John the Baptist

John performed a ritual called the Mikvah to the Jews. It was not Baptism. He did it differently from Jewish law though.

Baptism, from Greek βαπτίζω (baptízô), is a religious act of purification by water usually associated with admission to membership or fullness of membership of Christianity. Because of the word's association with Christianity and its periodically repeated character, the Jewish purification rite of mikvah is not normally spoken of as baptism.

Mikvah (or mikveh) (Hebrew: מִקְוָה, Standard MiqvaTiberian Miqwāh; plural: mikva'ot or mikves) is a specific type of bath designed for the purpose of ritual washing in Judaism. The word "mikvah", as used in the Hebrew Bible, literally means a "collection" - generally, a collection of water.

Several biblical regulations specify that full immersion in water is required to regain ritual purity after ritually impure incidents have occurred. Most forms of impurity can be nullified through immersion in any natural collection of water. Some, such as a Zav, however require "living water," such as springs or groundwater wells. Living water has the further advantage of being able to purify even while flowing as opposed to rainwater which must be stationary in order to purify.

The mikvah is designed to simplify this requirement, by providing a bathing facility that remains in ritual contact with a natural source of water. Its main uses nowadays are:

• by Jewish women to achieve ritual purity after menstruation or childbirth
• by Jewish men to achieve ritual purity (see details below)
• as part of a traditional procedure for conversion to Judaism
• for utensils used for food

John's baptism was an adaptation of the mikvah, or ritual immersion bath, that had been part of Jewish life for generations and symbolized a spiritual cleansing. It was used to consecrate a new beginning. Jewish men took a mikvah each Sabbath. Women took a mikvah after each monthly period.

On Yom Kippur the High Priest took 7 mikvot (plural of mikvah) during the ceremonies. Jesus came to John for a mikvah at the beginning of His ministry. The reason John had people take a mikvah was to show that they had changed their minds (repented) about their need for a Savior and were taking a new direction regarding their salvation. No longer would they focus on keeping the Law but would look instead to the coming redeemer whose arrival John was announcing. Once Jesus came, John's baptism of repentance was no longer needed, so it became a symbol of the believer's death and re-birth.

In Islam it's called; Wudu (Arabic: الوضوء al-wuḍū', Persian:آبدست ābdast, Turkish: abdest) is the Islamic act of washing parts of the body using water. Muslims are required to perform wudu in preparation for ritual prayers and for handling and reading the Qur'an. Wudu is often translated as "partial ablution", and Ghusl (غسل) is an Arabic term referring to the full ablution (ritual washing) required in Islam. In order to enter a state of purity before salat, a Muslim usually performs the partial ablution, or wudu. In some cases, it is mustahab (recommended) to perform ghusl. These cases include:

1. Friday prayer
2. Entering ehram for hajj
3. Being unconscious
4. Burying a mushrik
5. Before going out for the Eid prayer
6. After a new Muslim takes shahada for the first time
7. Before performing Namaz-e-tawbah (Shia Muslims).

In other cases a ghusl is obligatory. These cases are:

1. After having sexual intercourse or any discharge of semen or sexual fluids.
2. After a woman completes her menstrual cycle.
3. Death away from the battlefield.

"Now many people came in crowds to him, for they were greatly moved by his words. Herod, who feared that the great influence John had over the masses might put them into his power and enable him to raise a rebellion (for they seemed ready to do anything he should advise), thought it best to put him to death. In this way, he might prevent any mischief John might cause, and not bring himself into difficulties by sparing a man who might make him repent of it when it would be too late. Accordingly John was sent as a prisoner, out of Herod's suspicious temper, to Macherus, the castle I already mentioned, and was put to death."

The wedding took place in 34 CE and the execution of John would have been in 35 or 36 CE.

JOHN was the one sent by God before Jesus

[John was indeed the one prophecied to come before the LORD (Isaiah 40 & Malachi 3).

"In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. " Matthew 3:1-3

Furthermore, the people who came to John repented of their sins and then they were baptized; therefore, it is said John's was the baptism of repentance:

"Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus." Acts 19:4

However, the Gospel account recorded in John, gives some insight into "baptism" and the Jews:

"And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?

And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.

And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias?

And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.

Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?

He said, I [am] the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.

And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?" John 1:19-25

Clearly, the Pharisees were not surprised that John was baptizing; they were surprised he was baptizing if he were not Christ, Elias, or "that prophet" (Deut 18). Yeshua (Jesus) was Messiah (Christ) and "that prophet" prophecied in Deut 18.

The Old Testament does not refer to baptism, but the Jews had (and still have) a ritual cleansing called a Mikveh. The Mikveh was a ritual purification in which the person is fully immersed in water. Mikvehs were not done in the temple, but in rivers, pools, or even homes. This practice correlates very well with the baptism of John.

Of course, the baptism later became the way followers of Messiah professed their faith in the one true God (the sinful man symbolically dying, and the spiritual man symbolically born; it is also a type and a shadow of the ressurection to come when Messiah returns).]

And all the people that heard [him], and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him." So I believe the answer to the question is that that Pharisees and Sadducees came to John to find what was going on and who the madman was. John exclaimed to them in Matthew 3:8, 'Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:' , which indicates that they, the all powerful religious leaders of the Jews needed to repent and start living a more righteous life with goodly works and loving hearts before being considered for baptism in the Kingdom of God. Getting back to the new phenomena - Baptism - that had arrived in Israel, one could argue that the reason the Jews, especially the Pharisees and Sadducees, were not at all surprised by the act of baptism was because John the Baptist had preached this doctrine or in other word, preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the area for many days, weeks or months and that the people had become accustomed to it. I doubt this also. It is in my opinion that repentance and the remission of sins through Baptism began when Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden. Prior to this they knew not what was good or evil and they were not ashamed to walk naked in the Garden. When they ate the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil they knew, and were ashamed of their nakedness. They fell from the presence of God and from that time forth they and their sons and daughters had the freedom to choose, whether it be good or evil. To be consistent with the order and purpose of baptism, the Gospel of Jesus Christ would have been preach and baptism for the remission of sins preformed. I will leave all you good people with a verse from Jeremiah 52:20 concerning the Brazen Sea that was in Solomon's temple, "The two pillars, one sea, and twelve brazen bulls that [were] under the bases, which king Solomon had made in the house of the LORD:…" I believe the Brazen Sea, to be a font for Baptisms>

Another answer from our community:

John the Baptist had older parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth. He is believed to have been orphaned at a young age and was fostered by Essene monks in a desert monastery. That is why he was strange in his behavior of sack cloth garments and wilderness food. This is all conjecture but it would explain a lot.