The Baptism
Tidings of the
wilderness prophet and his wonderful announcement, spread throughout Galilee.
The message reached the peasants in the remotest hill towns, and the fisher
folk by the sea, and in these simple, earnest hearts found its truest response.
In Nazareth it was told in the carpenter shop that had been Joseph's, and One
recognized the call. His time had come. Turning from His daily toil, He bade
farewell to His mother, and followed in the steps of His countrymen who were
flocking to the Jordan.
Jesus
and John the Baptist were cousins, and closely related by the circumstances of
their birth; yet they had had no direct acquaintance with each other. The life
of Jesus had been spent at Nazareth in Galilee; that of John, in the wilderness
of Judea. Amid widely different surroundings they had lived in seclusion, and
had had no communication with each other. Providence had ordered this. No
occasion was to be given for the charge that they had conspired together to
support each other's claims.
John was acquainted
with the events that had marked the birth of Jesus. He had heard of the visit
to Jerusalem in His boyhood, and of what had passed in the school of the
rabbis. He knew of His sinless life, and believed Him to be the Messiah; but of
this he had no positive assurance. The fact that Jesus had for so many years
remained in obscurity, giving no special evidence of His mission, gave occasion
for 110 doubt as to whether He could be the Promised One. The Baptist, however,
waited in faith, believing that in God's own time all would be made plain. It
had been revealed to him that the Messiah would seek baptism at his hands, and
that a sign of His divine character should then be given. Thus he would be
enabled to present Him to the people.
When Jesus came to be
baptized, John recognized in Him a purity of character that he had never before
perceived in any man. The very atmosphere of His presence was holy and
awe-inspiring. Among the multitudes that had gathered about him at the Jordan,
John had heard dark tales of crime, and had met souls bowed down with the
burden of myriad sins; but never had he come in contact with a human being from
whom there breathed an influence so divine. All this was in harmony with what
had been revealed to John regarding the Messiah. Yet he shrank from granting
the request of Jesus. How could he, a sinner, baptize the Sinless One? And why
should He who needed no repentance submit to a rite that was a confession of
guilt to be washed away?
As Jesus asked for
baptism, John drew back, exclaiming, "I have need to be baptized of Thee,
and comest Thou to me?" With firm yet gentle authority, Jesus answered,
"Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness."
And John, yielding, led the Saviour down into the Jordan, and buried Him
beneath the water. "And straightway coming up out of the water,"
Jesus "saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon
Him."
Jesus did not receive
baptism as a confession of guilt on His own account. He identified Himself with
sinners, taking the steps that we are to take, and doing the work that we must
do. His life of suffering and patient endurance after His baptism was also an
example to us.
Upon coming up out of
the water, Jesus bowed in prayer on the river bank. A new and important era was
opening before Him. He was now, upon a wider stage, entering on the conflict of
His life. Though He was the Prince of Peace, His coming must be as the
unsheathing of a sword. The kingdom He had come to establish was the opposite
of that which the Jews desired. He who was the foundation of the ritual and
economy of Israel would be looked upon as its enemy and destroyer. He who had
proclaimed the law upon Sinai would be condemned as a transgressor. He who had
come to break the power of Satan would be denounced as Beelzebub. No one upon
earth had understood Him, and during His ministry He must still walk alone.
Throughout His life His mother and His brothers did not comprehend His mission.
Even His disciples did not
understand
Him. He had dwelt in eternal light, as one with God, but His life on earth must
be spent in solitude. As one with us, He must bear the burden of our guilt and
woe. The Sinless One must feel the shame of sin. The peace lover must dwell
with strife, the truth must abide with falsehood, purity with vileness. Every
sin, every discord, every defiling lust that transgression had brought, was
torture to His spirit. Alone He must tread the path; alone He must bear the
burden. Upon Him who had laid off His glory and accepted the weakness of
humanity the redemption of the world must rest. He saw and felt it all, but His
purpose remained steadfast. Upon His arm depended the salvation of the fallen
race, and He reached out His hand to grasp the hand of Omnipotent Love.
The Saviour's glance
seems to penetrate heaven as He pours out His soul in prayer. Well He knows how
sin has hardened the hearts of men, 112 and how difficult it will be for them
to discern His mission, and accept the gift of salvation. He pleads with the
Father for power to overcome their unbelief, to break the fetters with which
Satan has enthralled them, and in their behalf to conquer the destroyer. He
asks for the witness that God accepts humanity in the person of His Son.
Never before have the
angels listened to such a prayer. They are eager to bear to their loved
Commander a message of assurance and comfort. But no; the Father Himself will
answer the petition of His Son. Direct from the throne issue the beams of His
glory. The heavens are opened, and upon the Saviour's head descends a dovelike
form of purest light,--fit emblem of Him, the meek and lowly One.
Of the vast throng at
the Jordan, few except John discerned the heavenly vision. Yet the solemnity of
the divine Presence rested upon the assembly. The people stood silently gazing
upon Christ. His form was bathed in the light that ever surrounds the throne of
God. His upturned face was glorified as they had never before seen the face of
man. From the open heavens a voice was heard saying, "This is My beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased."
These words of
confirmation were given to inspire faith in those who witnessed the scene, and
to strengthen the Saviour for His mission. Notwithstanding that the sins of a
guilty world were laid upon Christ, notwithstanding the humiliation of taking
upon Himself our fallen nature, the voice from heaven declared Him to be the
Son of the Eternal.
John had been deeply
moved as he saw Jesus bowed as a suppliant, pleading with tears for the
approval of the Father. As the glory of God encircled Him, and the voice from
heaven was heard, John recognized the token which God had promised. He knew
that it was the world's Redeemer whom he had baptized. The Holy Spirit rested
upon him, and with outstretched hand pointing to Jesus, he cried, "Behold
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."
None among the hearers,
and not even the speaker himself, discerned the import of these words,
"the Lamb of God." Upon Mount Moriah, Abraham had heard the question
of his son, "My father, . . . where is the lamb for a burnt
offering?" The father answered, "My son, God will provide Himself a
lamb for a burnt offering." Genesis 22:7, 8. And in the ram divinely provided
in the place of Isaac, Abraham saw a symbol of Him who was to die for the sins
of men. The Holy Spirit through Isaiah, taking up the illustration, prophesied
of the Saviour, "He is
113
brought as a lamb to the slaughter," "and the Lord hath laid on Him
the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:7, 6); but the people of Israel had not
understood the lesson. Many of them regarded the sacrificial offerings much as
the heathen looked upon their sacrifices,--as gifts by which they themselves
might propitiate the Deity. God desired to teach them that from His own love
comes the gift which reconciles them to Himself.
And the word that was
spoken to Jesus at the Jordan, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased," embraces humanity. God spoke to Jesus as our representative.
With all our sins and weaknesses, we are not cast aside as worthless. "He
hath made us accepted in the Beloved." Ephesians 1:6. The glory that
rested upon Christ is a pledge of the love of God for us. It tells us of the
power of prayer,--how the human voice may reach the ear of God, and our
petitions find acceptance in the courts of heaven. By sin, earth was cut off
from heaven, and alienated from its communion; but Jesus has connected it again
with the sphere of glory. His love has encircled man, and reached the highest
heaven. The light which fell from the open portals upon the head of our Saviour
will fall upon us as we pray for help to resist temptation. The voice which
spoke to Jesus says to every believing soul, This is My beloved child, in whom
I am well pleased.
"Beloved, now are
we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know
that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He
is." 1 John 3:2. Our Redeemer has opened the way so that the most sinful,
the most needy, the most oppressed and despised, may find access to the Father.
All may have a home in the mansions which Jesus has gone to prepare.
"These things saith He that is holy, He that is true, He that hath the key
of David, He that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man
openeth; . . . behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut
it." Revelation 3:7, 8. .
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