Orientation

During the public ministry of Jesus, many people confused Jesus with John the Baptist. While ordinary peasants speculated that Jesus might be John (6:14, 8:28), Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee, is convinced Jesus must be John the Baptist come back from the dead (6:16). In a sense, this confusion is understandable. Jesus started his ministry after John had finished most of his, and some of what Jesus says reminds people of what John had said.

Map of Galilee. Herod Antipas' capital was Tiberias, on the western shore
of the Sea of Galilee.

Many people, from Herod Antipas on down to village peasants, formed their first perceptions of Jesus in the context of what they knew (or thought they knew) about John. Herod Antipas fears that Jesus might be another political critic like John had been--or even worse, that Jesus is John resurrected. Ordinary people play guessing games about Jesus, but don't guess the truth. Is he John the Baptist? Elijah? Or one of the other prophets of old come back to life? Jesus' disciples are the only ones who get his identity right, although it apparently took them a while to figure it out.

As people got to know Jesus, they realized he was not John the Baptist come back from the dead. But who was Jesus, and what was he trying to accomplish?

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