John's baptism--was it from heaven, or from men? Tell me!"(Mark 11:30)
Jesus’ question in return was about the baptism of John the Baptist. “John's baptism--was it from heaven, or from men?” This question sounds a little awkward. For what relationship between John’s baptism and Jesus’ authority had, and asked like this? Somewhat it looks like a sort of trick to escape from such difficult question for he didn’t find out the answer.
It is not so. There was a friction between them. John the Baptist was a prophet in the desert. He had lived as a thoroughgoing rustic life. Not only a pattern of life but his spirituality also was the same. He was standing against the religious leaders, the main stream of Israel, gathered around the temple and synagogue. At this point, John was a forerunner of Jesus. The gospel described John as a prophet to prepare the way for Messiah.
However, John didn’t identify himself with Jesus unconditionally. Among Jesus’ official life, John or at least his disciples were in the competitive relationship with Jesus’ community at a certain part. The early Christianity after Jesus, especially in Gentile Christianity, the group to follow John the Baptist exercised their power considerably. The baptism of John and it of Jesus, the baptism of the Holy Spirit confronted each other. As time went by, John’s followers lost their power in early Christianity.
Jesus mentioned about John the Baptist in his official life several times. The content the gospels describe was not from a certain practical history but the memories that came out from at the level of their religious confession. So it is not easy to judge what was the idea of Jesus? At least Jesus was baptized by John and received a certain religious motivation from him to proclaim the kingdom of God. Jesus pressed the religious leaders to give him an answer for how did they think about the author of John the Baptist.
Jesus’ question in return was about the baptism of John the Baptist. “John's baptism--was it from heaven, or from men?” This question sounds a little awkward. For what relationship between John’s baptism and Jesus’ authority had, and asked like this? Somewhat it looks like a sort of trick to escape from such difficult question for he didn’t find out the answer.
It is not so. There was a friction between them. John the Baptist was a prophet in the desert. He had lived as a thoroughgoing rustic life. Not only a pattern of life but his spirituality also was the same. He was standing against the religious leaders, the main stream of Israel, gathered around the temple and synagogue. At this point, John was a forerunner of Jesus. The gospel described John as a prophet to prepare the way for Messiah.
However, John didn’t identify himself with Jesus unconditionally. Among Jesus’ official life, John or at least his disciples were in the competitive relationship with Jesus’ community at a certain part. The early Christianity after Jesus, especially in Gentile Christianity, the group to follow John the Baptist exercised their power considerably. The baptism of John and it of Jesus, the baptism of the Holy Spirit confronted each other. As time went by, John’s followers lost their power in early Christianity.
Jesus mentioned about John the Baptist in his official life several times. The content the gospels describe was not from a certain practical history but the memories that came out from at the level of their religious confession. So it is not easy to judge what was the idea of Jesus? At least Jesus was baptized by John and received a certain religious motivation from him to proclaim the kingdom of God. Jesus pressed the religious leaders to give him an answer for how did they think about the author of John the Baptist.
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