living in all the chief towns of the countries with whom we are at peace. But if we English, made war with these countries, they would immediately count these ambassadors their enemies, and send them home, because they are the representatives of all the English.

We must remember this in reading the history of Christ. He was, in his single self, the Representative of all the men and women in the whole world; and therefore, though without sin, was counted as a sinner.

Now the full time was come, Jesus took leave of his home to begin his Father's work, and being about thirty years of age he came

Verse 13.

"From Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized of him."

Though their mothers were cousins, they had never met till now, or if they had, it had been while they were very little children. 'The Baptist had never seen the face of the Lord Jesus, because they had been from their infancy sent to different places, intended for different employments, and never met till now.'* But immediately God gave to John the knowledge who the Saviour was, and as soon as he saw him, he said to him,

comest thou to me?

14, 15. "I have need to be baptized of thee, and And Jesus answering, said unto him, Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness."

Jesus, the Son of God, Holy and pure, had no need of baptism-He had no sins to wash away, why then did He seek to be baptized? He was the representative of human nature. He had come to be the second Adam, "and as in Adam all died," so in him, the Christ of God, "all were to be made alive." He stood on the banks of the river Jordan, as one who appeared for man. He had not one single sin of his own to wash away, but He went down the steep banks of the river to * Jeremy Taylor's Life of Christ, Vol. I. p. 183.

be baptized in the waters of Jordan, that He might show to all, that the whole race of man, which He represented, had need to be washed from sin.

Thus "He fulfilled all righteousness." He did himself what He wished his followers to do. He set an example to all, and by his own baptism He showed all who call him Lord, how to begin their service to him.

But this baptism of the Lord Jesus was the beginning of a new order of things.

Verses 16, 17. "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him and lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

How solemn, how beautiful this witness that God bears to his Son !

All others who had been baptized by John in Jordan, confessed their sins, but Jesus went up at once from the water. He had submitted his human nature to the waters of baptism as the representative of man whose sins must be washed away; but now behold the sacred sign of the baptism of the Spirit He was come to give ! * "The heavens were opened to him," the air became clear by a new and glorious light, and the Holy Ghost, descending like a dove, alighted upon his sacred head, and God the Father gave a voice from heaven, saying, "Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

The Messiah, God, in the form of man, stood praying on the steep banks of Jordan. The Holy Spirit, either in the real shape, or with the gentle motion of the pure and peaceful dove, came visibly † down upon him from the opening sky. The Eternal Father, whose shape was never seen, spake from † So as to be seen by the eye.

*Matt. iii. 11.

heaven, and thus was present the Holy Trinity, which we confess when we say, "O Holy, blessed and glorious Trinity, three persons, and one God, have mercy upon us, miserable sinners." So solemnly did the ministry of Christ begin!

Prayer.

O holy, three in one, God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be merciful to me, thy sinful creature. Let the blessed baptism of my Saviour be accomplished in me. First let my sins be washed away, then let the Holy Spirit like a peaceful dove rest upon me; that all my angry passions may depart from me; that love, peace, and innocence may possess my soul, till being changed into the likeness of thy well beloved Son, for his sake I may find acceptance with thee. Amen.

XX.

MATT. IV. 1. MARK I. 12, 13. LUKE IV. I. "And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil." And he was there in the wilderness forty days tempted of Satan, and was with the wild beasts.' "And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered."

Immediately after his baptism, the Spirit of God led the Lord Jesus into the desert to be tempted of the devil. It was a bleak and dreary place; high hills and barren rocks were round it. The wild beasts made it their home.

Here, alone, and without food for forty days, Jesus, the promised seed of the woman, met that evil and wicked spirit who had been the cause of all the sin and suffering that had filled the world since the day when he had tempted and overcome Adam the first man.

MATTHEW Iv. 1. MARK I. 12, 13. LUKE IV. 1. 87

Here in this bleak wilderness, was to be tried once again that great question, which was to be the ruler of mankind, God or Satan?

But mark the difference between the trial of the first and second Adam :

In Paradise every fruit, but one, and every flower, was for Adam and his partner Eve. They were together, and in the full enjoyment of perfect happiness. They knew how happy they would always be, because they knew how happy they had always been. They had the word of God to depend upon. He was their Father and their friend; they knew he would not deceive them. Yet Satan triumphed at the first temptation. They listened to his voice, they believed that the happiness he promised them was greater than the happiness God had given them, they obeyed his will. They fell, and with them fell the whole race of man.

Ever since that hour, Satan had rejoiced. He was the Prince of this world. He hoped that man was his own for ever, but he feared that he should lose his prey. The awful voice of God had declared to him, that though by man's disobedience he had gained the power to hurt him, yet in the end the seed of the woman should triumph, should get the better of his power, and destroy it. "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."

Four thousand years had passed away since these words had been spoken, and their meaning was not yet plain. Satan had seen from the beginning that there had always been among the children of men some who would not submit to him. Emnity had ever been between these and him; these words of God-"the seed or child of the woman," had been partly explained by the prophets having foretold that "a virgin should bear a son, and that his name should be called Emmanuel, or God with us."+

* John xiv. 30.

Isaiah xiv. 7.

Satan trembled-he felt the time was come. The seed of the woman had at last appeared; a virgin had borne a son, and angels had left the sky to proclaim his birth. The message they brought from heaven was this: "Glory to God in the Highest, peace on earth, and good will to men.” What was

this, but ruin and confusion to him? Not Herod's jealous fear of the new-born Messiah could equal the fear and rage of Satan.

Nothing had yet had power to hurt the child; He had become a man, and on the banks of Jordan He had been declared to be the Son of God by a voice from heaven.

Now He was alone in the wilderness, and Satan might do his worst.

Adam was in one sense the Son of God; he had every thing that could make him happy, yet he had been tempted to break the law of God; surely then there was hope that this Messiah might be tempted too. The place was favourable, a howling wilderness, alone and without food; Satan was not without hope.

We see from what follows that he knew what was written in the Scriptures. No doubt the prophecies that told of Christ were better understood by him than by the Jews themselves. We shall see how he suited his temptations to this knowledge.

We are not told what were the temptations of the forty days during which the Lord Jesus ate nothing. The Spirit of God his Father brought him safely through them, and through the long fast which, if he had been left to the weakness of his human nature, must have ended his life at once. But we are told that "afterwards He hungered;" his spiritual strength was taken from him, and in all the weakness of a man he was left to meet the power of Satan.

He knew Jesus to be faint for want of food, and he hoped to persuade him to appease his hunger by unlawful means. His words showed how well he understood the weakness of the

* Luke iii. 38.