Disciples of John the Baptist 

Around the first of October, 27 CE, some of the apostles of Jesus were buying food in a village marketplace that was near their encampment on Mount Gilboa. Here they happened to meet the disciples of John the Baptist, who had recently been appointed. This organization of his followers had been suggested to John by Abner, who was the chief supporter of John and his teaching. A conference between the two groups was arranged at the Gilboa camp.

During the three-week conference, the twenty-four met three times a day, six days a week. Jesus attended some of their meetings during the first week, but he refused to preside over their discussions. Instead, he agreed to talk to them on three different occasions. The topics that he talked to them about were sympathy, cooperation, and tolerance. Still, Andrew (chief of Jesus’ apostles) and Abner (chief of John's disciples) would go to Jesus, asking him to help them solve their problems. But Jesus declined, telling them that it was not his role to minister to the group, only the individual. He encouraged them to work out their difficulties together but assured them that he would fully support their joint decisions. And then he left them alone for the next two weeks, forcing them to enter fully into their discussions without him.

Once they started their discussions in earnest, the first thing they agreed on was to adopt the "believer's prayer" (later to become known as the "Lord’s prayer") that Jesus had very recently taught the apostles. They agreed to teach this prayer to all believers in both groups.

Second, they all agreed that while John the Baptist lived, both of these apostolic groups should go on with the work they were doing. They decided to hold joint meetings every three months going forward.

The most sensitive issue that they had to grapple with was the question of water baptism. Jesus had never made his opinion clear about baptism, so they decided that as long as John was alive, the apostles of John would baptize believers, while the apostles of Jesus would teach the believers. And from that time until after John’s death in January of 28 CE, John’s apostles and Jesus’ apostles worked in tandem, baptizing and preaching. Baptizing believers was the first step to be taken in bringing souls into the kingdom followed by teaching kingdom truths. This ritual of baptism was to continue unless John should die, at which time John’s apostles would become subject to Jesus’ direction and cease baptizing believers.

Baptism was the price that the followers of Jesus paid to carry with them, as a socialized religious group, the followers of John the Baptist. John’s followers, in joining Jesus’ followers, gave up just about everything except water baptism.

Finally, they voted that if John should die, the apostles of Jesus would begin to baptize with water, signifying birth in the divine Spirit. The issue of repentance in connection with baptism was left as a personal option. John’s apostles preached, "Repent and be baptized" while Jesus’ apostles proclaimed, "Believe and be baptized."

This was the first time that Jesus’ followers tried to harmonize their efforts, reconcile their differences, and organize themselves for service. When Jesus returned to the camp, he heard their decisions and said: "These, then, are your conclusions, and I shall help you each to carry out the spirit of your united decisions."

For the next ten weeks, the disciples of John and the apostles of Jesus worked together, baptizing and preaching in the cities of the Decapolis. The Gilboa camp was broken up on November 2, 27 CE. John the Baptist was executed on January 10, 28 CE.

During these two and a half months, Jesus devoted a lot of time teaching the twenty-four, including special teaching sessions with the disciples of John. Before this, they had been disturbed that Jesus did so little to get John out of prison, and that he never even visited John. But after spending time with Jesus, they came to understand better why he acted as he did. However, these disciples of John could not understand why Jesus didn’t perform miracles or demonstrate his divine authority. But soon, as a result of their personal contact with Jesus, they began to believe more and more in him; they saw him in a new light, apart from what John had told them about Jesus.

The twenty-four worked in pairs during this time, one disciple of John with one apostle of Jesus. John’s disciples baptized, Jesus’ apostles taught, and both preached the gospel of the kingdom. In this way, many souls were won among both the gentiles and the converted Jews.

Abner, the leader of John’s apostles grew to become a staunch believer in Jesus; later on, he was appointed to lead the group of seventy who were ordained by Jesus to preach the gospel.

In March of 28 CE, Jesus and his apostles celebrated a bloodless Passover together in Bethany, while Abner and John’s disciples celebrated Passover in the traditional way with many of the early followers of John’s preaching. And when Jesus and the twelve left Capernaum on March 30, 28 CE, John’s apostles did not join them. John’s group, under Abner’s leadership, remained in Jerusalem, while Jesus and the apostles returned to Galilee. The two groups were never again together until 10 months later, on January 16, 29 CE, before Jesus commissioned the Seventy evangelists to go forth on November 19, 29 CE.

Nevertheless, these twenty-four ambassadors for the kingdom were able to cooperate and they maintained a high degree of good feeling and fellowship with one another.