The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1888-12-27
SUNDAY MEDITATION.
Practical Duties Taught by Study OF the Inter
national Sunday school lesson Appointed fO
I'm Mr. 4 Il

study the paragraph from the Holy Scriptures as
indicated above.
SUBJECT: THE PREACHING AND THE BAP-
THING OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST.
1. Time.
When ST. John Baptist became 30 years of
age he set out as the forerunner of our Savior.
That was A. d. %. lie continued to herald
Christ for about one and one.half years, or
until he was imprisoned. After about six
months from the time he began his ministry
he baptized Jesus. Then for II months he
kept pointing persons toward Christ preparing
them to become followers of the Messiah. His
voice was hushed only by the arrest and in
generation of his person.
2. Place
The location of the ministry of st. John
Baptist was the wilderness of Judea, reaching
from the south quite down to Juttah and to
the north up to the region about Bathabara.
BY " Wilderness" verses and 4, we are not to
understand a sterile, uninhabited locality
Sections of that region are indeed very wild,
rough in rocks, terrible in gorges aud riffs
waste as to vegetation. And yet there were
parts quite cultivated and much inhabited. In
the time of Joshua we find wilderness in
which there were six cities. Jos, Is: 81, 62.)
Carmel was in the wilderness of Paran, and yet
the thrifty shepherd Nabal lived in that section
of country. Il Sam, 25: 1, ~ We must not
then attach to the word wilderness the idea of
q desert, barren and wild 1t is plain many
people lived in the region through which st.
John went declaring the coming of the Messiah.
8. Subject.
We are to study in this paragraph the account
of the ministry of ST. John Baptist. His special
work was to prepare the way for Christ; to tell
the people that Christ was coming; to get them
into fit frame of mind to receive him; to lead
them to a consciousness of their sins, and thus
to realization of their need of the Savior. He
would not tolerate even a suspicion that he
was himself the Messiah He was loyal to his
ipal-ready to sink out of recognition
rather than that any should lose sight of Christ.
A.. Analysis.
l. An account of st. John Baptist's person
atty.
q The preaching of st. John Baptist.
g. The baptizing of ST. John Baptist.
L. The baptism of Christ by ST. John Bap-
list.
5. The Discussion.
l. The personality of ST John Baptist. He
was the son of Zacharias and Elizabeth. He
belonged to the priestly family. His birth
was miraculous. He had neither brother nor
sister. His mission, foretold, it was his aim to
study and mediate and otherwise qualify
himself for the work. He became ascetic
! He began the special mission of heralding
| Christ when he became 80 years of age, six
months the senior of Jesus. We have notices
as to his food and clothing. He ate Iocusts and
| wild honey. The Jewish laws related even TO
| diet, and Jews are very particular to observe
| them. But said laws allowed the eating of To-
Gusts. (Lev., q, 22) The supposition we
are to understand by locusts the pods of locust
| trees is not entertained by many writers. In
sectS of the locust order are still much eaten in
Eastern lands. The legs and wings torn off and
| the entrais removed, the body is placed on a
! spit and roasted. Often the loeusts are dried
! and pulveriZed, making a sort of -four. Some
| times, like sardInes, they are dressed III oil.
| Bed0uins salt them and carry them in sacks,
| eating the food on their journey with much
| satisfaction. DR.. Kitto says of locusts: =" In
| taste they much resemble shrimps, and whole
armies have been relieved by them when in
| danger of starvation" The force of the state
| ment that st. John ate loeusts is in the fact
they were the food of the poorer classes, and
would naturally be chosen in the East by one
who had given himself up to humble, self
denying life. He also ate wild honey. We do
not understand this to be what is known as a
vegetable sort of honey. He may, however,
have eaten both kinds. Palestine was laud
| flowing in milk and honey. Eek, g.: }
Honey was deposited in hollow trees and in
fssured rocks and that even in wilderness
places, free to the passer-by.
We find the clothing of the forerunner of
Christ specified. He twas clothed with cam
els-hair, and with girdle of a skin about the
loins." ". g. In st. Matt, 3: 4, leathern
| girdle is mentioned. The material was proba-
bly, rudely prepared-tanned imperfectly. Cir
dies were often made of linen, silk silver gold.
The ancient style of attire for men as well as
women-the garments being long and flowing
called for girdles. But the one of st. John
| Baptist was not soft. (St. Matt, II: 81 Some
believe he simply cast about his person q cam
ELS pelt or rawhide. But most think the raj
ment was made from cloth spun from the
shaggier hair, drugget or carpet-like in appear
| ance. Certainly it was not the expensive, ele-
CANT camlet stuff. The poor of the East now
and monks at some points still wear garments
made from Cancels coarse hair mixed with
wool. st. Johns apparel was common to proph-
cts. q XII, 1883 False prophets initiated
such dress. Zee, 13: A. On his feet st. John
Baptist wore sandals. The sandal was simply
sole fastened about the foot and ankle by
means of strings or straps with buckles. The
sole was made of leather or wood.
2. The preaching of st. John Baptist. He
was the fOrerunner, pioneer, haCbinger, mes
senger, envoy, avant-courier of Christ. His
coming to prepare the way for the Mes
siah was the subject of many prophetic utter
ances in the Old Testament. We have two
special illusions to certain prophets, together
with quotations. Maliehi Is: II is quoted in
verse 2, and Isaiah (40: 30) in verse 8. The fgst
wrote about 400 years before Christ, and the
last a little over 700 years before Christ. In q
certain sense the beginning of the Gospel was
in the eternal foreknowledge of God. 1t was
further begun in the promise in Eden of the
Savior to come. (Gen., 3: 49, The heralding
of st. John Baptist was in a more conspicuous
way the beginning of the Gospel.
The nature of the preaching is seen in verses
3, z, g. He was a voice firm, vigorous, bold
crying out in the wilderness that Christ wa;
on way to the ministry and would soOu
appear in person. He carefully magnifed hi!
Principal and sought TO hide himself.
g. The baptizing of st. John Baptist H'
baptized with water, and probably mainly il
the river Jordan. Whenever a GENTLE was
received into the Jewish Church he was hap
tized. In the time of St. John Baptist the
Jews in mass had become wicked as Gentiles
and he practically, so far as cleanness wa:
concerned, demanded that the repentant Jew
should give evidence of reformation by re
ceiving baptism. 1t seems from Acts, 10: 1-5
that The baptism of st. John Baptist was no
regarded as sufficient. The condition for bap
tism by Christ's heralder was confession, anC
of course by implication abandonment, o
sin. 1t was not with the Holy Ghost. ". s.
: If candidates truly repented they were assured
that God would remit forgive their sins.
4. The baptism of Christ by st. John Bap
tist. 1t was in the river Jordan at Bethsbara
on the east side, to wit, in Perea. 1t was dop
! when st. John Baptist had been heralding hin
for six months. Christ was 30 years old, sil
: months younger than his heraider. He wa
baptized to fulfill all righteousness; baptized
inst as he was born as he was circumcised