Who was John

Actually, there are two Johns in the passage for this week: John the Baptist and John the Apostle.
John the Baptist was the son of a Priest. We read the story of John in Luke 1:5-25, where we find the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth who are to have a child in old age. Zechariah is a priest of the priestly division of Abijah. He served on rotation at the Temple once every 24 weeks, plus during the three Harvest Festivals (Passover, Pentecost, and Feast of Tabernacles).

When Zechariah’s son John came of age, he probably also served as a Priest in the Temple. He would serve at the Temple with his father learning the traditions and the richness of his faith.

While young John the Baptist received a call of God to serve in a special way. He was to “”Bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God.” (Luke 1:16). He was a Nazarite who was filled with the Spirit. His ministry was to call people to repentance, to baptize them, and to announce the coming of the Messiah.

When the Priests and his fellow Levites questioned John about his ministry he said, “I am a voice of one calling: ‘In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.’" (Isaiah 40:3-5; John 1:23)

People came to John to be baptized (Luke 3:7-18; John 22-30) Some of these were from Galilee, and some were relatives of the Baptizer. One of these relatives might have been another John, the son of Zebedee and Salome (Mt 27:56). Salome was a relative of John the Baptist and Zechariah the Levite (Mark 15:40, Luke 1:36). She had two sons named James and John.

The name of Zebedee is interesting, it is from the Hebrew Zabedus (Strongs H2064-7, meaning a dowry, endowment of Jehovah, a gift) In Nehemiah 11:17, Zabdi is listed as the son of Asaph the director who led in thanksgiving and prayer. Zebedee might have been a Levite who served in the Temple. Zebedee’s son John probably served as a priest as evidenced by his “insider” statement in John 12:42-43, and the fact that he knew the High Priest (John 18:15-16) As we study the gospel of John, we will try to see the “insider” view offered by John.

Mark 3:17 says, “James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder).” According to Thayer's Greek Lexicon Boanerges seems to mean fiery and destructive zeal, which was a characteristic of both Johns.

John brought James to Jesus. Andrew brought Peter. Andrew and Peter fished with the sons of Zebedee.. We will see more relationships next week as we study John 2.