval Syria and Spain (10th–14th centuries CE)|journal=Mediterranean Historical Review|date=2023|volume=37|issue=2|pages=133–149|doi=10.1080/09518967.2022.2115746|s2cid=254096999|access-date=14 February 2023|archive-date=16 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230216055641/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09518967.2022.2115746|url-status=live |issn = 0951-8967 }}

In the United Kingdom, Saint John is the patron of Penzance, Cornwall. In Scotland, he is the patron saint of Perth, which used to be known as St. John's Toun of Perth. The main church in the city is still the medieval Kirk of St. John the Baptist and the city's professional football club is called St Johnstone F.C.

Also, on the night of 23 June on to the 24th, Saint John is celebrated as the patron saint of Porto, the second largest city in Portugal. An article from June 2004 in The Guardian remarked that "Porto's {{lang|pt|Festa de São João}} is one of Europe's liveliest street festivals, yet it is relatively unknown outside the country".{{cite news|author=Matthew Hancock|url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2004/jun/12/portugal.guardiansaturdaytravelsection|title=There's only one São João|work=The Guardian|date=12 June 2004|access-date=14 February 2010|location=London|archive-date=28 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131228052351/http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2004/jun/12/portugal.guardiansaturdaytravelsection|url-status=live}}

As patron saint of the original Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John, he is the patron of the Knights Hospitaller of Jerusalem, Malta, Florence, Cesena, Turin and Genoa, Italy; as well as of Malta as a whole and of Xewkija and Gozo in Malta, which remember him with a great feast on the Sunday nearest to 24 June.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

Saint John the Baptist is the patron saint of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and its capital city, San Juan. In 1521, the island was given its formal name, {{lang|es|"San Juan Bautista de Puerto Rico"}}, following the custom of christening a town with its formal name and the name which Christopher Columbus had originally given the island. The names {{lang|es|"San Juan Bautista"}} and {{lang|es|"Puerto Rico"}} were eventually used in reference to both city and island, leading to a reversal in terminology by most inhabitants largely due to a cartographic error. By 1746, the city's name ({{lang|es|"Puerto Rico"}}) had become that of the entire island, while the name for the island ({{lang|es|"San Juan Bautista"}}) had become that of the city. The official motto of Puerto Rico also references the saint: {{lang|la|Joannes Est Nomen Eius}}.Latin for "his name is John", from Luke 1:63. {{bibleverse|Luke|1:63}}{{Cite web |title=Sobre Nosotros |url=https://www.statedepartment.pr.gov/department-of-state |access-date=26 March 2024 |website=Department of State |publisher=Puerto Rico Department of State}}

He is also a patron saint of French Canada and Newfoundland. The Canadian cities of St. John's, Newfoundland (1497), Saint John, New Brunswick (1604), and Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec (1665), were all named in his honor. His feast day of 24 June is celebrated officially in Quebec as the {{lang|fr|Fête Nationale du Québec}} and was previously celebrated in Newfoundland as Discovery Day.{{Cite web|date=18 June 2020|title=N.L. ditches 'Discovery Day' holiday criticized for erasing Indigenous presence|url=https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/n-l-ditches-discovery-day-holiday-criticized-for-erasing-indigenous-presence-1.4990440|access-date=10 August 2021|website=Atlantic|language=en|archive-date=10 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210810135133/https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/n-l-ditches-discovery-day-holiday-criticized-for-erasing-indigenous-presence-1.4990440|url-status=live}}

He is also patron of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston, which covers the whole of South Carolina in the United States.{{Cite web|date=1 May 2003|title=Diocesan patron, St. John the Baptist, a minister of joy and mercy|url=https://themiscellany.org/2003/05/01/diocesan-patron-st-john-the-baptist-a-minister-of-joy-and-mercy/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808082119/https://themiscellany.org/2003/05/01/diocesan-patron-st-john-the-baptist-a-minister-of-joy-and-mercy/|archive-date=8 August 2020|access-date=13 December 2020|website=The Catholic Miscellany|publisher=Diocese of Charleston|language=en-US}}

Calamba, Laguna, Calumpit, Bulacan, Balayan, and Lian in Batangas, Sipocot, and San Fernando in Camarines Sur, Daet, Camarines Norte, San Juan, Metro Manila, Tabuelan, Cebu, Jimenez, Misamis Occidental, Badiangan, Banate, Dingle, Igbaras, and Sara in Iloilo and the oldest in Taytay Rizal are among several places in the Philippines that venerate John as the town or city patron. A common practise of many Filipino fiestas in his honour is bathing and the dousing of people in memory of John's iconic act. The custom is similar in form to Songkran and Holi, and serves as a playful respite from the intense tropical heat. While famed for the Black Nazarene it enshrines, Quiapo Church in Manila is actually dedicated to Saint John.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

A number of religious orders who include or have included in their name a mention of John the Baptist have been called Baptistines.

John the Baptist is the name-giving patron of the Knights Hospitaller, or also called Knights of Saint John.{{Cite book |last=Carr |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tH4TDgAAQBAJ&dq=John+the+Baptist+is+the+name-giving+patron+of+the+Knights+Hospitaller&pg=PT6 |title=The Knights Hospitaller: A Military History of the Knights of St John |date=30 October 2016 |publisher=Casemate Publishers |isbn=978-1-4738-5890-9 |language=en |access-date=19 December 2022 |archive-date=5 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405002934/https://books.google.com/books?id=tH4TDgAAQBAJ&dq=John+the+Baptist+is+the+name-giving+patron+of+the+Knights+Hospitaller&pg=PT6 |url-status=live }}

Along with John the Evangelist, John the Baptist is claimed as a patron saint by the fraternal society of Freemasons.{{cite web|url=http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/ward.html|title=Pietre-Stones Review of Freemasonry|publisher=Freemasons-freemasonry.com|access-date=14 February 2010|archive-date=19 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019092419/http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/ward.html|url-status=live}}

{{Portal|Christianity|Saints}}

• Basilica of St. John the Baptist, Berlin
• Biblical and Quranic narratives
• Chronology of Jesus
• Historical background of the New Testament
• Legends and the Quran
• List of biblical figures identified in extra-biblical sources
• Lyon Cathedral
• Messengers from John the Baptist
• John the Baptist, patron saint archive
• St. John the Baptist Cathedral (disambiguation)
• Saint John the Baptist Church (disambiguation)
• St. John Baptist Church (disambiguation)
• Statue of John the Baptist, Charles Bridge
• Christians of Saint John

• [http://www.gnosis.org/library/The_Mandaean_Book_of_John_Open_Access_Ve.pdf Mandaean Book of John], A complete open-access translation, published in 2020, edited by Charles G. Häberl and James F. McGrath
• {{cite book|chapter=Third Sunday: John the Baptist |title=Sermons from the Latins|year=1902|publisher= Benziger Brothers|first=Robert|last=Bellarmine|author-link=Robert Bellarmine}}
• {{cite book|chapter=John the Baptist, the Precursor of Christ|title=A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture|year=1910|publisher=B. Herder|author=Friedrich Justus Knecht}}
• {{Cite Catholic Encyclopedia |wstitle=St. John the Baptist |volume=8 |first=Charles Léon |last=Souvay}}
• {{Cite book |last=Marcus |first=Joel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LL11DwAAQBAJ |title=John the Baptist in History and Theology |publisher=University of South Carolina Press |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-61117-900-2 |location=Columbia}}
• Croll, Charles (2019). John the Baptist: A Biography, Malcolm Down Publishing, {{ISBN|978-1-912863}}-15-0

{{NoteFoot}}

{{Reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• Brooks Hansen (2009) John the Baptizer: A Novel. New York: W. W. Norton. {{ISBN|978-0-393-06947-1}}
• Murphy, Catherine M. (2003) John the Baptist: Prophet of Purity for a New Age. Collegeville: Liturgical Press. {{ISBN|0-8146-5933-0}}
• Taylor, Joan E. (1997) The Immerser: John the Baptist within Second Temple Judaism. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. {{ISBN|0-8028-4236-4}}
• W. Barnes Tatum (1994) John the Baptist and Jesus: A Report of the Jesus Seminar, Sonoma, California: Polebridge Press, 1994, {{ISBN|0-944344-42-9}}
• Webb, Robert L. (1991) John the Baptizer and Prophet: a Socio-Historical Study. Wipf and Stock Publishers. {{ISBN|978-1-59752-986-0}} (first published Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1991)

• Hall, James, Hall's Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art, 1996 (2nd edn.), John Murray, {{ISBN|0719541476}}

• {{cite encyclopedia |article = Yahya b. Zakariya |last=Rippin |first= A. |editor1 = P.J. Bearman |editor2 = Th. Bianquis |editor3 = C.E. Bosworth |editor4 = E. van Donzel |editor5 = W.P. Heinrichs |encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia of Islam Online |publisher = Brill Academic Publishers |issn = 1573-3912}}
• J.C.L Gibson, John the Baptist in Muslim writings, in MW, xlv (1955), 334–345

• Appraisals for Yahya: [https://web.archive.org/web/20051203053921/http://www.submission.info/servlet/qtbrowse?pickthall=true&yusufali=true&shakir=true&arabic=true&chapter=6&verseBegin=85&verseEnd=85 6:85], [https://web.archive.org/web/20051203050439/http://www.submission.info/servlet/qtbrowse?pickthall=true&yusufali=true&shakir=true&arabic=true&chapter=19&verseBegin=7&verseEnd=7 19:7], [https://web.archive.org/web/20051204202825/http://www.submission.info/servlet/qtbrowse?pickthall=true&yusufali=true&shakir=true&arabic=true&chapter=19&verseBegin=12&verseEnd=12 19:12], [https://web.archive.org/web/20070327060857/http://www.submission.info/servlet/qtbrowse?pickthall=true&yusufali=true&shakir=true&arabic=true&chapter=19&verseBegin=13&verseEnd=13 19:13], [https://web.archive.org/web/20051204203407/http://www.submission.info/servlet/qtbrowse?pickthall=true&yusufali=true&shakir=true&arabic=true&chapter=19&verseBegin=14&verseEnd=14 19:14], [https://web.archive.org/web/20051204142508/http://www.submission.info/servlet/qtbrowse?pickthall=true&yusufali=true&shakir=true&arabic=true&chapter=19&verseBegin=15&verseEnd=15 19:15]
• Yahya's prophecy: [https://web.archive.org/web/20051203052429/http://www.submission.info/servlet/qtbrowse?pickthall=true&yusufali=true&shakir=true&arabic=true&chapter=3&verseBegin=39&verseEnd=39 3:39], [https://web.archive.org/web/20051203053921/http://www.submission.info/servlet/qtbrowse?pickthall=true&yusufali=true&shakir=true&arabic=true&chapter=6&verseBegin=85&verseEnd=85 6:85], [https://web.archive.org/web/20051204202825/http://www.submission.info/servlet/qtbrowse?pickthall=true&yusufali=true&shakir=true&arabic=true&chapter=19&verseBegin=12&verseEnd=12 19:12]

{{refend}}

{{sister project links|b=no|n=no|v=no|d=Q40662}}

• [http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=371&letter=J Jewish Encyclopedia: John the Baptist]
• [http://www.islam101.com/history/people/prophets/john.htm Prophet John (Yahya)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120710095818/http://www.islam101.com/history/people/prophets/john.htm |date=10 July 2012 }}
• [http://mandaeanbookofjohn.blogspot.com/ Mandaean Book of John translation project]
• [http://www.christianiconography.info/johnBaptist.html Saint John the Baptist] at the [http://www.christianiconography.info Christian Iconography] website
• Caxton's translation of the Golden Legend chapters on [http://www.christianiconography.info/goldenLegend/decollationjohnBaptist.htm The Decollation of John the Baptist] and [http://www.christianiconography.info/goldenLegend/johnBaptistNativity.htm The Nativity of Saint John Baptist]

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