John was the son of an old priest and his barren wife. He grew up in the wilderness, wore camel's hair, and ate locusts and wild honey. Crowds came out from Jerusalem and Judea to hear him preach repentance and to be baptized in the Jordan.
He was blunt with everyone, from religious leaders to soldiers to King Herod. That bluntness put him in prison. There, near the end, he sent to ask Jesus if he was really the one. Jesus answered with what he was doing, then told the crowd that no one born of women was greater than John.
“
He must increase, but I must decrease.
Name means
“The LORD is gracious” (Hebrew)
Home
The hill country of Judea, then the wilderness
Role
Prophet and forerunner of the Messiah
Read in
; ; ; ; ;
John the Baptist's story
Doubts in prison
Beginning
Leaps in the womb
Before he is born, he leaps for joy when Mary greets Elizabeth.
High point
A voice in the wilderness
He preaches repentance in the Judean wilderness, and crowds come to be baptized.
High point
Baptizing Jesus
He protests that he needs to be baptized by Jesus. He obeys, and the Spirit descends.
High point
Behold the Lamb
He points his own disciples to Jesus as the Lamb of God, and two of them follow Jesus.
High point
He must increase
His disciples worry that everyone is going to Jesus. John says his joy is now complete.
Turning point
Doubts in prison
Jailed by Herod, he sends to ask if Jesus is the one who is to come.
Ending
Beheaded
Herod has him killed at a banquet to keep a promise to Herodias's daughter. His disciples bury his body.
Starts as a miracle child set apart before birth. Ends as a faithful prophet who died for telling the truth.
Where John the Baptist lived and went
Only places Scripture records. Softer, dotted pins are traditional or uncertain sites. Tap a pin for the passage.
HomeMinistryKey momentTraditional or uncertainPinch or use + to zoom. Tap a cluster to spread it out.
How John the Baptist is wired
The Reformer
Enneagram 1, Peacemaker wing
To call people to what is right before God, without compromise.
This one is debated. Here's why we land here.
At their best, toward 7 Under stress, toward 4
Why we think so
1
Moral clarity. He tells each group what repentance means for them: share, collect only what is owed, do not extort. ()
2
Truth to power. He tells Herod it is not lawful for him to have his brother's wife. ()
3
Austere discipline. He lives in the wilderness on locusts and wild honey, dressed in camel's hair. ()
He is content to step back and let the attention move to Jesus. ()
The Enthusiast. He describes himself as the friend of the bridegroom whose joy is now complete. ()
The Individualist. In prison he turns inward and doubts, asking whether Jesus is the one or whether they should look for another. ()
The case for 8
He is forceful and fearless. He calls religious leaders a brood of vipers and confronts a king to his face ().
Other lenses
Big Five. Read from what he says and does in the Gospels and Acts.
ReservedOutgoing
SteadyReactive
ChallengingAccommodating
SpontaneousDisciplined
TraditionalCurious
DISC style: Bold, principled, uncompromising.
Strengths & struggles
What's good in John the Baptist
Moral courage. Clarity. Humility about his own role. Self-discipline.
Where John the Baptist struggles
He expected the Messiah to come with judgment, and when Jesus' ministry looked different, he wondered ().
What John the Baptist wanted most
To prepare the way for the Lord and see people turn back to God (; ).
What John the Baptist feared most
Scripture doesn't say. His question from prison suggests he feared he had been mistaken about Jesus ().
Every part of John's life pointed past himself. He prepared the way, baptized with water, and then sent his own followers to the one who takes sin away. “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” ().
Questions to sit with
1
Where are you tempted to increase when Christ should?
2
When your circumstances do not match what you expected from God, where do you take your questions?
Study John the Baptist with your group
Ready-to-lead group studies with discussion questions and a leader's note are on the way.
