We know even less about John the Baptist’s early life than we do about Jesus’. He was just a few months older than Jesus, but the first time we meet him since his birth he’s out in the wilderness preaching. It’s a little hard for us to imagine, as in our crowded country we are never far from civilisation. The Judean wilderness near the river Jordan is not huge – it’s 60 miles long, but only 13 miles wide, so you are always going to be able to walk out of it, if necessary. It’s warm in the winter, and hot in the summer and dry all year so there’s very little vegetation … More We played for you, and you would not dance.