δ6
c Lk. iii. a1. πληρῶσαι πᾶσαν δικαιοσύνην.᾽ Barriabeis! ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς ἀνέβη εὐθὺς” ἀπὸ τοῦ Gatos: καὶ ἰδού, * ἄνεωχθησαν 3 αὐτῷ ἕ οἱ οὐρανοί, καὶ εἶδε τὸ Πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ κατα-
John 1.52. Acts x. 11 (with δια, Acts vii. 56).
1 βαπτισθεις δε in SBC vg. sah. cop.
3 For aveBy ευθυς NB have ενθνς ανέβη, Σ B has ηνεωχθησαν.
* NB omit αντω.
Himself, a brother of the sinful. In the light of this contrast we are to under- stand the baptism of Jesus. Many ex- planations of it have been given (for these, vide Meyer), mostly theological. One of the most feasible is that of Weiss (Matt.-Evan.), that in accordance with the symbolic significance of the rite as denoting death to an old life and rising to a new, Jesus came to be baptised in the sense of dying to the old natural relations to parents, neighbours, and earthly calling, and devoting Himself henceforth to His public Messianic voca- tion. The true solution is to be found in the ethical sphere, in the sympathetic spirit of Jesus which made Him main- tain an attitude of solidarity with the sinful rather than assume the position of critic and judge. It was impossible for such an one, on the ground of being the Messiah, or even on the ground of sin- lessness, to treat John’s baptism as a thing with which He had no concern. Love, not a sense of dignity or of moral faultlessness, must guide His action. Can we conceive sinlessness being so conscious of itself, and adopting as its policy aloofness from sinners? Christ's baptism might create misunderstanding, just as His associating with publicans and sinners did. He was content to be misunderstood. }
Ver. 15. The reasoning with which Jesus replies to John’s scruples is char- acteristic. His answer is gentle, re- spectful, dignified, simple, yet deep.— "Ades Gpri—deferential, half-yielding, yet strong in its very gentleness. Does ἄρτι imply a tacit acceptance of the high position assigned to Him by John (Weiss-Meyer)? We may read that into it, but I doubt if the suggestion does justice to the feeling of Jesus.— οὕτω yap πρέπον: a mild word when a
stronger might have been used, because it refers to John as well as Jesus: fitting, becoming, congruous; vide Heb. ii. το, where the same word is used in reference to the relation of God to Christ's suffer- ings. ‘It became Him.”—waeay δικαι-