No doubt there was more than this. Besides the outward maiiifest;ition, a new epoch o]>ened for the Son of Man Himself. But the nature of this we can describe only by its effects. The evan- gelists evidently have before their minds the analogy of the prophetic call and prophetic endow- ment. After the events of the Baptism Je.sus is 'full of the Holy .Spirit' (I.k 4', cf. Mt 4', Mk 1"). And lie jipiilies to Himself the i>rophotic language of Is (11' "The Spirit of the Lonl is upon me; becau.-ie the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek,' etc. (cf. Lk 4'" ; it is prob- ably tills allusion to 'anointing with the Spirit'
61:
JESUS CHRIST
JESUS CHRIST
wliicli has led to the inoiiient in Lk being placed tliiis early). In the Gospel according to tlio Hebrews this is expressed even more emphatically lh;v!i ill the canonical (jiispels : ' Factum est autem enm asccndisset Dominus de a<|ua, descendit fons oninis Spiritus saiicti el reipiievit super eum et dixit illi : Kill mi in omnibus prophetis exspectabam te, ut venires et requiescereni in te. In eo enim reipiies mea. lu es filins mens priniojicnitus qui regnas in sempiternuu: ' (llieron. (ul Ji-n. xi. 1).
We have oiny to add that from this lime onwanLs tlie rOle of the Messiah is distinctly a.ssumed. The ' mighty works ' very soon begin ; ilisciple* begin to attach tliem.selve.s, at first loo.sely, but with in- creasing ck)sene.ss ; and there is a lone of decisive authority both in teaching and in act.
LiTKKATriiB. — Tltoro 1« a strjiiiffi' mlxtiirf of fine scholarship and lenrninp, with Itolil, not to say wild, s^ieculntion on tlio siit>iept of thi.H hi-clion in Usoner's iiffitfioiiMffetichichtttcJie {'u'ltrHiif/utin/en, 1 Teil. Honn. I^^9. Willi thi.s may be cmn- jiurcd iiorni'inann. Die Tiiii/e Chri/tti dicrfh Johannen in */. tfn(/rniiti\ffii'n Heilrteiiiinff (I. Chrintl. Th^nlogen tl. rifr ei'Kten Jiihrttumtertf. Li-iji/iir, ISIUJ, Juhn the BaptiMt, l»y the Into Dr. il. 11. Ili'viiolds ^;tni oil. 1^?S), i-oprosonts the Connrega- 'iunitt /.erfiire of I>T4, and tlt-als more with llie eareer of .loiin lan with the tiuestlons which arlseoiit of the li.-iptisinof .Icsus ; \..it It does not leave these untouched so far as they had at that date eome Into view.
ii. The Temptation. — AVe decline to speculate where tlie data fail us. But one remarkable glimpse is afforded us into the state of the inner consciousness of the Son of Man after His Baptism. Strictly speaking, this would not as yet have been available to the spectator. It w.is probably not at this early date that it was disclosed, even to .liiise nearest and dearest to Him. Still, the ilisclnsure must have been made by the Lord Himself during His lifetime ; and the extent to which it has found its way into all the Synoptics shows that it must have had a somewhat wide diffusion among the main body of the disciples. For this rea.son, as well as for the ailv.intage of introducing it at the place which it occupies in the narratives, we shall not hesitate to touch upon the Teniptatiun here, though it might perhaps more .strictly come under the head of • Sup|)lemental .Matter.'
The narratives of the Temptation are upon the face of them symbolical. Only in the form of symljols was it possible to present to the men of that day a struggle so fought out in the deepest recesses of the soul. There are two instances of such struggle in the life of the Redeemer — one at the bi'ginuing and the other at the end of His ministry (Lk 4''' comp. with 22^'). In both, the jis.sault comes from without, from the personal I'ower of Kvil. It is impossible for us to under- staiiil it, in the sen.se of understanding how what we call temptation could affect the Son of God. It coulil not have uniched Him at all unless He had been al.so, and no less really, Son of Man. He vouchsafetl to be tempted in order that He might be in all points like unto His brethren (He 4"').
The Temptation clearly belongs to the begin- ning of the Ministry. It would have had no point before ; and the is.sue on which il turned had evidently been decided before the public life of Je-sus began, as that life throughout its whole course followed the law which was then laid down. The Temptation implies two things. It implies that He to vvliom it was addressed both knew Himself to be the Messiah whom the .lews axjiected, and also knew Himself to be in posses- sion of extraordinary powers. To say that He; was now for the lirsl lime conscious of these powers is more than we have warrant for. But, in any case, it was the first time tliat the problem arose how tney were to be exercised. Were they to be exercised at the prompting of the simplest of all instincLs — the instinct of self-preservation ? Were they to be exercised in furtherance of what must
have seemed to be the first condition on which His mission as the Messiah could be accomplished — to convince the world that He had the mission, that it was for Him to lead and for them to follow '? And, liistly, when He came forward its the Messiah, Wiis it to be its the Messiah of Jewisli ex|iect!i- tion ? Was His kingdom to be a kingdom of this world? Was it to embrace all the secular king- iloms anil the glory of them, to enfold them in a system more powerful and more magnilicent than tiieirs, brought about Ijy supernatural means, with no local limitations like even the greatest of pjjst emjiires, but wide as the univer.se it.self and in- destructible ? Was it to be a real restoring;, of the kingdom to Israel ? Wiis Jerusalem to be its centre, in a new sense the 'city of the Great King ' ?