John the Baptist

John the Baptist was a Jewish prophet and preacher of the late Second Temple period. He is known from all four Gospels and, independently, from the Jewish historian Josephus. Luke presents him as the son of an elderly priest, Zechariah, and his wife Elizabeth, a relative of Mary (Luke 1:5-13, 1:36). Around 28 CE he appeared in the wilderness near the Jordan River. He called people to repent and immersed them in the river as a sign of it (Mark 1:4-5; Luke 3:1-3). Among those he baptized was Jesus (Mark 1:9). The Gospels report that Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee and Perea, imprisoned him for condemning the ruler's marriage to Herodias, and then had him beheaded (Mark 6:17-29). Josephus describes John as a good man who urged virtue, justice and piety, and says Antipas killed him at the fortress of Machaerus because he feared John's influence over the crowds might lead to revolt (Antiquities 18.116-119). Christians honour him as the forerunner who prepared the way for Jesus. He is also revered in Islam as the prophet Yahya, and the Mandaeans honour him as their great prophet.