The Essenes and John the Baptizer
Matthew 3:4-6
And the same John had his clothing of camel's hair and a leather girdle about his loins and his food was locusts and wild honey Then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judaea and all the region round about Jordan and were baptized by him in Jordan confessing their sins
Comments: Matthew 3:4 John’s father was a priest. That means John was of the priestly line and as an adult would have served in the temple during his rotation. But he did not. Instead, he chose to stay in the wilderness, preaching and baptizing in the name of the coming Messiah.
Many believe John to have been affiliated with the Essenes, an old and respected Jewish sect responsible for preserving the Dead Sea Scrolls (writing some of them). He lived in the wilderness as they did. He eschewed creature comforts as they did. He rejected the religious politics of the Pharisees and the Sadducees, as they did.
John’s platform for preaching was not the temple, as was the case with Anna and Simeon. He did not typically go to the people. Instead, the people came to hear him in the wilderness.
This writer also believes it is likely that John, at some point in his life, took the vow of the Nazarite and remained a Nazarite for the remainder of his life, and that is the reason he never drank wine and kept to a strange diet of locusts and wild honey.
Matthew 3:6 Baptism pre-dated Christ. Baptism as an act of confessing sins and faith in the coming Messiah was a new thing, and John was known uniquely as The Baptizer—the only one baptizing in that way.
John’s Baptism was prophetic and completely unique, having everything to do with faith, repentance, and foreshadowing the death, burial, and resurrection of the coming Messiah, who had been preached in his infancy by Anna the Prophetess, and Simeon, and the Magi.
Jocelyn Andersen is the author of several non-fiction books, including, Redemption: Bible Prophecy Simplified, a Study of HOPE.
She will eventually be releasing e-book and print commentaries on every book of the Bible she features in this column. Click HERE to subscribe to updates, book release and event announcements, and links to all her Substack columns. Connect with Jocelyn on Goodreads and LinkedIn.
Note from the editor: I read my Bible every day, always picking up today where I left off yesterday. I have been doing this for over 44 years. The posts in this column are usually notes on whatever passage I happen to be reading on any particular day during what I call my “on-track” Bible reading.
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