Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

§11.2 Beginning from the Baptism of John
The account goes on to speak of the great enthusiasm aroused by John's preaching
which caused Herod Antipas to fear a possible insurrection (18.118). We
should note that Josephus introduces this brief description of John into his account
of the dispute between Herod and Aretas, king of Petra (18.109-126), as
the explanation for Aretas's victory. 'The verdict of the Jews was that the destruction
of Herod's army was a vindication of John, since God saw fit to inflict
such a blow on Herod' (18.119). 51
The Gospel accounts likewise reflect the enthusiasm among the people engendered
by John's preaching. The Evangelists' description of 'all Judea and all
Jerusalemites' (Mark 1.5), 'all Judea and all the region round about' (Matt. 3.5),
'all the people' (Luke 3.21) flocking to be baptized is no doubt hyperbolic, but
otherwise is consistent with Josephus' report. 52 The fact that John was known as
'the Baptist' attests a distinctive ritual act 53 which must have involved many. And
the Q tradition in Matt. 11.7-9/Luke 7.24-26 likewise reflects a steady stream of
people going out into the wilderness to see John. According to the same text he
was generally reckoned a 'prophet', a fact of significance in itself, since the title
had rarely been accorded or merited since Malachi. 54 Similarly the exchange in
Mark 11.29-33 pars, implies that John was held in high popular esteem as a
prophet. 55 Indeed, according to Luke, the people wondered whether John might
be 'the Messiah' (Luke 3.15), a possibility echoed in John 1.20. Certainly he
seems to have attracted a band of disciples, 56 which may have retained a recog-
51. 'To some of the Jews [it] seemed to be divine vengeance, and certainly a just vengeance,
for his treatment of John' (18.116). The reference is to the defeat of Herod's army by
the Nabatean king Aretas in 36 CE, about eight years after the probable date of John's execution
(above, chapter 9 n. 254); see also below, §11.6.
52. Most agree that John must have operated mainly on the east side of the Jordan, in
Perea, that is, the territory of Antipas, but close enough to the Dead Sea to be easily accessible
from Jerusalem and Judea; see, e.g., discussion in J. Ernst, Johannes der Täufer: Interpretation
— Geschichte — Wirkungsgeschichte (BZNW 53; Berlin: de Gruyter, 1989) 280-84; also
'Johannes der Täufer und Jesus von Nazareth in historischer Sicht', NTS 43 (1997) 161-83;
Meier, Marginal Jew 1.43-46; Stegemann, Library 212-13. Flusser, however, locates the Baptist's
activity in the vicinity of Bethsaida, north of the lake (Jesus 43-44, 258 n. 2).
53. See further below §11.3a.
54. Discussion, e.g., in R. L. Webb, John the Baptizer and Prophet: A Socio-Historical
Study (JSNTS 62; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 1991) 307-78; J. E. Taylor, The Immerser:
John the Baptist within Second Temple Judaism (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997) 213-34.
55. See also Matt. 14.5; Luke 1.76; and further M. Tilly, Johannes der Täufer und die
Biographie der Propheten. Die synoptische Täuferüberlieferung und das jüdische Prophetenbild
zur Zeit des Täufers (BZANT 137; Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1994).
56. Mark 2.18 pars.; 6.29 par.; Matt. 11.2/Luke 7.18; Luke 11.1; John 1.35-37; 3.25-30.
Whether John himself intended to create a disciple band is much less clear, still less that he saw
them as representative of Israel in any sense. Meier understates the evidence (Marginal Jew
2.92 n. 149). The argument that John's baptism was 'initiatory' (e.g., R. L. Webb, 'John the
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