The Yale expositor., 1912-02-22


in connection with the scene of the
baptism Of Christ: The baptism it.
self, the descending dove, and the
heavenly voice.
The baptism of Christ is connected
with the fact that Christ was thirty
years old. This was the age when Le-
vitical priests were set apart and con-
secrated to their office. The baptism,
therefore, has reference to the priestly
Office of Christ. By submitting to bap-
tism Jesus identifies himself with the
worlds sin.
Christ's baptism then was not per-
sonal-for he himself was sinless.
The lesson tells us that while others.
after their baptism, stood confessing
their sins in the Jordan, he immedi-
ately went up out Of the water. for
he had no sins to confess-but official
and representative. Christ submitted
to the same baptism which the genera
ton of vipers had received, not be-
cause he was one of them, but because
he was their representative, and had
come to take upon himself their sins.
Christ, in submitting to Johns bap-
tism, set his seal upon the divinely
appointed ministry of John as the full
fillment of the Old Testament
prophecy. He recognized in Johns
baptism Gods plan for him, and he
submitted to it without questioning
If any man in his own right did not
need baptism, it was Christ. BY this
act, Jesus set his seal upon the rite
Of baptism, a rite which may be aban-
doned only when it no longer teaches
any truth. Rebellion against customs
and rites for rebellion's sake is vicious
individualism.
The descent of the Holy Spirit indi-
Gates Christ's equipment for his serv-
ice. In his sermon in the synagogue
he referred to this truth when he said,
the spirit of the Lord God is resting
upon me, because he hath anointed
me to preach the gospel. Even Christ
could not accomplish his life work
without the aid of the divine spirit.
Nor can we.
The voice from heaven could scarce
ly have been heard by Christ without
his associating it with the identified
tion of himself with the servant of the
Lord in the prophecy of Isaiah (chap-
ters AZ to 60).
The temptation is closely allied to
the baptism of Christ; indeed, it is
based on the proclaimed sonship OF
the baptism. From this we learn that
the greatest temptations ofttimes, In.
deed generally follow the greatest
blessings.
The temptation was a real event,
and not a mere mental or soul strug-
gle. The personality of Satan is as
evident as the personality of Christ
in the narrative. Nor is there any
thing in the story to indicate that it
is an allegory, but everything predl-
Gates a reality.
All of the temptations were along
the line of Christ's intention to estab-
lish the Kingdom of God in the world.
Satan's suggestion to Christ was to
take a short cut to the obtaining of
the Kingdom The adversary did not
ask Christ to do single wrong
thing; he did suggest doing right
motives. There is nothing wrong in
being hungry and satisfying hunger,
but it is sinful to use wrong measures
to satisfy even SO natural an appetite.
Nor is it wrong to trust in the word
and promises of God for deliverance
when we find ourselves in places of
danger, but it Is wrong to unnecessar-
lily place ourselves in compromising
positions because of the temptations of
the evil one, and then presume to rely
upon the promises Of God to extricate
us from position into which we have
thus been brought. Such is not an
act Of faith, but Of presumption-it is
tempting the Lord God. Nor is it
wrong to engage in the act of worship,
but it is sinful to worship anything
or anybody other than God.
Christ's method Of victory is signi-
ficant. He does not resort to dazzling
inventions or manifest any attempt ut
shrewdness in his answers. He does
not even try to be original. He goes
to the culver of Gods word, and takes
out an arrow that had been polished
by much use, and hurls it at the adj
versary. He examples the psalmist's
expression: "Thy word have l hid in
mine heart, that ! might not sin
against thee" No doubt Jesus quoted
from memory. Herein lies the bless
ing of learning gospel texts, and Of
storing the memory with scripture.
Jesus was tempted in all points like
as We are. We must not think that
:hese three temptations were the only
,nes Christ endured, even in the wild
srness. The narrative says that when
Satan had finished all the (whole
cycle of temptations, he left him for
season" This implies that there
we're other temptations, and that his
whole life was beset by temptations.
There is not single note in the
great organ of our humanity, which,
when touched, does not produce a sym.