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Chapter 11—The Baptism of Jesus
This chapter is based on
Matthew 3:13-17
;
Mark 1:9-11
;
Luke 3:21,
22
.
The message of the wilderness prophet reached the peasants in
the remote hill towns, and the fisher folk by the sea, and in these
simple, earnest hearts found its truest response. In Nazareth it was
told in the carpentry shop that had been Joseph’s, and One recognized
the call. His time had come. He bade farewell to His mother and
followed His countrymen who were flocking to the Jordan.
Jesus and John the Baptist were cousins, yet they had had no
direct acquaintance with each other. Providence had ordered this.
No occasion was to be given for the charge that they had conspired
together to support each other’s claims.
John was acquainted with the events that had marked the birth
of Jesus, with the visit to Jerusalem in His boyhood and His sinless
life. He believed Him to be the Messiah, but the fact that Jesus had
remained in obscurity, giving no special evidence of His mission,
gave occasion for doubt. The Baptist, however, waited in faith. It
had been revealed to him that the Messiah would seek baptism at his
hands, and that a sign of His divine character should then be given.
When Jesus came to be baptized, John recognized in Him a
purity of character never before perceived in any man. His very
presence was awe-inspiring. This was in harmony with what had
been revealed to John regarding the Messiah. Yet how could he,
a sinner, baptize the Sinless One? Why should He who needed
no repentance submit to a rite that was a confession of guilt to be
washed away?
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As Jesus asked for baptism, John drew back, exclaiming, “‘I
need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?’ But Jesus
answered him, ‘Let it be so now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill
all righteousness.’ Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized,
He went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens
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