JESUS AND JOHN THE BAPTIST.
YOU have been told that John went out in-to the woods and waste lands
when quite a young man. He fed on lo-custs and wild hon-ey, and his
clothes were made of the skin of the cam-el, with the long rough hair on
the out-side.
The time had now come for him to go out in the world to tell of Je-sus,
and to bid men give up their sins and walk in the right path.
And he went to a place near the Jor-dan and crowds came there to hear
him. And he told them that he had been sent to warn them to flee from
the wrath to come. He said they must not think they would be saved
be-cause they were sons or heirs of good men who had served God and died
in the faith. He told them that each one was to be like a tree, and to
stand in his place and bring forth fruit, and serve God in the best way
that he could. And each tree, said John, which brings not forth good
fruit is cut down and cast in-to the fire. He told them they must be
good and kind to each oth-er, and must give food and clothes to those
who were in need of such things. They must not tell lies, nor steal, nor
be vain and proud, but they must show by the way they lived that they
loved God and were glad to do his will.
[Illustration: JOHN THE BAP-TIST.]
And when those who heard him felt a great hate for sin, and a strong
wish to lead good lives, and to be saved from the wrath of God, they
spoke to John and he led them down to the Jor-dan and they were
bap-tiz-ed in the stream.
Now wa-ter will wash the stains from our clothes, and cleanse our skin,
but it will not wash our sins away. To do this we must have Christ in
our hearts. Some of those who heard John talk thought that he might be
the Christ who was to come, and of whom the proph-ets had fore-told
since the days of Mos-es. Some were quite sure of it; but oth-ers shook
their heads, for they had made up their minds that he who was to come
and rule o-ver them would be dressed like a king, and not in such plain
clothes as John wore.
John heard their words, or guessed their thoughts, and he said to these
Jews, I in-deed bap-tize you with wa-ter, but he who is to come af-fer
me, and who is great-er than I, will bap-tize you with fire.
That meant that Je-sus would be in their hearts like a fire, to burn up
all that was bad, as they burnt the chaff that was blown loose from the
wheat.
Then Je-sus came from his home in Naz-a-reth to have John bap-tize him
in Jor-dan's stream. But John would not. He said there was more need
that Je-sus should bap-tize him. He felt that there was need to have his
own sins washed a-way, but Je-sus had no sins. So why dost thou come to
me? said John.
Je-sus had come on the earth as a man to do God's will, and to teach
man-kind how to walk in the right path and keep their hearts free from
sin. And he told John, that all these things would be made plain to him
some day, and it was right that he should bap-tize him.
So John went with Je-sus in-to the wa-ter, and he bap-tized Je-sus in
the wa-ter. And Je-sus was pray-ing to his Fa-ther in heav-en.
And as Je-sus went up out of the wa-ter, lo, there came a great light in
the sky, that took the form of a dove, and it came down and seemed to
rest on him. And God's voice spoke out of the sky, and said: This is my
dear Son, with whom I am well pleased.
Then Je-sus went out in-to the waste lands, and was there with no one
near him for more than a month. In all that time he ate no food, but
spent the hours in talks with God. At last he felt weak and faint, and
left the waste lands to go in search of some-thing to eat.
Now there is a fiend in this world, as we all know, who has a black
heart, and can take on all sorts of shapes. He came to Eve in the form
of a snake, and to Sam-son with a fair face. He tempts those to do wrong
who have set out to do right, and we have to be on our guard all the
time, and to watch and pray that we may be kept safe from him.
When this fiend saw Je-sus on his way to give new hearts to men, and to
make them good and pure, he thought he would try and put a stop to such
work. So he went out to tempt Je-sus, with the same smooth voice in
which he spoke to Eve.
And he came to him and said, If thou be the Son of God change those
stones in-to bread, so that thou canst eat now that thou hast need of
food.
Je-sus knew why Sa-tan had come, and he told him that men should take
more pains to do God's will than to get bread to eat. Next Sa-tan took
Je-sus to Je-ru-sa-lem, and up to a high place where the house of God
was built. And he said to him, If thou be the Son of God, throw thy-self
down; for it is said, he shall give his an-gels charge to keep thee in
all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands lest thou dash
a-gainst a stone.
[Illustration: THE TEMPT-A-TION.]
Je-sus told him that it was not right to go where it was not safe, just
to try if God would keep us from harm.
Then Sa-tan took Je-sus up on a high mount, from whence could be seen
all the large towns in the land, and all their great wealth. And he said
to him, All these will I give thee for thine own if thou wilt kneel down
and wor-ship me.
Je-sus said to him, Go from me, Sa-tan, for it is set down in God's
book, Thou shalt wor-ship the Lord thy God, and him a-lone shalt thou
serve.
When Sa-tan found that Je-sus paid no heed to his words, he left him,
and an-gels came to wait on the Son of God.
In a short time Je-sus went back to the Jor-dan where John was, and when
John saw him, he said, Be-hold the Lamb of God!
He spoke of Je-sus as the Lamb of God, for he was to be laid on the
cross for the sins of men, as the lamb was in those days laid on the
al-tar.
Then Je-sus set out to preach and to turn men from their sins. And he
went to Gal-i-lee. And one day as he walked by the sea-shore he saw two
men cast their net in-to the sea. Their names were An-drew and Pe-ter.
Je-sus said to them, Come with me. And they left their nets at once,
that they might be near him and learn of him.
The next day he saw two men whose names were James and John in a boat
with their fa-ther. Their nets had broke, and they were in haste to mend
them so that they could take in a large haul of fish. But Je-sus spoke
to James and John, and they left the boat at once, and went with him
that he might teach them.
The next day Je-sus spoke to Phil-ip and Na-than-i-el, and they left
their homes and went with him.
[Illustration: THE MAR-RIAGE IN CA-NA.]
When Je-sus came to the town of Ca-na he found quite a crowd there, for
a wed-ding was to take place, and he and his mo-ther had been bid to the
feast. There was food to eat and wine to drink, but ere the feast was
at an end the wine was all gone. And when Ma-ry knew of it she said to
Je-sus, They have no wine. And she bade those who were there to serve
the guests to do just as Je-sus told them.
Now there were in the house six large stone jars such as the Jews kept
to hold wa-ter. Je-sus said to the men, Fill the jars with wa-ter. And
they filled them to the brim. And he said to them, Take some out now and
bear it to the chief guest of the feast. And they did so; and the wa-ter
was changed in-to wine.
The chief guest did not know what Je-sus had done; but when he had drunk
some of the wine he sent for the bride-groom and said to him, As a rule,
those who give a feast set out the good wine first, and when the guests
have had all they care for they bring out that which is worse. But thou
hast kept the good wine till now.
This was the first great sign Je-sus gave of the pow-er he had from on
high. And it was proof to those whose hearts were with him that he was
the true Son of God.
The time of the Feast of Weeks was at hand, and Je-sus went up to
Je-ru-sa-lem to keep it. And in one of the courts were men who had
brought their wares to the house of God to sell them to the Jews when
they came up to the feast. When Je-sus came to the place where these men
were, the sight did not please him. And Je-sus made a scourge, or whip
of small cords, and drove them all out, with their flocks and their
herds. And he poured their gold and sil-ver on the ground, and said to
those who sold doves, Take them a-way; make not the house of God a place
to buy and sell in.
[Illustration: DRIV-ING THE SELL-ERS FROM THE TEM-PLE.]
And while he was at the feast crowds were drawn to him, and had faith in
him when they saw what won-ders he could do. Nic-o-de-mus, one of the
chief men of the Jews, came to Je-sus in the night, and said to him, We
know that God has sent thee to teach us what is right, for no man could
do these won-ders if God were not with him.
Je-sus told him that he must have a new heart or he could not be a child
of God.
He-rod, who slew the babes of Beth-le-hem, was dead, but his son He-rod
ruled in that part of Gal-i-lee, and he was a bad man. He took his
broth-er's wife from him and made her his own wife. Her name was
He-ro-di-as. When John the Bap-tist told He-rod this was not right, he
would have put him to death if he had dared. But he had heard him
preach, and knew that he was a good man. Yet to please He-ro-di-as
He-rod had seized John, and bound him, and shut him up in jail.
While John was in jail, He-rod, on his birth-day, made a great feast for
the lords and chief men of Gal-i-lee. And a young girl, whose name was
Sa-lo-me, came and danced in their midst. He-rod was so much pleased
with her that he said, Ask of me what thou wilt, and thou shalt have it,
though it were half of my realm.
And Sa-lo-me went to He-ro-di-as--who was her mo-ther--and said, What
shall I ask?
And He-ro-di-as said to her, Ask the king to cut off the head of John
the Bap-tist, and bring it to thee here in a large dish.
Sa-lo-me came back in haste to the king, and said, Give me, in a large
dish, the head of John the Bap-tist.
He-rod was grieved, but as he had sworn to give her what she asked for,
and those who sat near had heard him, he felt bound to keep his word. So
he sent one of his train-band, who cut off John's head in the jail, and
brought it in a large dish to Sa-lo-me, and she gave it to her mo-ther.
When the friends of John heard of it they came up and took his dead form
and laid it in a tomb, and went and told Je-sus.