Chapter I

_THE PREACHING OF JOHN――THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST._
A.U.C. 780, ♦A.D. 27.

THE strange Preacher was none other than John, the son of Zacharias. Recalling in his garb and appearance one of the Prophets of the Old Testament, he now came forth from his retirement, and straightway commenced his task of preparing the way for the Messiah. The wilderness of Judæa (Mtt. iii. 1), that is the dry and unpeopled region extending from the gates of Hebron and Jerusalem to the shores of the Dead Sea, was the first scene of his ministration. Thence he moved northwards towards the Jordan, and at Bethabara, or rather Bethany[248], administered the rite of baptism in its rushing waters to all who were willing to receive it.

The news of his appearance quickly spread throughout the length and breadth of the land. From Jerusalem, the towns of Judæa, and the Jordan valley, multitudes flocked forth to hear him (Mtt. iii. 5; Mk. i. 5). The river’s banks became like the streets of a crowded city. Pharisees and Sadducees (Mtt. iii. 7), tax-gatherers (Lk. iii. 12), and soldiers (Lk. iii. 14), rich and poor, gathered around him and listened to his burning words. No temporal Messiah did he proclaim, no king higher than the Cæsars, no rising against the Roman yoke. Personal repentance, personal reformation, this was his message. To all alike his language was bold, severe, uncompromising. The chiefs of the great religious parties approached him, and were bidden to abjure all trust in mere descent from Abraham (Mtt. iii. 9), to bring forth fruits worthy of the repentance they professed, and to flee _from the wrath to come_. The multitudes groaning under the Roman dominion drew near, and enquired what they should do in view of the great crisis he proclaimed to be at hand, and were bidden to cultivate mutual charity (Lk. iii. 11). The tax-gatherers offered themselves for baptism, and were told that there was room for them, if they would practise justice (Lk. iii. 12). Rough, and too often brutal, soldiers enquired what they should do, and they too were not rejected, but exhorted to abstain from violence and pillage, and to be content with their wages (Lk. iii. 14).

With a boldness hitherto unparalleled, save in the teaching of the sternest of the prophets of the Old Covenant, the son of Zacharias declared _the whole nation_ to be spiritually unclean. The baptism, which the Jewish teachers required of all who would be admitted as proselytes from heathenism[249], he demanded of the elect nation itself, of high and low, rich and poor, learned and unlearned, if they would be prepared for the coming of the Messiah. _The axe_, he cried, _lay at the root of the trees_, and EVERY _tree which brought not forth good fruit would be hewn down and cast into the fire_ (Mtt. iii. 10).

Great were the searchings of heart caused by the appearance of this strange Preacher, and the utterances of this _Voice crying in the wilderness_ (Lk. iii. 15). Some thought he was the Messiah, the hope of Israel; others Elias; others the Prophet of whom Moses had spoken. John replied he was none of these. He was only preparing the way for Another. He, indeed, baptized with water unto repentance, but One was at hand far _mightier than himself, the latchet of whose shoes he was not worthy to bear[250], He should baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire. His winnowing fan was in His hand, and He would throughly purge His floor, gathering the wheat into His garner, but burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire_ (Lk. iii. 16–18).

The impression thus made upon the people was profound. How long the Baptist continued his work of preparation we are not told[251]. But at length, even as he declared, the MESSIAH appeared, and commenced His public ministry. Leaving the home of His childhood in retired Nazareth (Mtt. iii. 13; Mk. i. 9), probably about the close of the year A.D. 27, JESUS advanced southward towards the Jordan Valley. Either at the northern ford of Succoth or the more southern one east of Jericho, He found His great Forerunner, and desired to be baptized by him. The Baptist, who had hitherto rebuked without distinction the sins of all classes and all grades, was deeply moved by the request. With an instinctive conviction of the immaculate purity of Him, whose advent he had announced, he sought to prevent[252] Him, saying, _I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me?_ (Mtt. iii. 14). But his objection was overruled. _Suffer it to be so now_, replied the Holy One; _for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness_ (Mtt. iii. 15). Then at length the Baptist consented, and when all the people had been baptized (Lk. iii. 21), descended with Him into the river, and administered the initiatory rite, after which the Redeemer ascended from the water, and was engaged in solemn prayer (Lk. iii. 21), when the heavens were opened, and in an embodied form, like unto a Dove, the Holy Spirit descended, and _abode upon Him_. But this was not all, for at the same time there came a Voice from heaven, saying, _Thou art My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased_ (Mtt. iii. 16, 17; Lk. iii. 22; Mk. i. 11).

Thus in the presence of His Forerunner, the Divine nature of the Messiah was attested, and His work of Redemption inaugurated. He had come to _destroy the works of the devil_ (1 Jn. iii. 8), His very first work, therefore, was to enter on a conflict with the great Enemy of mankind. _Full of the Holy Ghost_, He was _led up_ by the motions of that Spirit (Mtt. iv. 1), either into the wilderness of Judæa, or the lonely desert mountains east of the Jordan[253], to _be tempted by the devil_ (Mtt. iv. 1; Mk. i. 12). For forty days and forty nights He remained amidst the thickets and caverns of that dreary region, abounding in fierce and savage beasts (Mk. i. 13), and during all this period He had nothing to eat.

At length, when hunger had weakened the energies of the body, the Tempter approached, and suggested that if He was in truth the Son of God, He should command the stones that lay around to become bread. But the Holy One detected at once the subtle insinuation to mistrust His heavenly Father’s power, and in the words of Scripture (Deut. viii. 3) replied, _It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God_ (Mtt. iv. 4; Lk. iv. 4).

Foiled in his attempt to induce the Redeemer by a selfish display of power to satisfy the wants of the body, the Tempter now sought by another avenue to achieve a victory over Him. Taking Him up to an exceeding high mountain, he displayed before His eyes in a moment of time all _the kingdoms of the world and the glories of them_, promising to place all in His power, if He would only fall down and worship him. But this temptation also the Holy One repelled. Falling back a second time on the revealed Word, and the same portion of it (Deut. vi. 13), He replied, _It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve_.

But yet again the Evil One renewed his attack. Taking the Redeemer into the Holy City, he placed Him on the lofty pinnacle, the topmost ridge of the South side of the Temple, and bade Him, if He were the Son of God, vindicate His eternal nature, cast Himself down, and thus display by one dazzling exhibition of power His relation to the Supreme, and confirm His Messianic claims. But he was no more successful than before. The Redeemer saw through his wiles, and the sophistry wherewith he sought to support his demand by quoting the language of the Psalmist (Ps. xci. 11), _He shall give His angels charge concerning Thee, and in their hands they shall bear Thee up, lest at any time Thou dash Thy foot against a stone_. For the third time He had recourse to the written Word, and for the third time referring to the same portion of it (Deut. vi. 16), made answer, _Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God_.

With this last assault the Temptation was ended. Where the first Adam had fallen, the second Adam had triumphed, nor swerved for a moment from the path of strictest obedience to the will of His Father in Heaven. The Devil now left Him _for a season_ (Lk. iv. 13), or rather till a more convenient occasion for renewing his attempt, _and angels came and ministered unto Him_, who had already proved Himself “more than conqueror” over the crafts and assaults of the Wicked One.