"Do not be harsh and rough with the people. Treat everyone kindly. Be contented with your pay, and do not make the people give you money that you have no right to ask."
These were some of the many things that John said to the people. All his words came to this: "If you are doing wrong, stop it and begin to do right. Do not be selfish, but love your fellow men and do good to them.
And be ready when the King comes to obey him."
John was called "John the Baptist" because he baptized in the river Jordan all those who promised to follow his teachings.
The leaders of the people in Jerusalem did not believe the words of John and were not baptized by him. They did not know exactly what to think of him, and they sent some priests and others to see him. These men came and asked him:
"Who are you? Are you the Christ, the promised King?"
"No," answered John, "I am not the Christ."
"What then?" said they. "Are you Elijah the prophet come to earth again, as some people say you are?"
"No," answered John again, "I am not Elijah."
"Well, then," they said, "tell us who you are, so that we can give an answer to the rulers who have sent us."
And John said:
"In the book of the prophet Isaiah it is written, "The Voice of him that cries in the desert: prepare ye the way of the Lord, make a straight path before him." I am that voice to speak to the people and make them ready for the King, who is even now among you, although you do not know him, and who will soon make himself known."
The Carpenter Leaves His Shop
CHAPTER 15
AFTER SOME months the news was brought to Nazareth that John the Baptist had come up the river Jordan and was now preaching at a place about twelve miles south of the Sea of Galilee. The place where John was preaching had two names. It was called "Bethany beyond Jordan," there being another Bethany quite near Jerusalem; and it was also called "Bethabara," a word which means "the place where one can walk across the river"; for there the river Jordan was so shallow that people waded across it. John had chosen this place because the sloping sh.o.r.e beside the river was fitted for the crowds to listen to his preaching, and the shallow water was near at hand for baptizing the people.
Bethabara or Bethany was about twenty-five miles from Nazareth; and over the plain just across the hill was a road leading down to the river at that place, where people used to cross the Jordan on their way to the land of Decapolis and Perea beyond. Nearly all the people had heard John preach, and most of them had been baptized by him as a sign that they promised to turn from evil and do good and look for the King who was soon to come.
Jesus felt that the time had now come for him to begin the work to which G.o.d had called him. He had told no one of his purpose, not even his mother; but one day he left his carpenter shop to his younger brothers, who were now young men and able to care for their mother. He walked down the valleys, came to the river Jordan, waded the stream, and at Bethabara, in front of a crowd of people from every part of the land, for the first time he saw John the Baptist. No doubt Mary had told her son all the story of the angel by the altar, of John"s birth and of his early life; but in all the years Jesus and John had never met.
Jesus listened to the words of John, and then with the others he came forward to be baptized. John looked at this strange young man who was drawing near, and as he looked the voice within him said:
"The long-promised King has come! This Man is He!"
John felt that here was one who needed no baptism; for he knew that this man had no sins to give up, and was already doing G.o.d"s will perfectly.
He felt unwilling to baptize him, and said:
[Ill.u.s.tration: The Jordan. At the supposed place of Christ"s baptism.]
"It is not fitting that I should baptize one so good and so great in the sight of G.o.d as you are. I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"
But Jesus answered him:
"It is best that it should be so. Whatever is right for other men is right also for me. Let me do this as my duty to G.o.d."
[Ill.u.s.tration: As Jesus rose out of the water, a light flashed from the sky, resting on his head, and the voice of G.o.d was heard saying: "This is my Son, my Beloved, in whom I am well pleased."]
Then John yielded to the will of Jesus and baptized him. Just as Jesus rose out of the water a strange thing happened. While he was praying a light flashed from the sky and seemed to rest upon the head of Jesus like a white, shining dove coming down upon him; and a voice was heard somewhat like a peal of thunder. Those standing on the sh.o.r.e felt that some words were spoken, but they could not understand them. John alone heard and understood. It was the voice of G.o.d, and John afterward told the people that these were the words spoken:
"This is my Son, my Beloved, in whom I am well pleased."
At that instant a mighty Power came upon Jesus. The Spirit of G.o.d had always been with him and had caused him to feel that the Lord was fitting him to do some great work. But in that moment when the light from heaven fell upon him and the voice of G.o.d was heard, Jesus was filled with the Spirit of G.o.d as no man, not even the greatest of the prophets, had been filled before. He knew now that he was not only a prophet, one who hears G.o.d"s voice and speaks G.o.d"s words; but more than a prophet, he himself was the Son of G.o.d. He saw as in a flash what was G.o.d"s plan for his kingdom on the earth; and that it was a kingdom far different from that expected by the Jewish people. He knew that he, who up to that moment had been the woodworker of Nazareth, was from that hour to be the Prince of the heavenly kingdom. He was to lead the people to G.o.d and to show in his own life how men should live. He was to bring G.o.d down to men and to bring men to G.o.d. All this and more that we cannot understand came to the soul of Jesus as he stood on the brink of Jordan with the light of G.o.d upon his face.
Alone in the Desert
CHAPTER 16
AFTER HIS baptism Jesus felt that for a time he must be alone to think over the great change that had come upon him. Only yesterday he had been the carpenter in Nazareth, and now he knew that he was the Son of G.o.d and the King of Israel! So sudden and mighty a change as this made him feel that he must go to some quiet, lonely place, where he could think and pray and find out his Father"s will for himself and the work that he was to do.
Without speaking even a word with John, Jesus slipped out of the crowd upon the bank of the river. He walked toward the south, not following the well-known road beside the Jordan, over which he had walked many times while attending the feasts in Jerusalem, but choosing the paths along the mountain-side where he would not meet people, for he wished not to talk with men but with G.o.d.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Jesus chose the paths along the mountainside where he would not meet people, for he wished not to talk with men but with G.o.d.]
He came at last to a very lonely place, between Jericho and Jerusalem; a place where no man lived and where even the Arabs of the desert scarcely ever wandered. The only living creatures in the desolate land were the wild beasts, the wolves and the foxes, whose howls could be heard at night. There upon the top of a hill, with rocks all around, he sat down to rest. His mind had been in such a whirl of excitement, and his heart was beating with such strong feeling, that he had never thought of taking with him any food to eat. For many days and nights he was alone, praying and talking with G.o.d and never once thinking of eating. More than a month pa.s.sed away, even forty days, before the feeling of hunger came upon him.
Then suddenly he felt a sharp gnawing in his body, and he knew that he was famishing for food. He felt that he must have something to eat or he would die there in the desert, with the great work to which G.o.d had called him all left undone. Around him were the rough stones of the wilderness, and as he looked on them, this thought came to his mind:
"There is no need for me to starve in this desert. If I am the Son of G.o.d, as the voice from heaven said, then I need only to speak a word and these stones will be turned to bread!"
Then Jesus thought again, and said to himself, "Yes, I am the Son of G.o.d, and I have the power to make these stones turn into bread for me to eat. But that power was given me by my heavenly Father; and it was given, not that I should use it for myself, but for the help of others who are in need. It is not G.o.d"s will that I should make bread out of stones for myself."
And then a sentence out of the Bible came to the mind of Jesus, and he said, "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of G.o.d."
Jesus seemed to be alone in the desert, but there was one who was watching him, all unseen. That one was the evil spirit, Satan, who hated Jesus, knowing that he was the Son of G.o.d and the Saviour of the world.
He had put into the mind of Jesus the thought of turning stones to bread and using the power which G.o.d had given him for himself alone. Jesus was quick to see the purpose of Satan and to turn away from it.
[Ill.u.s.tration: When Satan, the wicked spirit, found that he could not persuade Jesus to do his will, he left him.]
Then another thought came to the mind of Jesus. He said to himself, "I know that I am the King of Israel, the Messiah whom the people have been looking for so long. But how shall I cause the people to know that I am their King? What can I do to make them believe in me?"
At that moment, while Jesus was trying to think out the best plan for beginning his work and making himself, as the Son of G.o.d, known to the people, Satan, the evil spirit, was ready with another word. He said, "Here is a good plan. Go to the Temple in Jerusalem at some feast-time when it is crowded with people, and in the sight of all the crowd, leap off one of the towers. You will not fall to the ground, but will come sailing down through the air, for all power is yours. And when the people see you, they will fall on their faces before you and will believe in you as the King so long promised. You know that you are the Son of G.o.d and that G.o.d will take care of you. Don"t you remember that in one of the psalms it is written, "He shall give his angels charge over thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up so that thou shalt not dash thy foot against a stone?""
Jesus saw at once that this was not G.o.d"s plan, but Satan"s plan. It would not be trusting G.o.d, but would be putting G.o.d"s power and G.o.d"s care to a trial to show what Jesus himself could do. He would not perform this foolish act, nor anything like it, of his own accord. He would wait until G.o.d told him what to do, and would do nothing until he was sure that it was the will of G.o.d. Again a sentence out of the Bible came to his mind, and he said:
"It is written again, "Thou shall not put the Lord thy G.o.d to trial.""
That means that we should never make a show of our trust in G.o.d or let others see by some act that is not needed what G.o.d can do to help us. We must not venture into danger to show how G.o.d can bring us out of danger.