ministry of the herald preceded that of the King. Jesus was yet in the seclusion of Nazareth when John was attracting multitudos of all classes, and from all parts of the land, to his teaching and baptism in the Jordan valley. When Jesus came to John ii seemed, to ordinary judgments, that the less came to the greater, the obscure to the famous. But it was not so. To ull around the relation between the two was unknown. Nevertheless, to the two it was clear enough. The forerunner knew that his mission was temporary and introductory, and that" the coming One" should eclipse his light as the sun extinguishes the bright morning star. Hence the reluctance of the Baptist to do anything which mig~t seem to militate against theju?t dignity of the Being in whom he recoanized the Messiah. " I have need to be b:\pt1zed of thee, and comest thou to me f,• This was the Person whose shoe's latchet he had declared himself unworthy to unloose. A slave would untie the thong of his master's sandals and bear them in his hand; John deemed even such an office too honourable for himself to discharge for the anointed Kina of mankind. It was not only in the presence of Jesus that John felt thus • the co;stant conviction of his mind was this, "I must decrease, but he mi.;st incre~se." But the witness was not all on one side. Jesus also bore testimony to John. In the very act of submitting to the baptism of the prophet, he acknowledged that prophet's greatnes~ _and ratifie~ his claims. ~d he, in express words, testi~ed to John's unique pos1t1on, as predicted by the ancient prophets, and of the man himself and bis character and work declared, " Of men born of women there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist." II. The baptism of our Saviour exhibits ms RELATION TO THE HUM.ili RACE. There seems to be no way of explaining and justifying this historical fact except by admitting; that Jesus was specially the representative man. In endeavouring to explain, to account for, the baptism of our Divine Saviour, we are met with a serious difficulty. The baptism of John was unto repentance and with a view to the remission of sins. Men came, and were invited to come, to receive the symbol of a cleansing which, being spiritual, could only be wrought by a spiritual process. The publicans, harlots, and soldiers, whose conscience accused them of sin, in coming to John's baptism, confessec their wrong doing and ill desert, and professed their desire, by repentance and reforma- tion, to escape from the trammels of evil and to live a holier life. They were warned that mere feeling, mere conformity, mere profe11sion, mere water baptism, were all insuf- ficient, and, if alone, worthless ; and they were directed to bring forth fruit meet for repentance. Now, in the case of such persons, and, we mn.y ndd, in the case of all the members of a sinful, guilty race, a moral purification was and is indispensably neces- sary. But what reason, what appropriateness, what meaning, could there be in the reception of a baptism such as this by the sinless Saviour of the world, the holy and faultless and beloved Son of God? What need bad he to confess and to ask pardon for sin? He had no sin to confess, no repentance to work out. If he required no spiritual purifying, to what purpose should he undergo the rite of lustration? The only answer seems to be that Jesus did this, not as a personal, but as an official and representative act. The circumstances of Christ's life and death are not to be understood unless we bear in mind that he acted and suffered as the second Adam, as the federal head and representative of humanity, as the Son of man. So regarded, we can to some extent understand the answer of our Lord to the remonstrance of the baptizer. It became him, as our Mediator, "to fulfil all righteousness." He bad mixed with the sinful population; ho was to live among and to minister unto the victims of sin; he was to be betrayed into the band of sinners ; be was to be numbered, in his death, with the transgressors ; he was, in a word, made sin for us, though he knew no sin. As, then, he had in infancy been circumcised, though there was no sinful nature to be put away; as be was to be put to death as a me.lefactor, though no fault was found in him; so he was baptized, though he had personally no need of purification, no sins to wash away. He was our Representative in bis birth and ministry, in his death and burial, and, none the less, in bis baptism by John in Jordan. III. The baptism of our Saviour exhibits ms RELATION TO THE DIVINE FATHER. At the commencement of the ministry of Jesus it was appropriate that an attestation of his mission should be given from above-not only for his own sake, but rather for the sake, first of John, and then of those to whom in consequence John should bear witness. Thus the forerunner was able to declare, "I have seen, and have borne witness thai 12 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK. [en. L 1-i5.
this is the Son of God." There were prohably no spectators of 01·.r Lord's baptism, and we are indebted to John himself for the record of what happentJd and of what became the accepted tradition among the early Christians. 1. Observe what was ,een. It wae aa Jesus went np out of the river, and whilst he was praying, that the mr-irvellous sign WM given. 'l'he heavens were rent a.sunder and opened, indicating the interest talrnn in the Redeemer's career by the great God of heaven himself, and the Spirit, in the form and with the swift, gentle, hovering movement of a dove, descended upon JesUB. How beautiful an emblem of the Divine power of the ministry which was thus inau- gurated, and solemnly, sacredly blessed from above I Surely it is significant that Christ should be represented as the Lamb of God, and the Holy Spirit as the Dove from heaven. A lesson as to the gentleness and grace characteristic of Christ's gospel. 2. Observe, furthr,r, what was heard. Language proceeded from the opened heavens, indicative of the Divine approval and complacency. Notice (1) the statement of relation and dignity, "Thou art my beloved Son;" and (2) the statement of satisfaction and appro- bation, " In thee I am well pleased." .APPLICATION. 1. Learn hence the Divine dignity of Emmanuel 2. And, at the same time, his humility and condescension. 3. Let this marvellous combination of all med.iatorial qualifications in the person of Christ encourage your faith in him and your devotion to his cause.