How gladly should we all learn something of our Saviour's early life;
of His childhood; of the pursuits of His youth and manhood! But these
things are hidden from us, and whatever legends may exist respecting
such matters, we must remember that Scripture has not revealed to us
any knowledge of these things. For the eighteen years following His
questioning the learned men in the temple, one entry suffices--"And
Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and
man." As partaking of the human nature, His body grew gradually to
its full size and strength, enduring, no doubt, pain and sickness, so
inseparable from mortality: in this, all who are born into the world
follow His example, whether they will or no; but are all careful to
"increase in wisdom, and in favour with God and man"? And yet this is
what all may do. These words again set the Saviour before us, as an
example to be diligently followed: by prayer and study of the
Scriptures, we shall obtain from God, that heavenly wisdom which will
make us wise unto salvation; that practical wisdom, by which we shall
walk daily in a manner pleasing to God; so shall we, day by day, grow
in favour with our heavenly Father, and with all men whose approbation
and favour is worth securing.
Of John the Baptist's early life we have not even one glimpse afforded
us, beyond the notice "that the child grew, and waxed strong in the
spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto
Israel." In silence and solitude was the wonderful son of Zacharias
prepared for his work: the Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and under
its blessed influence he became strong to do, and suffer.
For thirty years did the Sons of Mary and of Elisabeth wait patiently,
unnoticed, till the time came when they were to enter on the work
appointed for each. At that time, Herod Antipas (one of the sons of
Herod the Great) was tetrarch or governor of Galilee, while his
brother Philip was tetrarch of Ituraea, and of other parts of the
country lying to the East of the Sea of Galilee and the river Jordan.
Archelaus, as we have already said, had for his misconduct been
banished by the Romans into Gaul, and the province of Judaea was
governed by a Roman, called Pontius Pilate. Augustus Caesar, who was
the Emperor of Rome when Jesus Christ was born, died when our Lord was
about fourteen years old; and another Emperor, called Tiberius Caesar,
ruled over the vast possessions of the Romans, when Jesus and His
forerunner John the Baptist, entered upon their public ministry.
The Bible tells us, that at this time Annas and Caiaphas were high
priests: by the Law of Moses, the Jews could only have one high priest
at a time, and when once appointed, he continued to hold that high
office as long as he lived; but when the Romans took possession of the
Holy Land, they appointed the high priest at their pleasure--often
depriving one of the office, in order to bestow it upon another. Annas
was high priest for eleven years, and then the Roman Governor
deprived him of the office, and made Caiaphas, who had married the
daughter of Annas, high priest in the place of his father-in-law.
According to the will of the Romans, therefore, Caiaphas was actually
high priest at this time; though, according to the Law of Moses, he
had no right to be so, as long as Annas was alive. No doubt the more
devout Jews, who wished to keep their Law, looked upon Annas as their
high priest; whilst those who were careless and indifferent, and
wished rather to please the Romans, acknowledged Caiaphas: for this
reason St. Luke speaks of them both as high priests.
We must remember that John was born a few months before Jesus, to "go
before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways," consequently he was
the first to appear in public. He went first as a Messenger, to
prepare the people to listen to the Messiah: John came, and called
upon all men to repent of their sins and wickedness, to leave off
doing wrong, and to do such things as God commanded them to do. John
also invited the people to be baptized. Baptism was a rite or ceremony
in use amongst the Jews before this time, by way of admitting
strangers into their Church: for instance, if any Gentiles wished to
join the Jews, and worship God as they did, they were baptized, or
washed with Water; and after this ceremony, they were looked upon as
new creatures, fit to be admitted into the Jewish Church.
The Jews, by baptizing the heathen, admitted them into their Church,
into a new religion; John called upon the Jews to be baptized, because
they were to change their religion, and become members of a Church,
which should have Christ for her head. The Jews baptized persons who,
according to their Law, were unclean, in order to purify them; but
John called upon those, who according to the Law were clean already,
to come to him and be baptized, in order to show, that all who would
belong to Christ must purify their hearts, and obey the spirit as well
as the letter of all the commandments.
This distinction between the letter and the spirit of any commandment,
must be carefully and constantly borne in mind, by every Christian.
For example, the Sixth Commandment says, "Thou shalt do no murder";
therefore all, who do not actually kill a fellow creature, may be said
to obey the _letter_, or exact _words_, of this commandment; but to
obey the spirit, we must never do anything wilfully to hurt our
neighbour in any way; we must, on the contrary, do all the good we
possibly can to our fellow creatures.
To make this plainer, suppose a mother to say to her children, "You
may go out, but it is so hot that you must not run about": the
children go out, and then amuse themselves by jumping--they have
obeyed the letter of their mother's commands, for they did not _run_,
but they have broken the spirit--she wished them not to heat
themselves,--that was the spirit and meaning of the precept; and that
they have broken, just as much as if they had run about.
The Jews must have well understood, that when John the Baptist called
upon them to be baptized as if they were unclean, he meant to show
them that the Messiah required men to be holy, far beyond what they
then were; and great numbers of the people listened to his teaching,
and went out unto him, and were baptized of him in the river Jordan,
confessing their sins.
"And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of
Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized of him. But John forbad
him, saying, I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to
me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for
thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered
him." John spake of the baptism administered by him, as "the baptism
of repentance for the remission of sins"; meaning that those who
repented and were baptized, would have their sins forgiven and done
away with, so that they would no longer be looked upon as guilty. John
knew that Jesus was perfectly holy, and had no need of the baptism of
repentance, so necessary for mere mortals. John had also told those
who came to him to be baptized "with water unto repentance," that they
still needed another baptism from the Son of God; even the gift of the
Holy Spirit, without which no man could please the Lord. He told them,
"there cometh one mightier than I after me, whose shoes I am not
worthy to bear,"--"the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to
unloose,"--"He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost."
In Eastern countries, the visitors to princes and great men, took off
their shoes, that is, the sandals or slippers worn upon the feet, and
left them at the door, whilst they went barefooted into the presence
of the prince. The fastenings or latchets of these shoes were often
undone by a slave, who also held the shoes till his master again
required them. Thus to unfasten or bear the shoes of another,
signified being his servant, ready to do any service that might be
required. John therefore meant, that He who was to come after him was
so greatly his superior, that he (John) was not worthy even to do for
Him the lowest offices required from a slave. No wonder that with such
feelings, John objected to Jesus being baptized by him, who was in
every respect so far His inferior; and who, like all other human
beings, had need of the Holy Spirit which God alone could give.
But amongst the Jews, those who were admitted to perform the office of
Priest were always anointed and baptized; and, as Jesus came to be our
great High Priest, it was necessary that He should observe this form,
as He had undergone the rite of circumcision. He came to fulfil all
righteousness, to do all that was right, and then to suffer
punishment, as if He had been sinful instead of sinless. To make
atonement for the sin of man, it was necessary that He Who made it,
should obey and fulfil perfectly the whole Will of God, and then
suffer, "the just for the unjust." Only so could atonement be made:
this Jesus explained to John, and then the Baptist no longer hesitated
to baptize with water the sinless Son of God.