John the Baptist

John's birth was a fulfillment of a prophecy by an Angel of God. The Angel told Zecheriah, John's father, that he and his barren wife would have a son, and he was to be named John. John, the Angel said, would "be filled from the Holy Sprit even from his mother's womb, and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God." The Angel also said that John would "turn the hearts of fathers toward children and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord." Basically the Angel said that John would be a prophet that would preach the word of God to the Israelites and convert many people to follow God.
John the Baptist got his name from baptizing Israelites, notably Jesus, for repentance in the Jordan River. He preached to the masses about the Kingdom of God, just like Jesus would eventually do. His teachings consisted of people treating each other with respect and living life fairly. He taught that people with abundance should share with the not-so-fortunate. John also taught that the sinners would be discarded and the faithful would be welcomed into heaven. But John, unlike Jesus later, was a fiery, anger-driven preacher. He sometimes insulted the people because they did not exhibit the amount of faith that he was looking for. John and Jesus' teachings were very similar, though they were taught in different ways. Jesus probably looked for a more effective way than John's to communicate with the masses, though he taught the same lessons and a little bit more.