Matthew 3:1-10

KJV
1In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,

2And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

3For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

4And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.

5Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan,

6And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.

7But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

8Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:

9And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

10And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

I am fascinated by John the Baptist. From what I've read, this guy was actually Josh's biggest competitor. Unfortunately, because he didn't get his own religion, we only have this biased account. But in these 10 verses, I wonder if we get a hint of this man. If so, it's a vivid hint.

The man must have had his followers, for the gospels do much to bring these two men together. Medieval painters would go even further, with images of them as babies together... kissing cousins.

I even wonder if John was Josh's mentor, Socrates to his Plato.

Nah... I think they never met. I think they were both rabbis with some wild stuff to say. John might even have been a trendsetter in the burgeoning monk industry, which actually started a bit before Christianity.

And if you're counting prophecies, we're up to... a lot.