50 Dimensions of Baptism
Taken as a whole, the parallels between John and Elijah/Elisha are quite
significant, with little or no evidence that the parallels are products of later
Christian reflection. Evidently John chose apparel, a location, and even an
activity that recalled those of the great prophet Elijah and his disciple and
successor Elisha. It was no accident that John did so, and it is not surpris-
ing that his followers regarded him as Elijah, for there were traditions that
spoke of Elijah's return, to avert the wrath of God and to lead Israel to
repentance:
(^23) Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible
day of the LORD comes.^24 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their
children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the
land with a curse (Mai. 3.23-24 [Eng. 4.5-6; LXX 3.22-23]).
(^9) You who were taken up by a whirlwind of fire, in a chariot with horses of
fire;^10 you who are ready at the appointed time, it is written, to calm the
wrath of God before it breaks out in fury, to turn the heart of the father to
the son, and to restore the tribes of Jacob (Sir. 48.9-10).
Evidently John understood his role in a redemptive, restorative sense, in
terms of ideas and expectations that had grown up around the mysterious
wilderness prophet Elijah. The probability that John's function was both
eschatological and restorative is increased when the parallels with Malachi
and Isaiah are taken into account.
- Joshua. Being crossed by the tribes of Israel gave a lasting, special
status to the Jordan River. It came to symbolize the divide between the
foreign wilderness to the east and the promised homeland to the west. It is
not surprising that some charismatics and leaders of restoration move-
ments ministered in the vicinity of the Jordan.^6 Theudas is the most obvi-
ous example, for his promise to part the river for easy passage, as well as
his summons to the people to bring with them their possessions, was
clearly an attempt to reenact the celebrated event.
One important aspect of the symbolism associated with the crossing of
the Jordan was the monument of twelve stones that represented the twelve
tribes of Israel. God commands Joshua:
- R.L. Webb rightly comments that for John and various other popular prophets
'the Jordan river and the wilderness functioned as reminders of God's redemptive
actions taken on [Israel's] behalf in the past and as symbols of hope in a similar redemp-
tion in the imminent future'. Cf. R.L. Webb, 'John the Baptist and His Relationship to
Jesus', in B.D. Chilton and C.A. Evans (eds.), Studying the HistoricalJesus: Evaluations
of the State of Current Research (NTTS, 19; Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1994), p. 208. Webb cites
several passages from Josephus: War 2.259, 261-62; Ant. 20.97, 168.