and baptizing people in the jordan river to cleanse them of their sins. this was a radical jewish spin. john was turning an ancient ritual into a new sacrament. john the baptist. he recognized jesus at the baptism and he said this is the man i ve been waiting for. this is the person i m preparing the way for. and he expected jesus to be the messiah of israel. and that s the message jesus took to the jewish people. that the gospels tell us he returned home, found his first disciples among galilean fishermen and soon called attention to himself by casting out demons and healing the sick. those healings would have attracted greater and greater crowds and those crowds then would have provided the base for jesus other teachings. was jesus a healer and an exorcist? i think so. quite a good one in fact.