empress. but, this story plays the heart of the christian faith. she gives christianity a symbol. without her, christianity would not be the religion that is. john the baptist. the fearless prophet, he believes that some reckoning is beneath. the preacher that baptize jesus, setsi setting him on his mission towards god. now f science joins the quest to connect past. test the relics to discover the link to a man that the bible says was john s cousin.
his name is john the baptist. john the baptist is the first chapter to the long and amazing story of jesus. he tees it up for jesus to come and be the true maessiah. he comes with a fire and he wants people to feel it here. who are you? are you safe? why do you come here? he questions their motives. this is an intense figure out in the wilderness and the wilderness is where things really happen spiritually. he s a mysterious figure. he s strange and he s out there. he s dressed in this very, very old way and slightly dangerous and scary. today the unique appeal of this profit has been loss to history.
mary the mother of jesus and elizabeth, the mother of john the baptist is being relative. and that means something like cousins. not all the gospels mention the episode but in luke, the story begins when one nieght jesus mother, mary, is visited by an angel. do not be afraid or you have found favor with god. you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you will name him jesus. mary could not believe the angel s message since she s still a virgin. the child to be born will be holy. he ll be called son of god.
old testament preachers, men like eisaiah and elijah. one voice is louder and reaches further than any other. even though john the baptist bathes himself at the edge of the wilderness, people come far and wide to hear his uncompromising message. geographically speaking, he s from the margins. he goes out away from the center of power to the wilderness and draws people to himself. it may seem to us obvious that jesus is more important but at the time if we been alive, we would know the name john the baptist but we do not know the name of jesus. john now condemns the religious establishment. my god, john was angry of the