Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

THE MISSION OF JESUS §11.2
Herod Antipas right into the middle of his account of John (Luke 3.18-20). The
effect is to have removed John from the scene before Jesus' baptism, the account
of the baptism itself being then passed over in a single word {baptisthentos, 'having
been baptized', 3.21). 64
Once again, then, it is difficult to avoid the inference that there was an
early period in Jesus' mission which the Synoptic Evangelists chose to ignore,
presumably because the distinctive mission of Jesus began only after Jesus separated
from the Baptist or was forced by John's arrest to strike out on his own in
Galilee. 65 Whether on the basis of this finding we should speak of Jesus as John's
'disciple' may resolve simply into the question whether 'disciple' is the best term
to use. 66 Whether it also means that in developing a distinctive mission Jesus also
adopted a distinctive message is a question to which we will have to return. 67 For
the time being, it is enough to note that John's baptism as marking the beginning
of Jesus' mission is a historical fact of considerable substance.
c. The Beginning of the Gospel
The conclusion just reached is all the more striking in view of the fact that the
Baptist is remembered in all strands of the Gospel tradition as 'the beginning of
the gospel of Jesus Christ' (Mark 1.1). Mark is most explicit: 1.2-8 makes it clear
that it is John who marks or even constitutes that 'beginning'; just as, later,
John's martyr-like death prefigures that of Jesus (6.14-29). But the fact that Q, by
general consent, begins with the preaching of John (Matt. 3.7-12/Luke 3.7-9,16-
17) carries the same implication. 68 Matthew, although beginning with the birth
narratives, amazingly has John preaching precisely the same message as Jesus:
'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has drawn near' (Matt. 3.2 = 4.17; cf. 10.7);
the gospel of Jesus did indeed begin with John! Luke also prefaces his account of
John's ministry with birth narratives, but they themselves begin with the account
64. 'By a literary tour deforce John is imprisoned before he baptizes Jesus' (Wink, John
the Baptist 46). But he pushes too hard in arguing that Luke understood Jesus to have baptized
himself (83 and n. 1).
65. For further reflection on the overlap between John's and Jesus' missions see
J. Murphy-O'Connor, 'John the Baptist and Jesus: History and Hypotheses', NTS 36 (1990)
359-74.
66. Chilton develops the fanciful thesis that Jesus spent his teenage years as a disciple
(talmid) of John who inducted him into the practice of merkabah mysticism (Rabbi Jesus 32-63).
67. See below §12.4e. Even so, it may be significant that the same accusation is recalled
as levelled against both John and Jesus ('he has Beelzebul/an unclean spirit' — Mark 3.22, 30;
'he has a demon' — Matt. 11.18/Luke 7.33) despite the differences of their lifestyle.
68. Schröter deduces that the beginning with John was already part of the oral tradition
prior to Mark and Q (Erinnerung 448-49).
352