John the Baptist was a great and mighty prophet, and also known as the forerunner of Christ. His birth was foretold to his father, Zechariah, by the angel Gabriel. Luke, 11-17 states that Gabriel the angel said to him: Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard; and they wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John: and thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice in his nativity. For he shall be great before the Lord; and shall drink no wine nor strong drink: and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. And he shall convert many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias; that he may turn the hearts of the fathers unto the children, and the incredulous to the wisdom of the just, to prepare unto the Lord a perfect people" .
The fact that John was born into the family of a priest, his destiny was to have a religious life. Elizabeth and the Virgin Mary were cousins, which made Jesus and John very close cousins. John and Jesus grew up together and John became known as Jesus' favorite disciple. Although John was a very great prophet, he did not perform a miracle.
John baptized people that are either lower class or the same class as himself in the Jordan River. Mathew 3:13-15 says that Jesus came from Gailee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John, but John deterred Him, saying "I need to be baptized by you, and you come to me." Jesus replied, " let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." then John consented. .
John the Baptist knew Jesus was the true, only Son of God and John gave Jesus both of the names, Lamb of God and The True Bread.
John went into the desert because he wanted to find what was to really discover God's divine nature and awesome power, and John found what he was looking for, discovering the awesome power of God.
