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Humble Hero
and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit
of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.”
Sinless Christ Baptized
Jesus did not receive baptism as a confession of His own guilt.
He identified Himself with sinners, taking the steps that we are to
take and doing the work that we must do. His life of suffering and
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patient endurance after His baptism was also an example to us.
Coming up out of the water, Jesus bowed in prayer on the river
bank. He was now entering the conflict of His life. Though He was
the Prince of Peace, His coming must be like the unsheathing of a
sword. The kingdom He had come to establish was the opposite
of the one the Jews desired. They would see Him as the enemy
and destroyer of Israel’s rituals and system, condemn Him as a
transgressor, and denounce Him as the devil. No one on earth had
understood Him, and He must still walk alone. His mother and
brothers did not comprehend His mission. Even His disciples did
not understand Him.
As Someone united to us, He must bear our guilt and woe. The
Sinless One must feel the shame of sin. The Peace-Lover must live
with strife, the truth must abide with falsehood, and purity with
depravity. Every sin, every conflict, every defiling lust was torture
to His spirit.
He must walk the path alone. The redemption of the world must
rest on Him who had accepted the weakness of humanity. He saw
and felt it all, but His determination remained firm.
The Savior poured out His soul in prayer. He knew how sin
had hardened the hearts of men and women, how difficult it would
be for them to comprehend His mission and accept salvation. He
pleaded with the Father for power to overcome their unbelief, to
break the chains with which Satan had held them, and to conquer
the destroyer.
Never before had angels heard such a prayer. The Father Himself
would answer the request of His Son. The heavens opened, and a
dovelike form of purest light descended on the Savior’s head.
Few people at the Jordan except John recognized the heavenly
vision. Yet the solemn sense of God’s presence rested on the assem-