The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1904-01-14

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Baptism and Temptation of Jesus.
Jesus consciousness of his divine
mission. which had been first quicken
ed into life in his fathers house eigh-
teen years before, had now lowered
out into the full apprehension of his
Messianic character and work. He
wiped the sweat of manual labor from
his brow for the last time. He laid
down the tools of his craft, and closed
the door of his earpenter-shop behind
him forever. His forerunner had
come more than halfway up the Jor-
dan Valley to meet min. Indeed, he
was scant twenty miles away. With
what sacred emotions Jesus went to
his epiphany, his Inauguration in the
sight of heaven and earth, At the
close OF one days preaching when
perhaps this torch of truth had fam
ed most fiercely, and thelast conscience
stricken sinner had taken upon him
the seal Of new life, the Nazarene
approached the Baptist. By signs
Invaluable, John knew the Messiah
stood before him. There was nothing
fortuitous in Jesus request. He left
his Gnlilean home for the express
purpose OF receiving baptism of his
forerunner. 1t seemed homogeneous
to John that the less should bless the
greater He was in the act of hinder
ing him. He who had been father
confessor to the nation, now turned
confessionist, and cried" | have need
to be baptized of theer A mock hui
mility would have persisted in the
refusal. John showed his faith by
obeying IA command that was incom-
prehensible. Jesus reply is the sec
ond recorded utterance of his lips
the first of his public ministry; it is
his inaugural to his Messianic office,
Suffer it to be so now" That now"
signifies the transformers of his hui
initiation For thus it becometh us
to fulfill all righteousness the per-
| lection of his Identification with hu-
| manity. What was obligatory on
man was binding upon the man Jesus.
The temptation of Jesus has been
declared the most difficult Of all the
events of sacred history to interpret;
| but the difficulty is reduced to mini
mum if one keeps in mind that Jesus
! had a%%true human soul, with all its
natural powers. 1t has been well
said that in this fierce conflict, Jesus
raised himself from the state of natur-
| al and instructive innocence to a holi-
ness of choice "a perilOus transit, in
/ which the first Adam fell, but in which
the second Adam conquered by the
sole arms of faith and prayer, and
not by grinding on as an impenetraDle
panoply his eternal Godhead. Jesus
had become aware of the mighty mir
acle-wOrking power with which he
was invested; also of the lowly and
suffering way in which his Messianic
/ kingdom was to be established. These
disclosures were enough to impel him
to some uninhabited place where,
free from interruption, he might adj
just himself to his calling, and devel
op plan of procedure The forty
day mountain" if that was the site
of Jesus trial. was place strangely
in harmony with his experiences
Just as Jesus emerged from his Ions
period of absorbed meditation, anC
his physical nature asserted its claims
the tempter injected the thought, 81
you really are, as you imagine, the
son of God, command these loaf-sha
and by that means assure yourself o
your divinity, and appease your hun
ger" But Jesus responded: 1.-The
lsraelites were forty years learning
the dependence upon the simple wore
and promise God. With their exam
pie ought to learn the lesson in forty
days" Again Jesus felt himself to bt
standing on dizzy height. The devi
wanted him to entertain in his minC
the purpose Of casting himself down
but Jesus considered that omake al
emergency for the sake of displa.
would be despicable. Finally, Jesu
knew he was to set up kingdom oil
earth, slowly, and by his own suffer
ing. Now, the kingdoms displayet
to him as in panorama are otferet
to him instantaneouslvb by the god O
this world, if he will serve him as wei
as his Father, and make his mission
temporal one, such as the Jews wer
expecting. The moral nature of Jesu
rises to its full height, as with hol
wrath he scorns the very suggestion
and cries, "Be gone,n to the temple
The Teachers Lantern
In his baptism, Jesus was 9th ide