The most famous Christian was a man who was the son of a priestly family. His birth was the subject of village intrigue, when his father had an encounter with an angel and was struck dumb until he announced the name of the newborn Levite. I cannot imagine the scandal that broke out when John ben Zachariah moved out of his father’s house and influence to become the now famous voice in the desert. Priests and their families were the fortresses of levitical interests, and losing one would have been a catastrophic and disruptive capital capitulation.

“And the child continued to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel.”

Luke 1:80, NASB

And he asked for a tablet and wrote as follows, “His name is John.” And they were all astonished. And at once his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he began to speak in praise of God.

Luke 1:63-64, NASB

Loosely Christian but totally dedicated

We know that John was not a person called to follow Yeshua. Let us pin that down. John the Baptist was not in any way shown to be a companion of the Nazarene. His career was all about announcing the new era: God’s imminent kingdom. John dared to point out his Nazarene cousin as the lamb that would take away the world’s sin. That sin removal was something that was not even contemplated by the priests of the Mosaic economy.

Imagine dozens of priests calling the Nazarene “LORD”

“The word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.”

Acts 6:7, NASB

There were at least three encounters between the disciples of Yeshua and the priests who administered the temple services before Luke reported that a great many priests had accepted yeshua’s message. I cannot imagine the priesthood guarding anything more zealously than priestly adherence to Mosaic doctrine and equally zealous avoidance of anything new, such as Yeshua being the Lamb of God. Hence we can conclude that the demise of levitical priesthood could only be made clearer for the world to see by the cessation of sacrifices and/or the destruction of the temple. Now since there is no evidence of any other anointed person credibly claiming David’s eternal seat, a capital capitulation such as John’s side trip to the desert continues to be impugned and denigrated by both Christians and Jews and raises questions about our integrity.