The Mission of John the Baptist

There aren’t many prophecies in the scriptures that relate to the coming of prophets in the future.  One prophet who was specifically foretold, though, was John who would baptize Jesus.  Clearly his mission was of paramount importance and he had the singular role of being the forerunner of the Savior.  Of him Jesus would pay him the highest compliment imaginable, “Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist” (Matt. 11:11).  The scriptures show that his mission was well known long before the meridian of time.    

About 800 years before John’s birth, Isaiah wrote about “the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God” (Isaiah 40:3).  Speaking about John the Baptist, Matthew told us that “this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias” as he quoted this verse from Isaiah (Matt. 3:3).  Then about 600 years before the time of Christ, both Nephi and Lehi prophesied of the coming of John the Baptist.  As Lehi journeyed in the wilderness with his family he spoke to them about one who would also live in the wilderness: “And [Lehi] spake also concerning a prophet who should come before the Messiah, to prepare the way of the Lord….  And my father said he should baptize in Bethabara, beyond Jordan; and he also said he should baptize with water; even that he should baptize the Messiah with water.  And after he had baptized the Messiah with water, he should behold and bear record that he had baptized the Lamb of God, who should take away the sins of the world” (1 Nephi 10:7-10).  Many years later as Nephi finished his own record he likewise prophesied about John’s mission: “Wherefore, I would that ye should remember that I have spoken unto you concerning that prophet which the Lord showed unto me, that should baptize the Lamb of God, which should take away the sins of the world” (2 Nephi 31:4).  Then about 400 years before John’s coming another prophet foretold his ministry.  Said Malachi: “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts” (Malachi 3:1).  There certainly may be more than one interpretation of this scripture, but the Savior clearly associated it with John the Baptist.  As he talked with his disciples about John, He said: “For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee” (Matt. 11:10).

In the Doctrine and Covenants we learn more about the mission of John the Baptist and can see that the Lord had a plan for this prophet from the beginning.  The Lord revealed to the Prophet Joseph: “For [John] was baptized while he was yet in his childhood, and was ordained by the angel of God at the time he was eight days old unto this power, to overthrow the kingdom of the Jews, and to make straight the way of the Lord before the face of his people, to prepare them for the coming of the Lord, in whose hand is given all power” (D&C 84:28).  John had a mission to pave the way for the Savior that was known centuries before his coming.  Surely we too, though perhaps to a lesser visible extent, can learn and understand the mission that the Lord has for each of us.