A painting of jesus holding a staff and standing in front of a group of people

John the Baptist, the prophet who paved the way for Jesus' ministry, is known as the last to announce the coming of the Messiah. He is called the "Herald of the Messiah" and is considered the final of the prophets. John the Baptist was born between 7 and 4 B.C., but this date discrepancy does not reflect a substantial difference between his birth and that of Jesus. In fact, the difference was only a few months, a discrepancy related to our calendar in relation to Jesus' birth.