John the Baptist
Born to Zechariah, a priest, and Elizabeth, John's birth was truly a miracle due to his parents old age. But Zechariah was visited by Gabriel, an angel, who six months later visited Joseph, the soon-to-be father of Jesus. Gabriel assured Zechariah that he would be blessed with a son and that “...even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. (Luke 1: 15)” John grew up to become a baptist in the outskirts of Judea. He baptized an immense amount of people, including Jesus. At the time, King Herod Antipas ruled Judea, who had recently married Herodias, his brother's former wife. John disapproved of King Herod marrying his brother's former wife and because John had so many followers, King Herod put him in prison in hopes to stop any possible revolting. Yet, King Herod did not kill him for he knew that John was a good man. The night of King Herod's birthday, he held a feast in which his step-daughter, Salome, performed a dance. King Herod was so pleased with Salome's dance that he, “...promised on oath to grant her whatever she might ask. (Matthew 14: 1)” Salome ran to her mother and asked her what she might ask for. Herodias, who did not like John whatsoever, told her to ask for John's head brought to her on a platter. Salome did as her mother told her and King Herod, fearing that all his guest would be angered by any broken promises, granted her wish and had John beheaded. The head was brought to Salome, which she brought to her mother. John's disciples came to the prison and gathered the rest of John's body for burial.
Theme:
John the Baptist creates a theme of repentance because he continuously advises people to ask God for forgiveness of their sins and to get baptized because the Messiah, or Savior, is coming. Luke 3:8-9 quotes John the Baptist in his stress on the importance of repentance stating, “Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children of Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” This quote set the theme for John's story, showing how he made an impact at that time.
Allusions to John:
Works Cited:
"Cry, the Beloved Country." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2013.
"Hamlet By William Shakespeare Play Summary." Hamlet: Play Summary. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2013.
"Robinson Crusoe." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2013.
The Go-Anywhere Compact Thinline Bible. N.R.S.V. ed. New York: Harper Collins, 2009. Print.
Theme:
John the Baptist creates a theme of repentance because he continuously advises people to ask God for forgiveness of their sins and to get baptized because the Messiah, or Savior, is coming. Luke 3:8-9 quotes John the Baptist in his stress on the importance of repentance stating, “Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children of Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” This quote set the theme for John's story, showing how he made an impact at that time.
Allusions to John:
- Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. In the book, Robinson, the main character, is stranded on an island and is forced to think of his actions leading up to the present, creating a theme of repentance over his mistake of disobeying his father and sailing out to sea.
- Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton. This novel is about two father's searching for their sons. The story contains an immense amount of the characters lashing out at each other, but in the end they are always met with forgiveness.
- Hamlet by William Shakespeare. This play allows for many themes of repentance as most of the characters end up killing one another eventually ending up with all the main characters dead. Hamlet, the main character, is trying to kill his father's murderer, Claudius, as he is trying to kill Hamlet. The ending of the play ends up with Claudius slowly dieing from poison. He means to pray to God for the forgiveness of his sin, but decides that murdering his own brother is an unforgivable sin.
Works Cited:
"Cry, the Beloved Country." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2013.
"Hamlet By William Shakespeare Play Summary." Hamlet: Play Summary. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2013.
"Robinson Crusoe." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2013.
The Go-Anywhere Compact Thinline Bible. N.R.S.V. ed. New York: Harper Collins, 2009. Print.