Baptism in early Christianity River Jordan. He baptized Jews for repentance in the River Jordan. At the start of his ministry, Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. Critical scholars broadly agree that the baptism of Jesus is one of the most authentic, or historically likely, events in the life of the historical Jesus. Christian baptism has its origin in the baptism of Jesus, in both a direct and historical sense. Many of the earliest followers of Jesus were people who, like him, were baptized in the Jordan by John the Baptist. The Gospel of John states that Jesus at an early stage led
The Virgin and Child with St Anne and St John the Baptist holding the Child Jesus as Jesus' young cousin, St. John the Baptist, stands to the right. It currently hangs in the National Gallery in London. It was either executed in around 1499–1500, at the end of the artist's first Milanese period, or around 1506–1508, when he was shuttling between Florence and Milan. The majority of scholars prefer the latter date, although the National Gallery and others prefer the former. The subject of the cartoon is a combination of two themes popular in Florentine painting of the 15th century: "The Virgin and Child with John the Baptist" and "The Virgin and