The Bridge Between the Old and New

Testaments

• After the Israelites returned to Jerusalem in 537 BC, Palestine was governed by many different countries

• In 167 BC, the king of Syria who governed Palestine at that time forbade the practice of Judaism

• The people rebelled and defeated their enemies

• They did this under the leadership of a group called the Maccabees

• The Temple was rededicated to God

• These events are celebrated as the feast of Hanukkah

• Palestine remained independent until 63 BC, when Rome conquered it.

• Around the year 4 BC, a Temple priest named Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth had a son, even though they thought they were too old

• They named their son John, as instructed by a messenger of God

• John’s mission was to prepare the way for the savior

• He did this by preaching and baptizing the people

• John the Baptist was an Essene

• The Essenes believed in adherence to God’s laws and practiced penance and self-discipline.

• They lived simply and often went into the wilderness to fast and to pray

• The prophet Isaiah had spoken of a prophet who would come after himself

• This new prophet would be a “Voice crying out in the wilderness…” and would instruct the people to “prepare the way of the Lord.”

• This was Isaiah’s prophesy of John the Baptist

• John’s main message was, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”

• Many people were baptized by John an heard his message

• One day, John’s relative, Jesus of Nazareth, came to the Jordan River where John was preaching and baptizing

• John told Jesus that Jesus should be the one baptizing him, but Jesus wanted to set an example for others

• John baptized Jesus and told his own disciples (followers) to now follow Jesus, for he was the one God had promised

• John called Jesus the “Lamb of God”

• Many of John’s disciples began following Jesus

• After Jesus’ baptism, he went into the desert of Judea to pray and to prepare for his own mission

• From this point on, John’s role faded. He had fulfilled his mission.

• Soon after baptizing Jesus, John was arrested, then beheaded, by King Herod

• John the Baptist is the bridge between the Old and New Testaments

• Jesus went on to fulfill his mission of Redemption

• In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish (end) the law or the prophets; I do not come to abolish, but to fulfill.”

• What we read about in the Old Testament comes to fruition in the New Testament through Jesus.

• John the Baptist preaches the Law and the prophets, and introduces the savior to the people who were waiting for a Messiah

• John the Baptist is often called the Forerunner of Jesus