"In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins."
The coming of John the Baptist was prophesied in the old testament, then fulfilled. Just as was the coming of Jesus.
John's mission was to "prepare the way of the Lord". His message was, "the kingdom of heaven is at hand".
That is the same message Jesus preached, Matt. 4:17, it is also the same message Jesus instructed His disciples to preach, Matt. 10:7.
John the Baptist (baptizer), was also to perform ritual water baptism as it was required of all Jews who were entering into a religious circumstance.
According to Maimonides, a well respected authority on ancient Jewish law and tradition, no Jew could enter enter the temple, or a tabernacle, without first being fully immersed in pure running water to rid themselves of unclean things.~
No comments:
Post a Comment