Where did john the baptist born?
The two main sites in Ein Karem are the Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist and the Visitation Church. It is believed that Zechariah and Elizabeth had two houses in Ein Karem. Zechariah was a priest and likely wealthy.
The two main sites in Ein Karem are the Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist and the Visitation Church. It is believed that Zechariah and Elizabeth had two houses in Ein Karem. Zechariah was a priest and likely wealthy.
| Saint John the Baptist | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1st century BC Herodian Tetrarchy, Roman Empire |
| Died | c. AD 30 Machaerus, Herodian Tetrarchy, Roman Empire |
| Venerated in | Christianity (all denominations which venerate saints), Islam, Druze faith, Baháʼí faith, Mandaeism |
| Canonized | Pre-Congregation |
Ein Karem was an important Jewish village during the late Second Temple period, during which it became important to Christianity. Christian tradition holds that John the Baptist was born in Ein Karem, following the biblical verse in Luke saying John's family lived in a "town in the hill country of Judea".
After describing the birth of John, Luke says that he grew, and "was in the wilderness until the day of his showing to Israel." The people of the Qumran settlement, which produced the Dead Sea Scrolls, sometime use the term "living in the wilderness" to refer to residing in their community at Qumran near the Dead Sea.
John the Baptist wasn't just another person in the Bible. His life was intertwined with the life of Jesus. In fact, they were cousins. But they were so much more than just cousins.
John was a Nazarite from his birth ( Luke 1:15 ; Numbers 6:1-12 ). He spent his early years in the mountainous tract of Judah lying between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea ( Matthew 3:1-12 ). At length he came forth into public life, and great multitudes from "every quarter" were attracted to him.
Malachi prophesied the birth of this child, John the Baptist, calling him the messenger who would clear the way for another Messenger. John the Baptist's birth was a divinely orchestrated foil, used by God to reignite remembrance and longing in the hearts of God's people for the day of the Messiah's coming.
John the Baptist, and the other Johns in the NT, were actually named Yohanan or Yahohanan which means “YHWY is gracious.” It was the name of several important people in the Judea history, including kings and priests. It makes sense considering that John the Baptist was offering repentance and grace in his ministry.
Why was John the Baptist not an apostle?
A more critical reading of Luke and, especially, Matthew points to the possibility that John's "pre-understanding" vis-a-vis the Messiah kept him from making the leap of faith to become a disciple of Jesus.
John the Baptist was executed by beheading by Herod Antipas on the request of Herodias' daughter. His disciples buried his remains and told Jesus.
However, Bond makes the case Jesus died around Passover, between A.D. 29 and 34. Considering Jesus' varying chronology, he was 33 to 40 years old at his time of death.
The Bible doesn't mention a wife for the locust-and-honey-eating forerunner of the Christian savior, but as the titular wife here reasonably explains: “A woman, in those days, was not counted.
The food going into John's mouth represented the message coming out of John's mouth. Those who received John's message with faith would taste its sweetness and experience God's blessing, like honey. Those who refused John's message would experience God's judgment, like locusts.
Because the Mandaeans hold John and not Jesus to be the true teacher, she is more important than Mary, who is mentioned but briefly. In this source we learn that Elizabeth was 88 years old when she gave birth to John: "My father," says Yahyā (John), "was ninety and nine and my mother eighty and eight years old.
John the Apostle was a follower of John the Baptist before the Savior began His ministry. So were some of the Lord's other Apostles. John the Baptist's mission was to prepare people for the Savior,3 so the fact that some of his followers recognized the Savior when He came meant John had done a good job!
Scholars agree that John the Baptist was killed just a few years before Jesus, around 30 CE. When was the Gospel of John written? Most scholars agree that it was written between 90-110 CE. For these reasons, the Gospel of John could not have been written by John the Baptist.
In Luke's Gospel, the angel tells Zechariah, “He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit” (Luke 1:12-15).
When Jesus received the news that his cousin, John the Baptist, had been executed by King Herod, he departed by ship and fled to the desert to be alone and grieve. The New Testament merely touches on it in a single verse, but we imagine the sorrow was deep, excruciating, and very real.
What did John the Baptist eat?
Now John himself wore clothing. made of camel's hair, with a. leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.
The Nativity of John the Baptist (or Birth of John the Baptist, or Nativity of the Forerunner, or colloquially Johnmas or St. John's Day (in German) Johannistag) is a Christian feast day celebrating the birth of John the Baptist. It is observed annually on 24 June.
According to Josephus, sometime after baptizing Jesus, John the Baptist was killed at the palace fortress of Machaerus, located near the Dead Sea in modern Jordan. Built by King Herod the Great, the palace was occupied at the time by his son and successor, known as Herod Antipas.
These births were remarkable for that reason and each man was born with a distinct purpose in life. John's purpose was to “turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God” (Luke 1:16) He was given the name Prophet of the Most High. Jesus was born to Mary, a virgin, and called the Son of the Most High.
John preached conversion and proclaimed a baptism of repentance. Jesus and many others were baptized by John. John is called "the Baptist" because he was willing to baptize people if they repented to God for their sins.
References
- https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2022/08/07/how-old-was-jesus-when-he-died/7700029001/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nativity_of_John_the_Baptist
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_the_Baptist
- https://www.holylandsite.com/ein-karem
- https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,,-11906,00.html
- https://truthbook.com/jesus/john-the-baptist/john-the-baptists-birth-and-childhood/
- https://www.angel.com/blog/the-chosen/posts/the-story-of-john-the-baptist-and-jesus
- https://mitchchase.substack.com/p/locusts-and-wild-honey
- https://www.quora.com/What-does-John-mean-in-John-The-Baptist-s-name-Is-there-a-reason-why-he-was-given-this-name-or-is-it-just-a-name-that-was-chosen-at-random
- https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/john-the-baptist/
- https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Elizabeth_(Biblical_person)
- https://www.amazon.com/Wife-John-Baptist-K-Ford/dp/1493722468
- https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/john-baptist-miraculous-birth-by-zechariah-elizabeth-angel-gabriel
- https://hegetsus.com/en/articles/did-jesus-ever-mourn
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-John-the-Apostle
- https://www.episcopalchurch.org/glossary/john-the-baptist/
- https://blogs.uoregon.edu/rel223s15drreis/2015/04/19/births-of-john-and-jesus/
- https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/inspiration/keeping-track-of-john-and-john?lang=eng
- https://shereadstruth.com/the-birth-of-john-the-baptist-foretold-3/
- http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/191.html
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-John-the-Baptist
- https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA190099655&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=01461079&p=AONE&sw=w
- https://www.bartehrman.com/did-john-the-baptist-write-any-books-in-the-bible/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ein_Karem
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_3:4
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_the_Apostle
- https://www.thebump.com/b/john-baby-name
- https://www.christianpure.com/learn/why-did-jesus-love-john-the-most
