"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."--_Matt. 3:17._
ONE day, as John was baptising, Jesus came to him, and desired to be
baptised. His mother and John's mother were cousins, and John knew He
had never done one wrong thing in all His life, and had nothing to
repent of. So he said, "I have need to be baptised of Thee, and comest
Thou to me?" Then JESUS answered, "Suffer it to be so now, for thus it
becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.
Then John baptised Him; and as they were coming up out of the water,
the heaven above was opened, and there came God the Holy Ghost, taking
a shape like a dove, and rested upon the Head of Jesus, and there was
God the Father's voice speaking out of heaven, and saying, "This is My
Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
Then John the Baptist knew that Jesus was the Son of God, and the great
King whose way he had been sent to prepare.
[Illustration: THE BAPTISM OF JESUS.--Mark 1:9.]
And this was the beginning of baptism, or christening, as we call it.
We are all baptised into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Ghost, and made to belong to Jesus Christ.