John the Baptist Mentors Jesus until they Part Ways

Last updated on: April 29, 2019 at 7:52 am by Jack Hartjes

John the Baptist Mentors Jesus until they Part Ways 2019-04-29T07:52:53-06:00 Jack Hartjes

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Stories of Jesus, from Temptation to Cross

Jesus is baptizing a person in the Jordan River while others wait on shore.

Jesus baptized in the tradition of John the Baptist for a while.

From John, the last of the Gospel writers, we learn something about Jesus that the earlier, usually more historical, Gospels neglect. Jesus probably was a disciple of John the Baptist. During that time he carried on his own baptizing ministry. (John 3:22) Eventually Jesus parted ways with John the Baptist.

This part of series “Stories of Jesus and the Character of God” looks at a few episodes of Jesus’ journey from Temptation to Cross. The whole series looks at Jesus for clues to what God is like. This is the 14th in the series. Developing Table of Contents for the series here.

Mark reports the end of the Baptist’s mission in half a sentence—“after Herod had John imprisoned….” Then Jesus gets down to his own distinctive work. A more or less quiet disciple of John the Baptist up to that time, he would have heard John urging people to repent of their sins. They should accept baptism in preparation for a day of judgment soon to come. Jesus’ message and work adds some important notes to John’s.

Not the style of John the Baptist

It was more than a message that separated Jesus from John the Baptist. John and Jesus both left the ordinary life in community of first-century Palestine, but in different ways. John made his home territory the wilderness around the Jordan River, and seekers and sorrowful people came to him. Jesus, without any home at all, wandering from place to place to be with all sorts of people. It was a style that fit a message about God’s coming to dwell with people.

Reports about John don’t include any miracles, but miracles were an important part of Jesus’ ministry and message. They showed that God was close to the poor and powerless and dismissed conventional uses and places of power.

John the Baptist sent messengers to Jesus to ask if he were the “one who is to come” or if another would be coming. Apparently John was having doubts about the way Jesus operated. Jesus answered without saying a word about himself or who he was:

Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me. (Matthew 11:4-6)

That last part is odd. Why would anyone take offense? Scribes and priests might. They were the ones vested with authority to, for example, declare a person free of leprosy or free of the “sin” of debt. In Jesus they saw someone transgressing on their territory.

But Jesus doesn’t take ownership of any marvelous deeds. He simply names things that are happening. In a parable Jesus explains, or rather names, the mystery. It’s

… as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. (Mark 4:26-27)

‘The image of the invisible God’ (Colossians 1:15)

Jesus proclaimed:

This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel (i.e. good news). (Mark 1:15)

These mysterious phrases – “time of fulfillment,” “kingdom of God” “good news” don’t sound like things Jesus is doing. These are things that are happening. Jesus announces them. When Jesus says “at hand,” it sounds like Jesus is anticipating some radically new things, and even he doesn’t know quite what or how. Jesus participates in them in sometimes surprising ways, but it’s not Jesus’ show.

Jesus admonished his disciples:

When you have done all you were commanded to do, say, “We are worthless servants. We only did what we were obliged to do.” (Luke 17:10)

He also applied this thought to himself:

For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve. (Mark 10:45)

If Jesus is the image of God on earth, then that saying tells us service ranks pretty high up among God’s own qualities. We often think of God as the one whom we serve, but perhaps it goes equally, and even first of all, the other way around.

We too are God’s image, created as such. That doesn’t describe an invisible, spiritual part of us. Like: We’re special because we have a soul or a mind that can think abstract thoughts. Rather, it describes and prescribes a way of being unique, as far as we know, to the human race—in, with and for a world of created things and people.

Image credit: McNaughton Fine Art via Google Images

Stories of Jesus

Previous Post

March 20, 2019

David Hogg in Minneapolis: Work Together on Gun Violence

Next Post

March 25, 2019 Glutton and Drunkard or how the Least and the Greatest Stack Up

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Advent Christmas Amazon Synod Angels Being Consumed Bible Catholic Modern Creed Ecology Economics Elizabeth Johnson Eucharist Fragments and Filaments Gender and Sex Gospel of Mark Herzog Historical Jesus Liturgy Luke Opening Scriptures on Way to Emmaus Ordinary radicals Parables Pro-Life Reincarnation Rosary Sacraments science Social Justice Souls Stories of Jesus The Creed Torture and Eucharist Tracy Uncategorized War and Peace

Select a Month October 2026 June 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 November 2024 July 2024 March 2024 December 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz