ItwasonceafavouritetheorythatbothJohntheBaptistandJesusweremembersoftheEssenianbrotherhood；butthattheoryisnowgenerallyabandoned。WhatevermayhavebeenthecasewithJohn，whoissaidtohavelivedlikeananchoriteinthedesert，thereseemstohavebeenbutlittlepracticalEssenisminJesus，whoisalmostuniformlyrepresentedascheerfulandsocialindemeanour，andagainstwhomitwasexpresslyurgedthathecameeatinganddrinking，makingnopresenceofpuritanicalholiness。
Hewasneitherapuritan，liketheEssenes，noraritualist，likethePharisees。Besideswhich，bothJohnandJesusseemtohavebeguntheircareersbypreachingtheun-Essenedoctrineofthespeedyadventofthe“kingdomofheaven，“bywhichismeantthereignoftheMessiahupontheearth。Nevertheless，thoughwecannotregardJesusasactuallyamemberoftheEsseniancommunityorsect，wecanhardlyavoidtheconclusionthathe，aswellasJohntheBaptist，hadbeenatsometimestronglyinfluencedbyEsseniandoctrines。Thespiritualizedconceptionofthe“kingdomofheaven“proclaimedbyhimwasjustwhatwouldnaturallyandlogicallyarisefromaremodellingoftheMessianictheoriesofthePhariseesinconformitytoadvancedEsseniannotions。ItseemshighlyprobablethatsomesuchrefinedconceptionofthefunctionsoftheMessiahwasreachedbyJohn，who，stigmatizingthePhariseesandSadduceesasa“generationofvipers，“calledaloudtothepeopletorepentoftheirsins，inviewofthespeedyadventoftheMessiah，andtotestifytotheirrepentancebysubmittingtotheEssenianriteofbaptism。ThereisnopositiveevidencethatJesuswaseveradiscipleofJohn；
yettheaccountofthebaptism，inspiteofthelegendarycharacterofitsdetails，seemstorestuponahistoricalbasis；
andperhapsthemostplausiblehypothesiswhichcanbeframedis，thatJesusreceivedbaptismatJohn’shands，becameforawhilehisdisciple，andacquiredfromhimaknowledgeofEsseniandoctrines。
ThecareerofJohnseemstohavebeenverybrief。HissternpuritanismbroughthimsoonintodisgracewiththegovernmentofGalilee。HewasseizedbyHerod，thrownintoprison，andbeheaded。AfterthebriefhintsgivenastotheintercoursebetweenJesusandJohn，wenexthearofJesusaloneinthedesert，where，likeSakyamuniandMohammed，hemayhavebroodedinsolitudeoverhisgreatproject。YetwedonotfindthathehadasyetformedanydistinctconceptionofhisownMessiahship。