Jesus replies that he must "be in his father's house" (). The Synoptic accounts of Jesus' baptism are all preceded by information about John the Baptist. They show John preaching penance and repentance for the remission of sins and encouraging the giving of alms to the poor () as he baptizes people in the area of the Jordan River around Perea and foretells () the arrival of someone "more powerful" than he. Later, Jesus identifies John as "the Elijah who was to come" (, ), the prophet who was expected to arrive before the "great and terrible day of the Lord"
John Smyth (Baptist minister) to be re-baptized. Since there was no other minister to administer baptism, Smyth baptized himself (for which reason he was called "the Se-baptist," from the Latin word "se" '[one]self') and then proceeded to baptize his flock. We can discount as a forgery the view of Dr. John Clifford as cited in the "General Baptist Magazine", London, July, 1879, vol. 81), records that "[I]n 1606 on March 24. . .this night at midnight elder John Morton baptized John Smyth, vicar of Gainsborough, in the River Don. It was so dark we were obliged to have torch lights. Elder Brewster prayed, Mister