John the Baptist
By Craig Paardekooper

Perhaps the greatest expert on the Gospel of John in the twentieth century, Fr. Raymond Brown, once remarked that“virtually everyone who has studied the Qumran texts in the light of the New Testament has recognized the startling
Qumran parallels in the narratives concerning John the Baptist; almost every detail of his life and preaching has apossible Qumran affinity.” [3] [5]Indeed, the circumstantial case that John had contact with the Essenes at Qumran is very strong. The Essenes were theonly sect of the Jews that produced prophets, observed strict asceticism, and practiced celibacy; and all that describes
John: a celibate, ascetic prophet preaching repentance before an imminent judgment—a message also foundabundantly in the Scrolls. But many of the connections between John and the Essenes are much more specific.
Josephus
The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, who lived during the time that the New Testament was being written, tells us
about “John called the Baptist.” Josephus knew of John as a preacher who urged people “to join in baptism” and whom
Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee, “sent as a prisoner to Machaerus” and had “put to death”.

[1]
Dead Sea Scrolls
Yet in none of the 820 fragmentary or complete manuscripts from the eleven Qumran caves is there any mention ofJohn the Baptist, at least so far. The reason for this lack of mention is that most of the Qumran scrolls were copied in
the two centuries before the Christian era – before John the Baptist was born.
Adopted by the Essenes
John did not follow in his father’s footsteps and serve in the Temple. His parents were elderly, and it seems as if John
was adopted by the Essenes, and lived out in the desert. At some point he received a message from God, then set off
on a mission to preach a “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Josephus too spent 3 years with the Essenes
as a youth in the desert – so it was common for the Essenes to take in children for training – a spiritual “bootcamp”

[1]Which Desert ?
John the Baptist preached and baptized in the Jordan only 8 miles from Qumran. We know from the Gospels that John
preached and baptized “in the wilderness of Judea” (Matt 3:1), which refers to the desert areas to the east and downhillfrom Jerusalem. The fact that great crowds from Jerusalem and Judea went out to him virtually requires that John was
ministering along the southern Jordan River, not far from the Dead Sea, the most accessible section of the Jordan for
the Jerusalem populace. John would have been baptizing as little as a half day’s walk from Qumran. [4]The Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness
The reason why the Essenes were in the desert is given in their scroll – “Manual of Discipline”“to go into the desert to prepare there the way of HIM, as it is written, ‘Make ready in the desert the way of Yahweh;
make straight in the wilderness a path for our God’ Isaiah 40 v 3And this very phrase, which defines the sole reason why the Essenes were in the desert in the first place, is used ofJohn the Baptist in all 4 gospels (Mark 1 v 3, Matt 3 v 3, Luke 3 v 3-6, John 1 v 23)
After His baptism, Jesus went into the wilderness for 40 days, where he faced trials. So the wilderness was a place fortraining and preparing people and making them ready for the service of God.
Baptism of Water
Ritual washing was central to the Essene community. Several cisterns and baths are found at Qumran.
The Essene Manual of Discipline speaks of ritual washing as a way of entering the covenanted life of the community.
To “enter the Covenant” is to turn from one’s sin, to “enter into water”, and thus become a member.. However “theyshall not be cleansed unless they repent of their wickedness, for unclean are all who transgress His word (1QS 5:1314)[1]“Through an upright and humble attitude his sin may be covered, and by humbling himself before all God’slaws his flesh can be made clean. Only thus can he really receive the purifying waters and be purged by thecleansing flow.” (1QS 3:8–10)
In the Damascus Document, the Essenes describe themselves repeatedly as the “repentant ones of Israel”

Baptism of the Messiah
In this passage from the 18th chapter of the Testament of Levi we see many elements of the scene where Jesus isbaptized by John in the New Testament –“6 The heavens shall be opened, And from the temple of glory shall come upon him sanctification, With theFather's voice as from Abraham to Isaac. 7 And the glory of the Most High shall be uttered over him, And thespirit of understanding and sanctification shall rest upon him in the water.
8 For he shall give the majesty of the Lord to His sons in truth for evermore ; And there shall none succeed him
for all generations forever.” Testament of Levi, Chapter 18••••

The heavens are opened
The voice of the Father
The descent of the spirit
He is in the water

Baptism of Spirit and FireJohn claimed that he was preparing the way for one who was to come after him, who would “baptize with the HolySpirit and with fire” (Luke 3:16).
We’ve seen that the Qumran community likewise expected one or more messiahs to appear shortly, and the wicked
would be judged by fire (1QS 4:13), while the righteous would be cleansed by the Holy Spirit (1QS 4:21).
For the Essenes, God’s glory was surrounded by “the fire of the great Spirit of perfect holiness” (4Q405). No otherJewish sect put such emphasis on a soon-to-come judgment and the role of the Holy Spirit.

[1]

Are you the one?
[the hea]vens and the earth will listen to His Messiah, and none therein will stray from the commandments ofthe holy ones.
Seekers of the Lord, strengthen yourselves in His service!
All you hopeful in (your) heart, will you not find the Lord in this?
For the Lord will consider the pious (hasidim) and call the righteous by name.
Over the poor His spirit will hover and will renew the faithful with His power.

And He will glorify the pious on the throne of the eternal Kingdom.
He who liberates the captives, restores sight to the blind, straightens the b[ent]And f[or] ever I will cleav[ve to the h]opeful and in His mercy . . .
And the fr[uit . . .] will not be delayed for anyone.
And the Lord will accomplish glorious things which have never been as [He . . .]For He will heal the wounded, and revive the dead and bring good news to the poor
. . .He will lead the uprooted and knowledge . . . and smoke (?)
Messianic Apocalypse 4Q521
This text was published in Biblical Archaeology Review in 1992 titled The Messiah at Qumran.

[2] A Cosmic Messiah Who “Makes Live the Dead” Among the Dead Sea Scrolls Fragments (4Q521) – TaborBlog(jamestabor.com)•••

First, the text speaks of a single Messiah figure who will rule heaven and earth.
Second, it mentions in the clearest language the expectation of the resurrection of the dead during the time of thisMessiah.
Third, it contains an exact verbal parallel with the Gospels of Matthew and Luke for identifying of the signs of theMessiah.

Line 11 of this text also contains another highly striking feature. Indeed, it appears to be the closest and most direct linguistic
parallel to a New Testament text that we have yet discovered. The line reads:

For he will heal the wounded, resurrect the dead,and proclaim glad tiding to the poor.
In both Matthew and Luke we read of a deputation that John the Baptist sends to Jesus while John is imprisoned. John’s
disciples ask Jesus, “Are you the coming one, or do we look for another?” The story is thus tightly framed around thequestion of messianic identity: what will the signs of the true Messiah be? Jesus answers:

Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers arecleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the glad tiding preached to them (Luke7:22-23 and Matthew 11:4-5).
The phrase at the end of line 11, about “proclaiming glad tidings to the poor” is a direct quotation from Isaiah 61:1, whichtells of an “anointed one” (i.e., messiah) who will work various signs before the Day of the Lord. This passage is quite
important in the Gospel of Luke. In fact, he highlights it as the inauguration of the Messianic mission of Jesus. According toLuke, it is this very verse from Isaiah which Jesus reads and claims to fulfil in his home town synagogue of Nazareth.
However, what is most noteworthy is that Isaiah 61:1 says nothing about this Anointed One raising the dead. Indeed, in theentire Hebrew Bible there is nothing about a messiah figure raising the dead. Yet, when we turn to Luke and Matthew quote,regarding the “signs of the Messiah,” we find the two phrases linked: “the dead are raised up, the poor have the glad tidingspreached to them,” precisely as we have in our Qumran text. [2][1]ElijahLuke makes more than passing use of this notion of the “resurrection of the dead” as a sign of the age of the Messiah. In thetwo places he quotes Isaiah 61:1 he also mentions specific cases of resurrection of the dead: as Elijah once raised the son of
the widow, Jesus now raises the son of the widow from Nain (Luke 4:26; 7:11-17). This is hardly accidental, as the close
juxtaposition of the texts makes clear. [2]These were traditions shared between the community of John the Baptist and that of the early followers of Jesus. The text
provides a most direct and significant example of a common messianic hope among the followers of John the Baptist, Jesus,
and the Teacher of Righteousness.

Testimony of John
1

“If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who testifies in my favor, and I knowthat his testimony about me is true.
33“You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. 34 Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention
it that you may be saved. 35 John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy hislight.
36“I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very
works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified
concerning me.
John 5 v 16-19
So when the gospels say there were three testimonies to Jesus - which includes John the Baptist - they are referring
not just to John as a single person , but to the vast amount of Essene prophecy of the messiah that existed at thattime. So the testimony of John the Baptist is the testimony of all the ancient prophecies kept by the Essenes.
The testimony of the Essenes was particularly trustworthy since their lives were models of ascetism (uncorrupted bywealth) and of adherence to truth.
Unfortunately such testimony was naturally suppressed in the first century by the factions of Pharisees and Sadducees
who rejected the Messiah , and who formed the new rabbinic Judaism - though some prophecies such as those foundin Isaiah could not be ignored. The result of this suppression / redaction is a period of 500 “silent” years from Ezra till
Christ. Peering into this silence, we find a new covenant, a Teacher of Righteousness, a holy community of the Essenes,
who were assigned a mission of “preparing a Way for the Lord”, and a series of remarkable prophecies of a Messiah.

References
1. FITZMEYER, JOSEPH, “The Dead Sea Scrolls and Christian Origins” by Joseph A. Fitzmyer , The Dead Sea scrolls andChristian origins : Fitzmyer, Joseph A : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
2. TABOR, JAMES A Cosmic Messiah Who “Makes Live the Dead” Among the Dead Sea Scrolls Fragments (4Q521) –TaborBlog (jamestabor.com)
3. BROWN, RAYMOND, “The Qumran Scrolls and the Johannine Gospels and Epistles,” pp. 183–207, in The Scrolls andthe New Testament (ed. Krister Stendahl; New York: Harper, 1957)
4. BERGSMA, JOHN. Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (p. 234). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
5. BETZ, OTTO “Was John the Baptist an Essene?,” pp. 205–214 in Understanding the Dead Sea Scrolls: A Reader fromthe Biblical Archeology Review (ed. Hershel Shanks; New York: Random House, 1992).