46 Dimensions of Baptism
The balance of this modest study will (1) identify and examine pro-
phetic and typological elements in the traditions of John the Baptizer. We
shall find that these elements are early, well-attested in diverse sources,
and not easily explained in all cases as the product of Christian scriptural
apologetic. We shall also find evidence indicating that purification in all
probability was also an element in John's teaching and activity. The study
will then (2) consider in what ways the teaching and activity of John may
have influenced Jesus and, in turn, his disciples.
Prophecy and Typology in the Baptism of John
Two recent studies have probed the prophetic and typological elements in
the stories and traditions of John.^3 Both rightly recognize that other Jewish
persons in this period acted out patterns or prophecies found in Scripture.
Two of the most interesting examples are seen in Theudas and the unnamed
Jewish man from Egypt. With regard to the first individual, Josephus says:
A certain impostor named Theudas persuaded the majority of the populace
to take up their possessions and follow him to the Jordan River. He stated
that he was a prophet and that at his command the river would be parted
and would provide easy passage. With this talk he deceived many {Ant.
20.97-98).Josephus goes on to say that the Roman governor Fadus (44-46 CE) dis-
patched the cavalry, which scattered Theudas's following and killed many.
The would-be prophet was himself captured and beheaded. According to
Acts 5.36, Theudas had a following of about four hundred men. His sum-
mons to his following to 'take up their possessions and follow him to the
Jordan River', which they would then cross (back into Israel, not away
from Israel), is an unmistakable allusion to the crossing of the Jordan
under the leadership of Joshua (cf. Josh. 3.14-17). In all probability Theudas
understood himself as the promised 'prophet like Moses' (cf. Deut. 18.15-
19; cf. also 1 Mace. 4.45-46; 9.27; 14.41), who, like Joshua, would lead
the righteous of Israel in a new conquest of the Promised Land.
- J.A. Trumbower, 'The Role of Malachi in the Career of John the Baptist', in
C.A. Evans and W.R. Stegner (eds.), The Gospels and the Scriptures of Israel
(JSNTSup, 104; SSEJC, 3; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1994), pp. 28-41; and
J.D.G. Dunn, 'John the Baptist's Use of Scripture', in Evans and Stegner (eds.), The
Gospels and the Scriptures of Israel, pp. 42-54. For an important study that surveys
scriptural typologies at work in Israel's classical prophets, as well as in various figures
approximately contemporary with Jesus, see S. McKnight, 'Jesus and Prophetic
Actions', BBR 10 (2000), pp. 197-232.