John the Baptist was born to bear witness that Jesus was the Christ. (John 1:6-8) Like Jeremiah before him, while he was yet in the womb the Almighty anointed him to prepare the way of salvation for Israel. (Jeremiah 1:4-5; Luke 1:13-17) And what a dramatic witness he made. For he came to his calling as if he were the last of the Old Testament prophets. (Luke 16:16) Certainly, he must have looked the part the day he burst from the bare Judean hills -- his long hair streaming, his black eyes blazing -- to proclaim to the world that the long-awaited Messiah had come. (Matthew 3:1-3)

I

Here was no "reed shaken by the wind." (Matthew 11:7) Here was a herald who had come unscathed through the austerity of the desert with lightning bolts scoring crags above his head, sandstorms lashing hapless travelers, brigands pouncing on unwary victims, and death in the guise of vipers lurking behind every rock. Moreover, when the moment for action had struck, whatever its nature, he seized it with the tenacity of a hawk snatching its prey, pinioning its challenge with a moral judgment as piercing as that bird's talons.

Undoubtedly such a passion for the spiritual on John's part stemmed from his earliest days. For both his father, Zechariah, and his mother, Elizabeth, were priests of the order of Aaron, a lineage of no lesser distinction.

At the same time, however, for reasons of his own, John had not followed in their footsteps. Instead, he had taken to the desert to prepare himself for a lifetime of witnessing and while there he had met other men who, like himself, were searching its solitude for the key to more significant lives.

Strong personality that John was it did not take him long to band them together in the cause of righteousness and, returning with them, to travel the countryside evangelizing. And so effectively did he and his men do so that "Jerusalem and all Judea" were baptized by him in the Jordan. (Matthew 3:5) But in the process John performed the sacred rite for none until he was assured their commitments were genuine. (cf. Matthew 3:7-10)

II

Cousins, (Luke 1:36) Jesus and John had grown up together. Accordingly, they had long shared a close relationship. In all likelihood, as with most childhood companions, they must have constantly run in and out of one another's houses munching tasty morsels fresh from their mothers' mud ovens or hunkered down side by side over some fishing hole, jointly displaying their catches with pride. How often, too, their chores done, the two of them must have joined the village children at play until some sulking youngster put an end to their games. (Luke 7:32)

Youthful experiences have a way of sealing the bonds binding one heart to another. So it was no coincidence Jesus was there when John came down to the Jordan preaching his gospel of repentance.

What surprised John was not Jesus' presence at the start of his ministry, but that the Master asked to be baptized. At first, knowing Jesus as intimately as he did, John protested. "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" he asked, (Matthew 3:13) thereby bearing open witness to the multitude that a greater person than he stood in their midst. The very thought of baptizing Jesus was awesome to him. Yet neither could John bring himself to deny the Master's request. Mulling it over later, however, he came to see it was Jesus' way of identifying with him (cf. Hebrews 4:15) and to have had even a small part in such a magnificent gesture was glory enough for anyone.

Meanwhile Israel's Tetrarch, a man named Herod Antipas, was becoming increasingly agitated over what he saw developing. For not only had Jesus' presence among the people been a disturbing factor to him, now John the Baptist was stirring them up too with his fiery preaching. Thus, to Herod the makings of a revolution were present and he must take decisive steps to quell it in the bud. Not knowing where else to start he sent a deputation of priests and Levites to check John out. Was John himself the Christ, Herod wanted to know. (John 1:24)

III

The deputation's very question provided John with a perfect opportunity to witness for Jesus, and he was quick to pounce upon it. Speaking in a voice all could hear he replied, "Among you stands one whom you do not know, even he who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie." (John 1:19-27)

At this late date John's words sound innocuous enough. But actually they constituted a bold witness to the Lord in the presence of potentially ruthless enemies. For they cut across the highest levels of Israel's status-conscious society, as a third century rabbi's instruction clearly indicates when he tells his coterie of young men, "Every service which a slave performs for his master a pupil will do for his teacher, except unloosing his shoe."

To Herod's emissaries John's reply was a full and unqualified commitment to Jesus, exalting him even above a ruler bent on preserving his prestige and power regardless of whomever he must destroy to do so or whatever price he must pay for it.

Nor did John's witness end there. At times, as he readily understood, one is called upon to witness to his own, not always the easiest witness to bear, but none the less vital than any other. Thus, John was not surprised when his followers began to ply him with questions about Jesus.

To the chagrin of those who had joined ranks with John, Jesus was drawing larger crowds than he, exciting their jealousy. It could have been a vexing moment for any man. But not for John. Instead, he seized the situation to undergird the commitments of his followers by apprising them of his place in God's plan, assuring them that all was going according to a heavenly design.

After all, was not John the forerunner sent to prepare the way while Jesus was the Messiah whose advent John was appointed of heaven to announce? Thus, was it not his divine mandate to make ready the way for the Lord's preeminence? And that being so, must it not follow that "He must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3:25-30) In short, did not the very increase in Jesus' ranks prove John was doing what God had sent him into the world to do?

It was the testimony of a prophet made with the forthrightness of a prophet. Moreover, it was a testimony drawn from years of sharing experiences with Jesus as the two of them had grown up together. For had not Jesus opened his innermost thoughts to John in days long flown as they had sat beside a favorite fishing hole or thrilled to the dancing of lilies of the field in the wind?

Nor could John have associated so long with Jesus, "who knew what was in man," (John 2:25) without coming to possess some measure of such knowledge himself. Thus, it is little wonder others listened when John spoke about Jesus. As Charles Francis Potter reminds us, "All the gospel writers agree that what started each out on his public ministry was the preaching of John the Baptist."

John did not limit his witness to words, however. Instead, he confirmed it by directing to the Master the latter's first two disciples. (John 1:35-37)

IV

It was only a short time, however, until the skein ran out for John. Undoubtedly, there were two reasons for it.

First of all, as John's followers multiplied, Herod Antipas became increasingly uneasy. For he saw in John's growing numbers the threat of an insurrection.

The concern was not totally groundless, not because John was politically minded but because the times in general were uncertain marked as they were with numerous uprisings stemming from various messianic claims. Consequently, so far as Herod saw John's activities, far from being spiritually motivated, they were openly seditious, and with the crowds attracting larger and larger numbers to John, the Tetrarch felt he must take drastic action before John snatched Galilee from his control. Indeed the very thought of that happening made him shudder. John, he told himself, must be silenced before the unthinkable could come to pass by way of a rebellion John might spark.

In the second place, by scouring the region with his call for repentance, John was fast becoming Herod's conscience with nowhere to hide from it by day or by night. It was enough to drive one mad and somehow, the Tetrarch told himself, he must find a way to rid himself of it.

Meanwhile, however, Herod involved himself in a scandal with his brother's wife. It was customary for local administrators at Antipas' level to pay ceremonial visits periodically to the emperor. The occasion might be any significant occurrence at court. On one of these official trips -- perhaps a death in Tiberius' family -- Herod accepted his brother Philip's gracious invitation as house guest, then promptly rewarded the fraternal hospitality by stealing Philip's wife, Herodias.

True to form, John denounced Herod for his immorality. Nor did he do so from afar. Rather, he charged the lecherous ruler with his sin to his face. (Mark 6:17-18) It was more than Antipas could bear. So, goaded on by his partner in the sordid affair -- and tricked into making her an infamous promise -- he had John beheaded. (Mark 6:19-29)

It was an act to haunt Herod day and night. For try as he may he could not blot the horror of his deed from his mind. So persistently did it pursue him, in fact, that when Jesus swept into Galilee to take up the work John's witness had prepared for him Herod was terrified at the thought John had returned from the dead to wreak vengeance upon him. (Luke 9:7)