The Good Tidings of John the Baptist: An Eschatological Priestly Messiah Coming on the Clouds of the Spirit

How to cite this article: Moshe Navon, “The Good Tidings of John the Baptist: An Eschatological Priestly Messiah Coming on the Clouds of the Spirit,” Jerusalem Perspective (2026): [https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/34604/].

This article is the first part of a projected series by Rabbi Dr. Moshe Navon on John the Baptist and Jesus entitled: “Imminent Eschatology or the Nearness of the Kingdom of Heaven?: John the Baptist and Jesus in Comparative Perspective.”

I recall a vivid scene that took place in the humble home of David Flusser.^[1] Professor Flusser had read my master’s thesis at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and invited me for a conversation. We met in a small study room in the scholar’s humble home, the very room where he spent his days working and teaching. My thesis dealt with the eschatological tension between Jesus and John the Baptist in light of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls.^[2] David smiled and told me that he had just written about this very topic in the final chapter of his new English book on Jesus.^[3] He pointed to the window behind him and said, “That chapter is right there on the windowsill!” In Professor Flusser’s study even the windowsill doubled as a bookshelf!

It was during this conversation that Professor Flusser urged me to pursue a doctorate and devote myself to scholarship, even though at the time I wasn’t sure I could continue down that path. I was a new father with small kids at home. At the same time, I was a freshly landed, nearly penniless עולה חדש (oleh ḥadash, “new arrival in Israel”), and pursuing an academic career felt like an unaffordable luxury.

That conversation began twenty-eight years ago, but only now has the time come for me to continue our dialogue. Therefore, below when I briefly present quotations from his book I will simply write his name, David Flusser, to underscore that he and I remain in an ongoing dialogue together.

When John asks Jesus, “Are You the One?” he is pleading: “Reach out Your hand and lead us from the darkness of the human kingdom into the light of God’s eternal Kingdom. Wash us in the Mikveh of His Holy Spirit for this purpose, and destroy all the wicked in the eternal fire of Gehenna.” But Jesus does not come to John as the Heavenly Redeemer on the clouds. Why not? We will examine Jesus’ answer to John the Baptist, and the differences between John the Baptist and Jesus this answer reveals, in the next article in this series.

The second part of Rabbi Dr. Moshe Navon’s series, “Imminent Eschatology or the Nearness of the Kingdom of Heaven: John the Baptist and Jesus in Comparative Perspective,” will examine Jesus’ answer to John the Baptist’s question.

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Notes

1. For another recollection that took place in Flusser’s home see my article, “Better Than the Day of Birth: Reflecting on David Flusser’s Interpretation of the Love Commandment on the 25th Anniversary of His Passing,” Jerusalem Perspective (2025): [https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/31263/]. ↩
2. Unpublished masters thesis by Moshe Navon, “The Meeting of Two Personages – John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth according to the version of Luke” (28.05.1998). ↩
3. David Flusser, “The Stages of Redemption History According to John the Baptist and Jesus,” chapter 20 of his Jesus (2d ed.; Jerusalem: Magnes, 1998), 258-275. ↩