John The Baptist Essay

There are two major sources that contribute to the historical view of John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth, the gospels and the writings of the historian Josephus. When discussing the historical significance of John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth, it is important to include a discussion of the two major sources and their historical backdrop and accuracy, as well as any issues that may arise with the use of these source materials. Only after fully understanding the backdrop in which these historical documents were written, can we begin to see how they combine to give a fuller picture of John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth’s actions and words during their respective lifetimes. Having laid out the issue that will be discussed, I will begin
with a description of the historical setting in which the gospels and the works of Josephus were written, including an analysis of potential issues with these sources. Finally, I will discuss how the gospels and Josephus combine to give a historical picture of Jesus of Nazareth.
Josephus is the most prominent source for Jewish history during the second temple period.
In his writing he reveals, “he was a member of a prominent priestly family in Jerusalem and was born in the first year of the reign of the emperor Gaius Caligula” (VanderKam, 142). He was a prominent figure in the Jewish revolt before being defeated, captured, and imprisoned by the Roman general Vespasian (VanderKam, 142-143). Josephus was given his freedom and became highly respected by the Roman leadership after correctly predicting Vespasian’s rise to power (VanderKam, 143). The rest of his life was spent in Rome writing four historical works: Jewish War, Jewish Antiquities, Life, and Against Apion (VanderKam, 143-144). Jewish War is a history of the Jewish revolt based on Josephus’ experience, memory, and interviews from the revolt (VanderKam, 144). Jewish Antiquities is an entire history of the Jewish people, beginning with the creation story in Genesis through the rule of King Herod and his sons and ending at the beginning of the Jewish revolt (VanderKam, 144-145). Life is an autobiographical work about Josephus’ actions during the Jewish revolt and is essence a defense of his actions (VanderKam, 145-146). Finally, Against Apion is a “defense of the Jews, their history, and their theocratic constitution” (VanderKam, 146). Josephus is defending his people from the arguments and accusations being thrown at them by other historians, especially Greek and Egyptian writers (VanderKam,
146).
The second major historical sources for information about the life of Jesus of Nazareth are the gospels.
The four canonical gospels used in the New Testament today were written between 70 and 90 CE (Lynch, 5). Although each gospel is attached to a specific name, the actual identity of each author is unknown (Lynch, 5). The Gospel of Mark is associated with the teachings of the apostle Peter and is believed to have been written by a follower of Peter, who was trying to recall all the stories he had heard about Jesus from Peter (Lynch, 6). It is theorized that Mark’s gospel was written for a “community under pressure, perhaps the community at Rome that was recovering from Nero’s attack in 64” (Lynch, 6). The Gospel of Matthew is said to be a compilation of the oracles in the Hebrew language although there is no evidence of it having been translated in the Greek version (Lynch, 6). Matthew’s gospel emphasizes continuity with Judaism and portrays Jesus as a teacher, which makes it useful for teaching Christian values (Lynch, 6-7). The Gospel of Luke was written by a companion of Paul, who is believed to be a physician and gentile (Lynch, 7). Luke’s Gospel emphasizes the acceptance of gentiles because Jesus’s message was universal and “was always intended for all humanity” (Lynch, 7). These three gospels are known collectively as the synoptic gospels and share many similarities. These similarities are the result of Luke and Matthew using the Gospel of Mark and another source, Q,
as the source material for their gospels (Lynch, 7). The final gospel, the Gospel of John, differs from the synoptic gospels and it appears that the author was unaware of the other gospels or chose to ignore them (Lynch, 8). Scholars believe that the author is John, the son of Zebedee, one of the apostles, and he wrote it for a community “where the Jewish synagogue had expelled those members who accepted Jesus as Messiah (Lynch, 8-9). John’s gospel contained only seven miracles and Jesus’ preaching was “long and philosophical, not down-to-earth as in the synoptics” (Lynch, 9).
These are the major sources for the life and acts of Jesus of Nazareth, however they are not without their faults. Josephus’ writing has been criticized as biased and there is evidence that Christian scholars may have edited his writings on Jesus. Josephus was able to write his historical texts thanks to the patronage of his Roman friends. This may have influenced his writing as he labels the leaders of the Jewish revolt radicals and claims their zealous in the revolt forced the Romans to sack Jerusalem (VanderKam, 144). In Jewish Antiquities, Josephus writes a passage that “sounds as if he recognizes him (Jesus) as the messiah,” however, “it is virtually certain that Christian scribes later touched up a shorter and more equivocal reference to Jesus” (VanderKam, 145). Finally, in Life, Josephus contradicts his descriptions of his actions during the Jewish revolt and it is believed that he did this to protect himself from accusations brought against him by the Jewish people, but it is a reminder that his writing “although it focused on the past, was also influenced by the present” (VanderKam, 146). In addition, the gospels also have issues that devalue their use as historical records. The gospels are not biographies of Jesus’ life but, “theology in a narrative form” (Lynch, 5-6). This means they are really investigations into the meaning and significance of Jesus’ life. Each author intends to push forward an agenda or speak to a specific audience and therefore, their work cannot be taken as fact (Lynch, 5-9).
Although these sources have their faults they help modern day historians create an accurate picture of Jesus’ life. In Josephus’ Jewish Antiquities, there is a paragraph about Jesus, in which Josephus describes Jesus as a messiah (Josephus, 480). While we are aware that this passage has been heavily edited it is accepted that Josephus had mentioned Jesus in this paragraph before it was edited. This heavily edited paragraph is preceded by a description of Pontius Pilate and some of the acts he had taken that offended the Jewish people (Josephus, 480). It is safe to assume that Josephus’ original paragraph described Pilate sentencing Jesus to death and this can be corroborated with the gospels, “So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified” (Mark 15:15). Josephus does not mention Jesus often in his writing so, this section provides the only chance to corroborate the two sources. We are certain Josephus mentions Jesus in his section about Pilate and using the gospel stories we are able to more fully flesh out Jesus’ appearance before Pilate.