Bible Question (short): John Baptist's Jewish legal credentials? |
Question (full): What were John the Baptist's legal Jewish credentials to baptize the Savior? We know that he was the son of the High Priest Zacharias. Shouldn't John have been ministering as High Priest, in the Holy Place of the temple, as opposed to baptizing the Savior in the wilderness? John the Baptist apparently trashed his fine religious robes to wear a poor man's garb of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist. Shouldn't Jesus have been baptized by John at the temple? |