Baptism of Christ. The baptism of Jesus is described in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. John's gospel does not directly describe Jesus' baptism. Most modern theologians view the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist as a historical event to which a high degree of certainty can be assigned. Along with the crucifixion of Jesus, most biblical scholars view it as one of the two historically certain facts about him, and often use it as the starting point for the study of the historical Jesus. The baptism is one of the events in the gospel narrative of the life of Jesus; others include the Transfiguration, Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension. Most Christian denominations view the baptism of Jesus as an important event and a basis for the Christian rite of baptism. In Eastern Christianity, Jesus' baptism is commemorated on 6 January, the feast of Epiphany. In the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, the Lutheran Churches and some other Western denominations, it is recalled on a day within the following week, the feast of the baptism of the Lord. In Roman Catholicism, the baptism of Jesus is one of the Luminous Mysteries sometimes added to the Rosary. It is a Trinitarian feast in the Eastern Orthodox Churches. Mark, Matthew, and Luke depict the baptism in parallel passages. In all three gospels, the Holy Spirit is depicted as descending upon Jesus immediately after his baptism accompanied by a voice from Heaven, but the accounts of Luke and Mark record the voice as addressing Jesus by saying You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, while in Matthew the voice addresses the crowd This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. After the baptism, the Synoptic gospels describe the temptation of Jesus, where Jesus withdrew to the Judean desert to fast for forty days and nights. In Matthew 3:14, upon meeting Jesus, John said: I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? However, Jesus convinces John to baptize him nonetheless. Matthew uniquely records that the voice from heaven addresses the crowd, rather than addressing Jesus himself as in Mark and Luke. Mark's account is roughly parallel to that of Matthew, except for Matthew 3:14-15 describing John's initial reluctance and eventual consent to baptize Jesus, which is not described by Mark. Luke 1 begins with the birth of John the Baptist, heralded to his father Zacharias by the angel Gabriel. Six months later Gabriel appears to the Virgin Mary with an announcement of the birth of Jesus, at the Annunciation. At the same, Gabriel also announces to Mary the coming birth of John the Baptist, to her kinswoman Elizabeth, who is the wife of Zacharias. Mary immediately sets out to visit her kinswoman Elizabeth, and stays with her until John's birth. Luke strongly contrasts the reactions of Zacharias and Mary to these two respective births; and the lives of John and Jesus are intertwined. Luke uniquely depicts John as showing public kindness to tax collectors and encouraging the giving of alms to the poor. Luke records that Jesus was praying when Heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him. Luke clarifies that the spirit descended in the bodily form of a dove, as opposed to merely descending like a dove. In, the ministry of Jesus is described as following the baptism which John preached. In rather than a direct narrative, John the Baptist bears witness to the spirit descending like a dove. The Gospel of John specifies Bethabara beyond Jordan, i.e., Bethany in Perea as the location where John was baptizing when Jesus began choosing disciples, and in there is mention of further baptisms in AEnon because there was much water there. John 1:35–37 narrates an encounter, between Jesus and two of his future disciples, who were then disciples of John the Baptist.The episode in forms the start of the relationship between Jesus and his future disciples. When John the Baptist called Jesus the Lamb of God, the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. One of the disciples is named Andrew, but the other remains unnamed, and Raymond E. Brown raises the question of his being the author of the Gospel of John himself. In the Gospel of John, the disciples follow Jesus thereafter, and bring other disciples to him, and portrays the disciples of John as eventually merging with the followers of Jesus. According to the non-canonical Gospel of the Nazarenes, the idea of being baptized by John came from the mother and brothers of Jesus, and Jesus himself, originally opposed, reluctantly accepted it.