Claim. John the Baptist’s ignorance of God’s providence — his denial of being Elijah, his separation from Jesus to pursue independent ministry, and his prison-doubt about Jesus’s identity — was the principal reason the Jewish people did not come to Jesus, and therefore the principal reason Jesus had to die on the cross.
Elaboration. Per 2.3. The Faithlessness of John the Baptist: “Many among the Jewish leadership and people of Jesus’s day had the highest respect for John the Baptist; some even thought of him as the Messiah. Had John the Baptist announced that he was Elijah, as Jesus had testified, those who were eagerly waiting for the Messiah would have readily believed John’s testimony and flocked to Jesus. Instead, John’s ignorance… became the principal reason why the Jewish people did not come to Jesus.”
Jesus’s concluding judgment is read as targeted directly at JtB: “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it” — JtB had been reserved for the chief-disciple position, but a “forceful man” (Peter) had to step in. DP closes: “the main reason why Jesus had to die on the cross was the failure of John the Baptist.”
Umbrella for three specific failures: denying his Elijah identity, separating from Jesus to baptize independently, prison doubts. The cumulative effect is articulated in Matt 11:11.
This is DP’s most ad-hominem reading of a biblical figure — orthodox tradition holds JtB in near-Marian esteem (“among those born of women, no one is greater”). DP keeps the praise but inverts the trajectory.
See also. dp-elijah-mission-incomplete-required-successor, dp-cross-was-not-gods-primary-plan