The Evangelist Luke writes that the priest Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth were childless (Luke 1:6). While Zechariah was offering incense in the Temple, the angel Gabriel appeared to him and announced that Elizabeth would bear a son, and he should be named John. The child would lead many to the Lord and come in the spirit and power of the prophet Elijah. When Zechariah questioned how this could be, as they were already old, the archangel punished him for his disbelief—he was rendered mute until the day the child was born.

Elizabeth became pregnant and eventually gave birth. On the eighth day, during the circumcision ceremony, Zechariah wrote the name “John” on a tablet. Immediately, he regained his speech. Luke does not describe how John was saved during the Massacre of the Innocents, but the apocryphal Protoevangelium of James narrates that Elizabeth fled to the mountains with her child but could not find a hiding place. She prayed to the mountains, which opened to shelter her and the child. Meanwhile, Zechariah was slain by Herod’s soldiers in the Temple beside the altar. This is corroborated by Jesus’ words in Matthew 23:35: “…Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.”

The child grew up in the wilderness until his public appearance to Israel. Luke notes that John lived in the desert, eating wild honey and locusts and wearing camel skin fastened with a leather belt.

When John was about 27–30 years old, he began preaching by the Jordan River, preparing people for the coming of the Messiah. He quoted Isaiah: “Prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness; make straight His paths!” John called for repentance and the rejection of sins, warning, “Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Many believed he was the Messiah, but he clarified that he was not, saying, “I am not worthy to untie the strap of His sandal.” When John baptized Jesus, he witnessed the Holy Spirit descending from heaven as a dove and heard God’s voice proclaim, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!” The next day, John called Jesus the Lamb of God, prompting two of John’s disciples—Andrew and Peter—to follow Jesus.

John fearlessly rebuked sin, whether among ordinary people or rulers, including King Herod Antipas, who abandoned his lawful wife to live with Herodias, his brother’s wife. For this, John was imprisoned (Mark 1:14). Antipas liked speaking with John and was reluctant to harm him, fearing his moral authority.

However, during Herod’s birthday feast, Herodias’ daughter Salome performed a dance that pleased him greatly. He promised to grant her any request, even up to half his kingdom. Urged by her mother, Salome asked for John’s head on a silver platter. Though distressed, the king honored his oath. John was executed, and his head was given to Salome, who presented it to her mother.

John is regarded as the last Old Testament prophet and the first Christian martyr. Jesus said of him, “Among those born of women, there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist.”

Iconography

John is often depicted in the Deesis composition, standing opposite the Virgin Mary closest to Jesus. Occasionally, he appears in the prophetic tier of iconostases.

He is portrayed bearded, with disheveled hair, usually wearing a light blue hairshirt and a dark green himation. Galyna Druzyuk interprets this color scheme as symbolizing the blue of the Jordan River and the green of its shores. Alternatively, an ochre himation symbolizes the desert.

Attributes include a staff with a cross wrapped in a ribbon bearing text, a scroll, a silver platter (sometimes with John’s head), or a Eucharistic chalice (with a lamb or the Christ Child). His symbols also include a lamb and a baptismal shell. At his feet, there may be an axe laid at the root of a tree stump, referencing Matthew 3:16: “The axe is laid to the root of the trees.” Some researchers suggest this also symbolizes John’s martyrdom, though “The Beheading of John” typically shows his execution by sword.

From the 13th century, the “Angel of the Desert” iconography, depicting John with wings, became popular. This references Malachi 3:1: “I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me.” Such depictions were especially widespread from the late 17th to 18th centuries.

Other icons portray John as a child with his younger cousin, Jesus, often alongside Mary, Joseph, and other relatives in “Holy Family” compositions. This imagery, common in Western tradition, later influenced Ukrainian iconography, becoming particularly popular in 19th-century folk art.