CHAPTER II.

THE BAPTISM OF JESUS.

HE Evangelist says that Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be immersed by him, 'But John sought to hinder him, saying: I have need to be immersed of thee, and dost thou come to me? And Jesus answering said to him: Suffer it now; for thus it becomes us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered him.' In approaching this august event, the forcible words of Godet attract our attention. He says:1

John and Jesus resemble two stars following each other at a short distance, and both passing through a series of similar circumstances. The announcement of the appearing of the one follows close upon that of the appearing of the other. It is the same with their twin births. This relation repeats itself in the commencement of their respective ministries, and lastly in the catastrophies which terminate their lives. And yet, in the whole course of the career of these two men, there was but one personal meeting-at the baptism of Jesus. After this moment, when one of these stars rapidly crossed the orbit of the other, they separated, each to follow the path that was marked out for him. It is this moment of their actual contact that the Evangelist is about to describe.'

The meeting was worthy of both, but pre-eminently worthy of the Father who directed their steps. The star of the morning was herald to the rising Sun, and then faded away in the fullness of his beams. For thirty years Jesus was secluded in Nazareth, calmly awaiting the ripe day for his public work. Eagerly he watched the shade on the dial, to indicate that his hour had come for release from that holy restraint which held back his consuming zeal. Often he knelt in prayer on the mountaintops which overlook the plain of Esdraelon, till the sentinel stars took their stations in the sky; and then returned home, silent and pensive, to wait for the dawn of his ministry. When slumber fell upon the carpenter's household, Mary often rehearsed to him the ponderings of her own heart, the mysterious secrets of his birth, and the dealings of God with her cousin in Hebron. The story fell upon the soul of mother and Son as a radiance from heaven, full of sad beauty and divine love; for the dim foreshadings of separation moved their pure hearts to the parental embrace and the good-night kiss, as in other sweet human homes. At last, the moment came when a sacred attraction drew him from the little upland town and dwelling forever; save on one brief visit to the plain old sanctuary, where his young heart had been warmed by the words of the Law.

His journey from Galilee to the Jordan, after the touch of parting with his

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JESUS GOES TO THE JORDAN.

loved ones, stirred heaven with a deeper interest than the footsteps of man had ever excited, for then he recorded the hallowed resolution: Lo, I come to do thy will, O God.' Many a hard-fought battle had soaked the plain which he crossed, with blood; but that day he went forth single-handed to the hardest war that had ever been waged upon this globe. After he had swept the foot of Tabor, at every step he trod on holy ground. And when he reached the western slope of the Jordan, like Jacob, his great ancestor, he crossed the ford that he might lead many pilgrim bands over a darker stream 'to glory.' 'All the people had been baptized,' and he presented himself as the last arrival of that day, because he was not one of the common repenting throng. He had done no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth; hence, remorse never broke his heart. Yet, he numbered himself with the transgressors. At the close of his ministry he was to sleep in a sepulcher wherein never man had laid; and it was meet that in opening his ministry he should be buried in the liquid grave alone, and separate from sinners. Baptism was the door by which he entered upon his work of saving mediation. The Baptist says, that up to this time he knew him not,' as if he had not met him before, and yet, he also says, 'I have need to be baptized of thee,' as if he knew him well. This apparent discrepancy has led to large discussion, with this general result; that while John knew him in person as Jesus, he did not know him in Messiahship until Jehovah who sent him to baptize in water said to him, before the baptism of Jesus: Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and abiding on him, the same is he who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.' But do John's words necessarily imply that he was ignorant, either of the person or Messiahship of Jesus, before his baptism? One great prerogative of the Christ was, that he should baptize men in the Holy Spirit. This fact had not come to John's knowledge till Jehovah gave him the special revelation that One should come to him for baptism, on whom he should see the Spirit descending and abiding,' and that he should be the pre-eminent Baptizer, who should baptize in the Holy Spirit. This thought seems to have struck John with deep awe, for he carefully draws a contrast between his own baptism which was 'in · water' only, and that of Christ which should be 'in the Holy Spirit' himself. If John did not know him, in the sense of the Baptizer in the Holy Spirit till Jehovah had announced to him the impending token and its signification, then we can well understand why he said: 'I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?' The revelation that Jesus should be the Baptizer in the Spirit was special to John: 'He who sent me to baptize in water said this to me.' And, it was said before the Baptism of Jesus, for the visible sign of the descending Spirit crowned the act of his baptism. If this be the sense of John's words, the Fourth Gospel, written A. D. 97 or 98, throws a strong light upon the First, written about A. D. 60.

It would harmonize exactly with the known methods of Divine Providence to suppose that the hand of God had kept them apart till that moment. Jesus had

PRESENTS HIMSELF FOR BAPTISM.

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lived in the north and John in the south of the land, and we know of no high purpose which demanded a meeting previously, whilst their separation must silence all suspicion of combination or collusion between the servant and his Lord. Gabriel had put John under the Nazarite's vow from his birth, which exempted him from attendance at the triple annual feasts, so that they had not met in the metropolis. Nor had John gone abroad in search of him. This was not his work. He must wait till God brought them lovingly together. That time of manifestation to Israel would come of itself. John went to the Jordan when he was sent, saying: 'That he might be made manifest to Israel, for this I came baptizing in water.' Like a man 'sent of God,' he was waiting for his Master to show himself fully and promptly, and Jehovah honored his faith by the foretoken agreed upon in the visible descent of the Spirit. Hence, when the solitary stranger joined the throng on the approach of evening, the eagle-eyed Baptist kenned him, and the vision made his whole being quiver with expectation. When David came to the throne in the garb of a young shepherd, the Lord said to Samuel: 'Arise, anoint him, this is And, why should not the Holy Spirit, who had 'prepared' the body of Jesus, and filled the soul of John, say this of David's Son?

he!'

With godlike serenity and dignity the Prince of Peace presented himself for baptism. The words of his mouth, the repose of his body, the purity of his face, the soul of his eye, overpowered John with a sense of reverend princeliness. When the stern herald stood face to face with the Son of the Highest his soul was submerged under a rare humility, which extorted the cry: 'I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?' Captivated by the dignity of the Candidate, and abashed by his own inferiority, he was helpless as a child before this incarnate God-this shrine of the Holy Spirit. He who had walked rough-shod over all pride, and had leveled all distinctions of human glory, was seized with the conviction of a worthless menial, and as a holy man, was thoroughly daunted when the Lord sought a favor of his own servant. The reasons are apparent. He found the Promised of all promises, the Antitype of all types, the Expected of all ages, standing before him in flesh and blood, and he was startled at the thought of inducting him into the new faith by the new ordinance; for his baptism was administered to the penitent, but the Nazarene was guiltless. 'Suffer it now, for thus it becomes us to fulfill all righteousness.' He defers to John's scruple, and asks for the new baptism, not of right, but on sufferance. What did Jesus mean by these words?

Viewed in any light it seems strange that Christ should have sought baptism as a high privilege which he could not forego, for what could it confer upon him? Augustine beautifully replies, "To any one who asks this question: Was it needful for the Lord to be born? Was it needful for the Lord to be crucified? Was it needful for the Lord to die? Was it needful for the Lord to be buried? If he undertook for us so great humiliation, might he not also receive baptism? And