Luke 3:19-21 If John baptized Jesus, how did this happen when John was imprisoned?

Question

19 But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife,[c] and for all the evils which Herod had done,

20 also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison.

21 When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized;

Did they have a jailbreak or something?

Heads up, by the way - Luke claimed that his account was orderly (Luke 1:3,) so John's imprisonment (and he died there) preceded Jesus' baptism, according to Luke (Ghost-writing for God/Jesus.)

Do not expect me to pick a BA for this question, as the Faithful cannot agree on the reason for this contradiction, or whether there is one at all.

lalalala

*hic*

Answer 1

First, "orderly" does not mean chronological order. Not one biblical scholar believes all of the events recorded in the gospels are arranged in precise chronological order. The writers' accounts are carefully arranged in a topical fashion with some chronological considerations in mind. This was a common way of recounting historical events in that time. The more I study this phenomenon the more I appreciate it. Some scholars say that Luke plays with the chronology in chapter 3 to deemphasize John's role and to focus more securely on Jesus and the Spirit's role by deliberately removing John from the baptismal account.

I differ with this interpretation. It seems that understanding the passage merely involves reading it correctly (in the way intended by Luke). There is not room here to diagram Luke 3:1-21 but if you do so you will find that 4-21 are subordinate to verse 3. It is valid then, in a parenthesis, for Luke to include some historical material that post-dates the baptism narrative.

Consider this parallel illustration (both in content and chronology) involving a Yahoo Answers football team I'll call "The Time Wasters." A thoughtful and educated journalist named Louis records an incident involving the coach, Mr. Egomaniac; the quarterback, John the Passer; and a wide receiver popularly known as "The Game Winner." Louis writes as follows:

"During the time of the Time Wasters' win in the last super bowl, John the Passer was throwing passes to various receivers and had, as usual, been nearly perfect in his performance. This excellence on the part of John the Passer was the kind of thing that aroused jealousy in the foolish heart of Mr. Egomaniac and caused him to treat John the Passer with disdain. This jealousy eventually led Mr. Egomaniac to completely eliminate the quarterback position from the team. The Time Wasters were behind with less than a minute left on the clock. The Game Winner, due to a contract dispute that had been settled just before the game, had not played yet in the season. Dramatically, with just seconds left on the clock, The Game Winner entered the game and, on the very last play, received a pass to score the game winning touchdown."

Would it be accurate to say that Louis, the author of this narrative, deliberately removes John the Passer from the touchdown account simplybecause he does not mention his name at that point [parallel to the "playing with chronology" theory]? Would it not be even more ludicrous to suggest that Louis is saying the quarterback position was eliminated prior to the game winning pass just because the mention of this historical data precedes the description of the pass [parallel to your thesis]? Would it not be more reasonable to suggest that Louis interrupts the chronology of his narrative to mention a topically relevant incident in a parenthesis and that he does not mention John the Passer by name in his description of the game winning pass because it is already clear from the context who does the passing?

Luke does mention the imprisonment of John as a topically relevant parenthesis in the course of telling the events leading up to Jesus' baptism. He is not saying his imprisonment and death preceded Jesus' baptism any more than Louis was saying Mr. Egomaniac's elimination of the quarterback position occurred before the game winning pass in the illustration above.

----Update----

It seems to me you think too lowly of your intellectual capabilities. You asked a reasonable question yet you do not seem to think yourself qualified to select an answer that seems best to YOU. Either that or there is "some other reason" and your feigned inebriation is an attempt to save face. The most honorable thing to do when one has asked a question in a belligerent manner and it has been satisfactorily answered by several people is to admit that they "got you on this one." I have had several atheists make such a concession to me and they earned my sincere respect for doing so. I have sided with atheists when they have criticized poorly reasoned Christian arguments. Maybe it's time for you to man up.

Answer 2

Mark 1:9 And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan.

After reading the versus in question I noticed that Herod made a statement about what he was going to do with John. Not that he had already done it.

Answer 3

John was the forerunner to Jesus, a hermit who lived in the desert, the son of a man who was a priest, and most likely one that had been murdered during the Roman takeover. (Rumors from tradition). He knew about Jesus from the time he was a kid, or earlier, and wanted to prepare the people for being worthy of having the Messiah within their midst. I do not think John expected to be having to baptize Jesus. In fact, he said "I am not worthy to remove your sandals." So Jesus insisted, and when the baptism actually took place, there occurred an inexplicable phenomena. And it was for this that John baptized Jesus. It may very well be that pigeons and doves are stupid birds, but how many do you know that actually land on people's heads? And although not everyone heard the Voice of God saying "This is my son in whom I am well pleased!" Many heard thunder. It was a moment for all people who can understand the meaning of it all.

Answer 4

In verse 20 of Luke 3, it says"...also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison. " In this, the writer, Luke, was finishing the story about John, BEFORE he tells about Jesus, the One John was preparing the way for. The verb " shut " in that verse refers to future tense.
Look at John 3:22-24 : " After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptized. Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized. (24) For John had not yet been thrown into prison " The word " they", where it says ' they came and were baptized', refers to Jesus & His disciples. The very next verse says that John had not been put in prison yet. I rest my case.

Answer 5

*sigh*
They, Herod and his brother, were describing what they were to do with John.
He had not yet been put into prison.

Luke 3:20 actually states them putting John in prison.
So the time frame is correct. Not that it never wasn't.

You've got to read it properly.

Get A Grip

Answer 6

"Luke claimed that his account was orderly...."
Yes, but there are other types of order than strict historical order, such as thematic order. Luke gives an orderly transition from one ministry (John the Baptist's, the main subject of the Gospel of Luke up to this point) to another (Jesus').

Answer 7

John baptized Jesus in the beginning of Jesus' ministry. Then John was put in prison and beheaded.

Answer 8

The Bible is full of "Flashbacks".John 1 does the same thing as does Genesis 1 and Genesis 2.That was a weak one guy.

Answer 9

The Bible isn't perfect, and it doesn't have to be for me to follow the God that it talks about. I see the humanity of the Bible and that doesn't bother me in the least. I don't mind admitting that there are mistakes and things that are missing or out of order. This is one of those things.

Answer 10

Luke was not an eye-witness to Jesus, he states that he received his information from eye-witnesses and ministers of the word.

grace2u