GIOVANNI BATTISTA. - Forerunner of Jesus in preaching and in Baptism, from which he derived his name (ὁ βαπτιστής “the baptizer”: Mt. 3, 1, etc.). Jesus extols his person and ministry, placing him above the prophets and above every man born of woman, describing him as a strong and austere man and comparing him to “a burning and shining lamp” and, in spirit, to Elijah. G. marks the end of the law and the prophets and inaugurates the new Gospel era (Mt. 11, 7-9, 11; Lc. 7, 24-28; Mt. 9, 13 ff.; 17, 12; Mc. 9, 12 ff.; Io. 5, 35). He precedes the Messiah in order to bear witness to him and, by preaching and baptizing the crowds of Israel, disposes them to conversion of soul and to bear the fruits of good works, so that they may enter into the Messianic economy. He will withdraw into the shadows in order to let him whom he considers infinitely greater than himself increase (Io. 3, 29 ff.), concluding his mission with martyrdom.
A fitting preparation precedes his mission: the prophecies of Is. 40, 3 and Mal. 3, 1; the intervention of the angel Gabriel; the wonders of his sanctification in his mother’s womb, of his birth and the giving of his name; the visit of the Mother of Jesus to St. Elisabetta; an austere life spent in the deserts. A popular movement immediately forms around him; the religious authorities take an interest in him and do not hinder him. He refuses what does not belong to him, but emphatically affirms what he is: “the voice of the Forerunner” (Io. 1, 19-27). At the center of his activity is the administration of baptism to Jesus on the banks of the Jordan. Flavio Giuseppe (Antiq. Iud., XVIII, 5, 2) praises his preaching, his baptism, and his martyrdom. More detailed information comes from the Gospels.