The Messenger. [volume] (Georgetown, Del.) 1858-18??, 1859-11-17
By REV. ]. A. MASSEY.

The following is the record of st.
Msshsw in regard to this matter.
ssThere cometh Jesus from Galilee
30 Jordon unto John to be baptised
Of him. But John forbade him,
saying I have need to be baptised
Of thee, and csmest thou to me?
And Jesus answering, said unto him,
Suffer it to be so now, for thus it
becometh us to fulfil all righteous
ness. Then he suffered him"
At the repugnance of John to
bsptising Christ we cannot wonder,
for whether he knew that Jesus was
"God manifested in the flesh" or
mot, he certainly knew and taught
shat Christ twas" or existed s'be-
fore him." and that he was .sprepar.
cd" by God "before him"-yea that
he was 80 vastly his superior that he
was "not worthy to unloose the
latchet of his shoes" He knew and
testified that he was "ths Lamb Of
God shat taketh away the sin of the
world" He could hardly think,
therefore, that jesus had any sin to
confess or which needed remission.
AT any rate he perceived an incon-
grasty in kis administering baptism
90 him whom God had made known
co him as she which baptiseth with
the Holy Ghost" But to US who
knew from the teachings Of the New
Testament, both his eternal God
head and the unspotted purity Of
Christ's human nature, there. seem:
90 be great difficulty in understand
ing how it could be his duty to sub
mis- TO that ordinance, which was
proclaimed to be "the baptism O.
repentance fer the remission O
SINS Had Christ not declared
that it ssbscamc" him to be baptisec
of John, we should have been more
strongly inclined than John to con
elude that it was utterly unfit ant
improper that the Holy Immanue
should have been baptised, even BY
him o greater prophet than whom
had never been born. But there
snust have been some reason on &C
count of which it was his duty to b.
bsptised Of John, or it would no
have been fulfilling of righteous
ness for him TINS to be baptised.
The view taken by Baptist writer
on this subject is, that it wa
requisite for Jesus to be bsptisea o
John to set an example TO all hi
disciples, TO the end of time, of bap
tism in adult years, and by INNER
sion. If he had acted in this mat
Ger only as pattern, the nature 0
Johns baptism shows that it coul'
only have been to those of that par
tic1lar time and country; john
baptism was only q temporary ordi
nance, as may be learned from Act
Xix, 3-5; when we are told tina
those who had been bsptised b.
John, upon their protesting faith ii
Christ, and we've baptised in tn
name Of the Lord jesus. Thei
previous baptism was not therefor
the Christian ordinance. If, there
fore Baptists could prove what the
have never yet been able to do, tina
John bap.ised by immersion, it woul
not follow that Christ's disciple
must now be thus baptised, for a
Johns baptism, and that of Chris
are different ordinances, both til
time and the mode of administering
the latter may be different. SIEVE
raj Pedo baptist writers have sug
gested that the baptism of Chris
was a compliance with the comman
in Exodus, xxx, A, that the priest
should be .washed with water" whe
indicted into their office. To Civ
plausibility to this theory it is sal
that Christ's age at this time (thirt
years) was that at which the priest
were required to enter upon the d.
ties of their office; and that Johr
being the son Of a priest, was
suitable person to administer unit
Jesus this rite of initiation, unto tn
priesthood. No positive Inference
on this point, can be drawn fro
Christ's age as to the purpose f
which he was baptised, as We are ii
formed that that was also the age