Who Was John The Baptist?

According to the Gospels in the New Testament, John was Jesus' cousin, and his main role was to announce Jesus's arrival and spread word of his mission. He was the son of Elisabeth and Zachariah, both of whom were supposedly to old to have children; so his birth was considered miraculous.

In adult life John was a deeply religious man. He lived on locusts and wild honey for a time, and was an inspired preacher who attracted a large following. However, he always maintained that he was only a forerunner of his cousin, the Messiah. When Jesus began his own mission, he asked John to baptise him in the river first; when he did so, it was the symbol for the start of his work.

John was later imprisoned for publicly criticising King Herod. He was later beheaded at the request of Herod's wife Herodias (his brother's widow, whom John felt he should not have married) and her daughter Salome.