by Sonja Dupree

Created on: May 10, 2008   Last Updated: May 12, 2008

I was reading the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) and was struck by the contrast of Jesus Christ and John the Baptist. The ministries were quite different and unique and more importantly all was under the Heavenly Father's mandate. John the Baptist was extremely conservative and reminds me of those fire and brimstones teachers. He was in the wilderness and was bold in telling the people of that day to repent and be baptized. He held back no punches but was quite a straight talker that left nothing to the imagination as he told the people around him exactly what he thought, whether they were regular folks or highly regarded religious leaders of that day that carried a lot of prestige-it did not matter -they knew exactly his positions on issues and he was not persuaded by their titles or lack of title. It was the custom of John to fast and pray with his disciples and when he did eat it was honey and locust. A different kind of diet compared to Christ who regularly attended big feast that included meat and wine.

John the Baptist was not content in staying in the wilderness with his message of repentance-he even went to King Herod -the leader of that day and boldly stuck his nose into his business (laymen terms) and told him it was unlawful for him to have his sister-in-law as his wife and told him to repent. That was beyond the definition of BOLD. This latter intrusion into the private affairs of King Herod lead to John being arrested and subsequently beheaded at the request of Herod's wife also known as sister-in-law.

Jesus in my humble opinion was more of a radical liberal for he found himself always butting heads with the religious leader's traditional views on God. He appeared to always manage to "work" on the Sabbath which created tension between him and the religious leaders of those days. He would heal the sick and cast out demons on this "day" that was designated as the day of "rest" when no work is to be done. For according to the traditional views of the Pharisees and Sadducees-one was not even suppose to carry "something" in their hands on this day for it was deemed a sin. And yet Jesus not only healed on this Holy Day but even went so far as to pluck corn and grain on this day to feed his himself and his disciples as well. There was a time when Jesus sat down with his disciples and refused to wash his hands which was a ceremonial event and the religious leaders of that day found tremendous offense in Christ "lack of regard" for their "traditions."

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