III.

_HIS HERALD._

MATT. iii. 1-12.

Thirty years have gone since all Jerusalem was in trouble at the

rumour of Messiah's birth. But as nothing has been heard of Him since,

the excitement has passed away. Those who _were_ troubled about

it are ageing or old or dead; so no one thinks or speaks of it now.

There have been several political changes since, mostly for the worse.

Judæa is now a province of Rome, governed by procurators, of whom the

sixth, called Pontius Pilate, has just entered on his office. Society

is much the same as before--the same worldliness and luxurious living

after the manner of the Greek, the same formalism and bigotry after

the manner of the Scribe. There is no sign, in Jerusalem at least, of

any change for the better.

The only new thing stirring is a rumour in the street. People are

telling one another that a new prophet has arisen. "In the

Palace?"--"No." "In the Temple?"--"No." "Surely somewhere in the

city?"--"No." He is in the wilderness, clad in roughest garb,

subsisting on poorest fare--a living protest against the luxury of the

time. He makes no pretence to learning, draws no fine distinctions,

gives no curious interpretations, and yet, with only a simple

message,--which, however, he delivers as coming straight from God

Himself,--is drawing crowds to hear him from all the country side. So

the rumour spreads throughout the town, and great numbers go out to

see what it is all about; some perhaps from curiosity, some in hope

that it may be the dawn of a brighter day for Israel, all of them no

doubt more or less stirred with the excitement of the thought that,

after so many silent centuries, a veritable prophet has come, like

those of old. For it must be remembered that even in gay Jerusalem the

deep-rooted feelings of national pride and patriotism had been only

overlaid, not superseded, by the veneer of Greek and Roman

civilisation, which only seemed for the moment to satisfy the people.

So they go out in multitudes to the wilderness; and what do they see?

"A man clothed in fine raiment," like the Roman officials in the

palace, which in those degenerate days were Jerusalem's pride? "A reed

shaken by the wind," like the time-serving politicians of the hour?

Nay, verily; but a true prophet of the Lord, one reminding them of

what they have read in the Scriptures of the great Elijah, who

suddenly appeared in the wild mountain region of Gilead, at a time

when Phœnician manners were making the same havoc in Israel that

Greek manners are now making in Jerusalem. Who can he be? He seems to

be more than a prophet. Can he be the Christ? But this he entirely

disclaims. Is he Elijah then? John probably knew that he was sent "in

the spirit and power of Elijah," for so his father had learned from

the angel on the occasion of the announcement of his birth; but that

was not the point of their question. When they asked, "Art thou

Elijah?" they meant "Art thou Elijah risen from the dead?" To this he

must, of course, answer, "No." In the same way he must disclaim

identity with any of the prophets. He will not trade upon the name of

any of these holy men of old. Enough that he comes, a nameless one,

before them, with a message from the Lord. So, keeping himself in the

background, he puts his message before them, content that they should

recognise in it the fulfilment of the well-known word of prophecy: "A

voice crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make

His paths straight."

John wishes it to be distinctly understood that he is not that Light

which the prophets of old have told them should arise, but is sent to

bear witness to that Light. He has come as a herald to announce the

approach of the King, and to call upon the people to prepare for His

coming. Think not of me, he cries, ask not who I am; think of the

coming King, and make ready for Him,--"Prepare ye the way of the Lord,

make _His_ paths straight."

How is the way of the Lord to be prepared? Is it by summoning the

people to arms all over the land, that they may repel the Roman

invader and restore the ancient kingdom? Such a proclamation would no

doubt have struck a chord that would have vibrated through all the

land. That would have been after the manner of men; it was not the way

of the Lord. The summons must be, not to arms, but to _repentance_:

"Wash you, make you clean: put away the evil of your doings." So,

instead of marching up, a host of warriors, to the Roman citadel, the

people troop down, band after band of penitents, to the Jordan,

confessing their sins. After all it is the old, old prophetic message

over again,--the same which had been sent generation after generation

to a backsliding people, its burden always this: "Turn ye unto Me,

saith the Lord of Hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of

Hosts."

Like many of the old prophets, John taught by symbol as well as by

word. The preparation needed was an inward cleansing, and what more

fitting symbol of it than the water baptism to which he called the

nation? "In that day," it was written in the prophets, "there shall be

a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of

Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness." The prophecy was about to be

fulfilled, and the baptism of John was the appropriate sign of it.

Again, in another of the prophets the promise ran, "Then will I

sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean; from all your

filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you ... and I will

put my spirit within you." John knew well that it was not given to him

to _fulfil_ this promise. He could not grant the real baptism, the

baptism of the Holy Ghost; but he could baptise with water; he could

give the sign and assurance to the truly penitent heart that there was

forgiveness and cleansing in the coming One; and thus, by his baptism

with water, as well as by the message he delivered, he was preparing

the way of the Lord. All this, we cannot but observe, was in perfect

accord with the wonderful prophetic utterance of his father Zacharias,

as recorded by St. Luke: "Thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of

the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare

His ways; to give knowledge of salvation unto His people by the

remission of their sins,"--not to give salvation, which only Christ

can give, but the knowledge of it. This he did not only by telling of

the coming Saviour, and, when He came, pointing to Him as "the Lamb

of God that taketh away the sin of the world;" but also by the

appropriate sign of baptism, which gave the same knowledge in the

language of symbol addressed to the eye.

The summons of the prophet of the wilderness is not in vain. The

people come. The throngs increase. The nation is moved. Even the great

ones of the nation condescend to follow the multitude. Pharisees and

Sadducees, the leaders of the two great parties in Church and State,

are coming; many of them are coming. What a comfort this must be to

the prophet's soul. How gladly he will welcome them, and let it be

known that he has among his converts many of the great ones of the

land! But the stern Baptist is a man of no such mould. What cares he

for rank or position or worldly influence? What he wants is reality,

simplicity, godly sincerity; and he knows that, scarce as these

virtues are in the community at large, they are scarcest of all among

these dignitaries. He will not allow the smallest admixture of

insincerity or hypocrisy in what is, so far, a manifest work of God.

He must test these new-comers to the uttermost, for the sin of which

they need most to repent is the very sin which they are in danger of

committing afresh in its most aggravated form in offering themselves

for baptism. He must therefore test their motives; he must at all

risks ensure that, unless their repentance is genuine, they shall not

be baptised. For their own sakes, as well as for the work's sake this

is necessary. Hence the strong, even harsh language he uses in putting

the question _why_ they had come. Yet he would not repel or discourage

them. He does not send them away as if past redemption, but only

demands that they bring forth fruit worthy of the repentance they

profess. And lest they should think that there was an easier way of

entrance for them than for others, lest they should think that they

had claims sufficient because of their descent, he reminds them that

God can have his kingdom upon earth, even though every son of Abraham

in the world should reject Him: "Think not to say within yourselves,

We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of

these stones to raise up children unto Abraham."

It is as if he said, The coming kingdom of righteousness and truth

will not fail, even if Pharisees and Sadducees and all the natural

children of Abraham refuse to enter its only gate of repentance; if

there is no response to the Divine summons where it is most to be

expected, then it can be secured where it is least to be expected; if

flesh become stone, then stone can be made flesh, according to the

word of promise. So there will be no gathering in of mere formalists

to make up numbers, no including of those who are only "Jews

outwardly." And there will be no half measures, no compromise with

evil, no parleying with those who are unwilling or only half willing

to repent. A time of crisis has come,--"now also the axe is laid unto

the root of the trees." It is not lifted yet. But it is there lying

ready, ready for the Lord of the vineyard, when He shall come (and He

is close at hand); then, "_every_ tree which bringeth not forth

good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire."

Yet not for judgment is He coming,--John goes on to say,--but to

fulfil the promise of the Father. He is coming to baptise you with the

Holy Ghost and with fire--to purify you through and through and to animate

you with a new life, glowing, upward-striving, heaven-aspiring;

and it is to prepare you for this unspeakable blessing that I ask you

to come and put away those sins which must be a barrier in the way of

His coming, those sins which dim your eyes so that you cannot see Him,

which stop your ears so that you cannot recognise your Shepherd's

voice, that clog your hearts so that the Holy Spirit cannot reach

them,--repent, _repent_, and be baptised all of you; for there cometh

One after me, mightier than I, whose meanest servant I am not worthy

to be,--He shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost and with fire, if you

are ready to receive Him; but if you are not, still you cannot escape

Him, "Whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly cleanse His

threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the garner, but the

chaff He will burn up with unquenchable fire" (R.V.).

* * * * *

The work of John must still be done. It specially devolves upon the

ministers of Christ; would they were all as anxious as he was to keep

in the background, as little concerned about position, title, official

rank, or personal consideration.