“The Voice Crying in the Wilderness.” The Christian failth was in fact founded by two prophets, Christ, the “greater,” and John, the “lesser.” According to the gospels, John lived as an ascetic in the desert and preached the immenent coming of the Messiah. He ate “wild locusts [meaning carob beans] and honey” and wore a garment of camel’s hair.
John is called “the baptist” because he performed the Jewish act of ritual water purification, called the mikvah, on Christ. According to the gospels, it was during Christ’s baptism that God revealed his identity as the Messiah.
John ran afoul of the authorities when he publicly proclaimed Herod’s marriage to his neice Herodias was illegal under Mosaic law. Herodias’ daughter charmed Herod into having John beheaded.
Until the beheading, many people thought John, not Jesus, was the Messiah.