In roughly AD 30, a fiery Jewish preacher accused Herod Antipas (21 BC–AD 39), the puppet king of Galilee installed by the Romans, of committing adultery, incest, and other “evil things.” Enraged, King Herod arrested the preacher and sent him to a cliff-side prison overlooking the Dead Sea.
The preacher, John the Baptist (c. 6 BC–c. AD 30), is among the most important figures in the New Testament, the foundational text of Christianity. During his ministry, John attracted a large following with his attacks on Herod and his sermons about the imminent end of the world. He was also a major influence on Jesus Christ, who had just begun his own preaching at the time of John’s arrest.
There is little historical record of John’s life, and the Bible provides only fragmentary details. According to the Gospel of Luke, John was a cousin of Jesus and a fellow Nazarene. He wore ascetic garb in the manner of the ancient Hebrew prophets, lived on locusts and wild honey, and had wandered for years in uninhabited parts of the Judaean desert before beginning his ministry.
In his sermons, John urged his followers to repent their sins, reject greed and extortion, and accept baptism in the Jordan River in preparation for the final coming of the Lord. One of the Jews who answered the call was Jesus, and he was baptized by John before the prophet’s arrest.
After John’s imprisonment, word reached him that Jesus had begun curing lepers, raising the dead, and performing other miracles. John sent his disciples to investigate, and they confirmed that Jesus was “he that cometh after me”—the Messiah. In Christian theology, John is regarded as the precursor to Jesus and “the voice of one crying in the wilderness” who had predicted the Messiah’s arrival.
Unfortunately for John, his end was indeed imminent. To placate his wife, whom John had insulted with the incest accusation, Herod had his men cut off the prophet’s head and deliver it to his stepdaughter on a platter as her birthday present.
ADDITIONAL FACTS
- The historian Flavius Josephus (37–100) tells a different story about John’s arrest. According to his account, John was executed when Herod began to fear that John’s following had become so large he might start a revolt.
- Although never formally canonized, John is traditionally regarded as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. He is the patron saint of Jordan and Puerto Rico, among many other places.
- The shriveled remains of a head said to be John’s are on display at Rome’s San Silvestro Church.
