Zealot - The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth

masses: he had stripped himself of his priestly
     privileges so as to offer the Jews a new source of salvation, one that had nothing
     to do with the Temple and the detestable priesthood:
baptism
.
    To be sure, baptisms and water rituals were fairly common throughout the ancient Near
     East. Bands of “baptizing groups” roamed Syria and Palestine initiating congregants
     into their orders by immersing them in water. Gentile converts to Judaism would often
     take a ceremonial bath to rid themselves of their former identity and enter into the
     chosen tribe. The Jews revered water for its liminal qualities, believing it had the
     power to transport a person or object from one state to another: from unclean to clean,
     from profane to holy. The Bible is replete with ablutionary practices: objects (a
     tent, a sword) were sprinkled with water to dedicate them to the Lord; people (lepers,
     menstruating women) were fully immersed in water as an act of purification. The priests
     in the Temple of Jerusalem poured water on their hands before approaching the altar
     to make sacrifices. The high priest underwent one ritual immersion before entering
     the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement, and another immediately after taking upon
     himself the sins of the nation.
    The most famous ablutionary sect of the time was the aforementioned Essene community.
     The Essenes were not strictly amonastic movement. Some lived in cities and villages throughout Judea, others separated
     themselves entirely from the rest of the Jews in communes like that at Qumran, where
     they practiced celibacy and held all property in common (the only items of personal
     property an Essene at Qumran would be allowed were a cloak, a linen cloth, and a hatchet
     for digging a latrine in the wilderness when the need arose). Because the Essenes
     viewed the physical body as base and corrupt, they developed a rigid system of full
     immersion baths that had to be completed over and over again to maintain a constant
     state of ritual purity. Yet the Essenes also practiced a one-time, initiatory water
     ritual—a baptism of sorts—that was used to welcome new recruits into their community.
    This could have been the source of John’s unusual baptismal rite. John himself may
     have been an Essene. There are some tantalizing connections between the two. Both
     John and the Essene community were based in the wilderness region of Judea at approximately
     the same time: John is presented as going off into the Judean wilderness at a young
     age, which would be in keeping with the Essene practice of adopting and training the
     sons of priests. Both John and the Essenes rejected the Temple authorities: the Essenes
     maintained their own distinct calendar and their own dietary restrictions and refused
     the concept of animal sacrifice, which was the primary activity of the Temple. Both
     saw themselves and their followers as the true tribe of Israel, and both were actively
     preparing for the end times: the Essenes eagerly awaited an apocalyptic war when “the
     Sons of Light” (the Essenes) would battle “the Sons of Darkness” (the Temple priests)
     for control over the Temple of Jerusalem, which the Essenes would purify and make
     holy again under their leadership. And both John and the Essenes seem to have identified
     themselves as “the voice crying out in the wilderness” spoken of by the Prophet Isaiah:
     “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God” (Isaiah 40:3). All
     four gospels attribute this verse to John, while for the Essenes, the verseserved as the most significant passage of scripture in defining their conception of
     themselves and their community.
    Yet there are enough differences between John and the Essenes to make one cautious
     about drawing too firm a connection. John is presented not as a member of a community
     but as a loner, a solitary voice calling out in the wilderness. His is by no means
     an exclusivist message but one open to all Jews willing to abandon their wicked ways
     and live a life of righteousness. Most crucially, John does not appear to be obsessed
     with ritual purity; his baptism seems to have been specifically designed as a one-time
     affair, not something to be repeated again and again. John may have been influenced
     by the water rituals of other Jewish sects of his time, including the Essenes, but
     it appears that the baptism he offered in the Jordan River was uniquely his