The doctrine and manner of life of John appear to have roused the entire of the south of Palestine, and people flocked from all parts to the spot where, on the banks of the Jordan, he baptized thousands unto repentance. Such, indeed, was the fame which he had gained, that 'people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ or not' (Luke iii:r5). Had he chosen, John might without doubt have assumed to himself the higher office, and risen to great worldly power. But he was faithful to his trust, and never failed to declare it in the fullest and clearest manner. that he was not the Christ but merely his harbinger, and that the sole work lie had to do was to usher in "the day spring from on high." (3) Meeting with jesus. The more than pro phetic fame of the Baptist reached the cars of Jesus in his Nazarene dwelling, far distant from the locality of John (Matt. ii :9, r). The nature of the report—namely, that his divinely predicted forerunner had appeared in Judma—showed our Lord that the time was now come for his being made manifest to Israel. Accordingly Ile comes to the place where John is, to be baptized of him, in order that thus he might fulfill all that was re quired under the dispensation which was about to disappear (Matt. iii :i4). John's sense of inferior ity inclines him to ask rather than to give baptism in the case of Jesus, who. however. wills to have it otherwise, and is accordingly baptized of John.
Immediately upon the termination of this sym bolical act, a divine attestation is given from the opened vault of heaven, declaring Jesus to be in truth the long looked-for Messiah—'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased' (Matt. iii:r7). The events which are found recorded in John i:ro, sq., seem to have happened after the baptisin of Jesus by John. This appears to us to be implied in the past character of the narrative. John is obviously speaking of something over and gone; for instance, "This is he of whom I said (not I say), 'after me cometh a man,' " etc.
The relation which subsisted between John and Jesus, after the emphatic testimony above re corded had been borne, wc have not the materials to describe with full certainty.
It seems but natural to think, when their hith erto relative position is taken into account, that John would forthwith lay down his office of har binger, which, now that the Sun of Righteousness himself had appeared, was entirely fulfilled and terminated. Such a step he does not appear to have taken. On the contrary, the language of Scripture seems to imply that the Baptist church continued side by side with the Messianic (Matt. xi :2 ; Luke vii :19 ; Matt. ix :14; Luke xi :r ; Acts xviii:25), and remaincd long after John's execu tion (Acts xix :3). Indeed, a sect which bears the
name of 'John's disciples' exists to the present day in the East, whose sacred books are said to be pervaded by a Gnostic leaven.
(4) Subsequent Ministry. Still, though it has been generally assumed that John did not lay down his office, we are not satisfied that the New Testa ment establishes this alleged fact. John may have ceased to execute his own peculiar work, as the forerunner, but may justifiably have continued to bear his most important testimony to the Messiah ship of Christ ; or he may even have altogether given up the duties of active life some time, at least, before his death; and yet his disciples. both before and after that event, may have maintained their individuality as a religious communion. It was, not improbably, with a view to remove some error of this kind that John sent the embassy of his disciples to Jesus, which is recorded in Matt. xi:3; Luke vii :19. The spiritual course which the teachings of Jesus were more and more taking, and the apparent failure or at least uneasy post ponement of the promised kingdom in the popular sense, especially the fact that their esteemed mas ter lay in prison, and was in imminent danger of losing his life, may well have led John's disciples to doubt if Jesus were in truth the expected Mes siah. Appearances, to them, were purely adverse. What step so fit on the part of their master, as that he should send them to Jesus himself ? No intimation is found in the record that John re quired evidence to give him satisfaction; and all the language that is used is proper and pertinent if we suppose that the doubt lay only in the minds of his disciples. That the terms employed admit the interpretation that John was not without some misgivings (Luke vii :23 ; Matt. xi:6), we are free to allow. And if any doubt had grown up in the Baptist's mind it was most probably owing to the defective spirituality of his views ; for even of him Jesus has declared, 'lid-that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he' (Matt. xi :II). Were this the case it would of itself account not only for the embassy sent by John to Jesus, but also for the continuance and perpetuation of John's separate influence as the foundcr of a sect.
(5) Imprisonment-and Death. The manner of John's death is too well known _to require to be detailed here (Matt. iv :12 ; xiv :3 ; Luke iii :19; Mark vi:r7; Joseph. Antiq. xviii, 5, 2). He re proved a tyrant for a heinous crime, and received his reward in decapitation.
John the Baptist is mentioned in the Koran with much honor, under the name of Jahja.
(6) Literature. Neander, Life of Jesus; Tay lor, Life of Christ; Olshausen, Com. on the Gos pels; Farrar, Life of Christ; Edersheim, Life of Ch rist.