and all Judæa, and all the region round about Jordan; and they were baptized by him in Jordan, confessing their sins. How long the Baptist continued the exercise of his mission is not recorded; but from the fruits of it, which were apparent long after his death, it is reasonable to conclude that he must have preached the advent of the Kingdom of Heaven during several years, at least, before the time when he was superseded by him whose messenger he had declared himself to be. CHAPTER X. THE BAPTISM AND CALL OF JESUS. AFTER John the Baptist had continued his preaching during some considerable period, at length the time arrived when, among the multitudes who went down to Jordan to be baptized by him, confessing their sins, came Jesus from Nazareth to be baptized likewise. There is no reason for doubting that the immediate object of Jesus in so doing was the same as that of others, namely the confession of his sins, and the obtaining of their remission by repentance and baptism. As a matter of course, the objection has to be met that our Lord was by nature free from sin, and therefore had no need of confession, repentance, and absolution. Indeed the fifteenth Article of Religion of the Established Church of England declares that Christ in the truth of our nature was made like unto us in all things, sin only except, from which he was clearly void, both in his flesh and in his spirit.' But this dogma of the Church is based on the statements in the fourth Gospel, the authority of which must be denied. The sins of our Lord Jesus may have been venial; but to affirm that he was absolutely free from sin is equivalent to the denial of his humanity. A perfect man' without sin is an absurdity. Besides, the Scriptures afford sufficient evidence that our Lord was not free from the weakness, which is only another name for the sinfulness, of human nature. The Temptation in the Wilderness, when rightly understood*, must be acknowledged to be a proof of Jesus's human weakness; and the Agony at Gethsemane, recorded with but immaterial variations in the three historical Gospels, shows distinctly that, at the last moment, he was almost tempted to withdraw from his self-imposed task, though the same had then become his imperative duty. Were the case that of any one at the present day, who, even only in thought, and that but momentarily, should set up his 'will' against what he knew and acknowledged to be the will of God,-who, whilst warning others against yielding to temptation, should in his own person demonstrate that the spirit indeed was willing but the flesh was weak,—who, with his soul exceeding sorrowful even unto death,' should pray to God to take away this cup' from him,— would not such a one feel that he had been led into temptationhad sinned? And were he a Romanist, would he not confess his sinful weakness to his father-confessor, and be made to do penance for it? The writer of the fourth Gospel was too shrewd a casuist not to perceive this; and accordingly he has not only omitted the Temptation in the Wilderness,' but also suppressed the Agony,' substituting for it the statement that Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee'. 6 6 Consistently with the whole character of that, for all true Christians, most humiliating' document, the Baptism of Jesus by John, like the Temptation and the Agony, is omitted in the fourth Gospel. Such incidents would be inconsistent with the picture drawn in that document of the Messiah, the Son of God,' not as the Jewish apostles and disciples understood this expression, but as the Gentile converts imagined it. The baptism of Jesus is, however, recorded in all the other * See on this subject the following Chapter, p. 127 et seq. Gospels, and must unquestionably be received as an historical fact, notwithstanding that the several narratives differ in some important particulars. In the first Gospel it is said that when Jesus came to John to be baptized, the latter forbade him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? But Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now; for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him' *. In the second Gospel these details are omitted †. In the third Gospel the whole incident is described yet more briefly‡. As will have to be shown, the usual progress of development and transmutation was already going on. As John and Jesus were related by blood, and the former had already become acquainted with the superior character of his kinsman, and with his previous philanthropic course of life, the conversation recorded in the first Gospel as having taken place between them on the occasion of their meeting on the banks of the Jordan, is perfectly intelligible and consistent. But though the Baptist may have known his illustrous relative to be a scion of the royal stock of David, it is not at all required by the Scripture history that we should suppose him to have actually recognized Jesus as the Messiah. Indeed the contrary opinion is more reasonable. Jesus had not yet declared himself; he may even have not yet absolutely decided on undertaking his mission. All that is certain is that John was conscious of being in the presence of him who was to succeed him, just as the prophet Elijah recognized Elisha, the son of Shaphat, as his successor; though upon Jesus would descend more than a double portion of the Spirit that had fallen upon John. And it is not to be doubted that the Baptist's bearing witness to him was the signal to Jesus that at length his hour was come. His baptism was in fact the turningpoint in his mortal career, and the inauguration of his divine mission. As has already been stated, the baptism of Jesus by John, though recorded in the three historical Gospels, is omitted in the *Matth. iii. 14, 15. † Mark i. 9. Luke iii. 21. fourth, the reason being that such an act would imply inferiority on the part of him of whom it had just been said, ' In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God '*. In connexion with such a Being the idea of baptism for the remission of sins was necessarily precluded; and therefore what is said instead is, 'The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world'. The text just cited will give occasion to some further remarks in the sequel. But in the first instance it is necessary to notice the remarkable event which followed on Jesus's coming to John the Baptist, and which is specially mentioned in all four Gospels, only that the particulars given in the last two differ materially from those narrated in the first and second. In Matthew's Gospel it is said that Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water; and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him; and, lo, a voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Then was Jesus led up by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil'§. The corresponding passage in the second Gospel is, And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him; and there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness'. It will be perceived that these two passages are almost identical. And if the event recorded be considered apart from the legendary form subsequently imparted to it, the two writers may readily be understood as describing, in the figurative language of our Lord's countrymen, nothing more than a spiritual influence to which he was then subjected, and which then first clearly revealed to him his true character and mission, and constrained † Ibid. 29. * John i. 1. See page 124. Mark i. 10-12. G him to retire ('drove him ') into the desert, to reflect on the important duty he was thus called on to perform. The precise nature of this spiritual communication shall not be inquired into here; it is sufficient to say that it was spiritual, and that whether it was accompanied by any outward manifestation or not is immaterial. The expression This is my beloved Son' does not of necessity mean any more than the same words in the mouth of the prophet Nathan respecting Solomon, at the time when king David had expressed his desire to build the first Temple: 'He shall build me a house, and I will stablish his throne for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son'*. As the Almighty then declared to David, through the prophet Nathan, that He would be a father to his son Solomon, and that Solomon should be His son, so now He declared by the Holy Spirit to David's far greater son Jesus, that he was His beloved Son, in whom He was well pleased. So, too, the statement that the Spirit of God descended like a dove, does not mean that a bird of that description actually descended from heaven in a physical and visible form, and lighted upon Jesus. Here, also, the expression is figurative, and intended simply to convey the idea of the instantaneousness of the inspiration. The dove or pigeon is a bird of rapid and unwearied flight, to which allusion is made by the Psalmist, when he says, 'Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away and be at rest't. In like manner this bird is frequently referred to by profane writers of antiquity on account of its rapid flight. Sophocles, in his Edipus at Colonus,' puts into the mouth of the chorus the words 'Might I, like the soaring dove, Roam the aërial fields above, Her, who borne on tempest wings * 1 Chr. xvii. 12, 13. † Ps. lv. 6. Anstice's 'Selections.' |