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11 - The Desire of Ages - Ellen Gould · Sacred Texts Archive

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  The baptism tidings of the wilderness prophet, and his wonderful announcement spread throughout Galilee.
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  The message reached the peasants in the remotest hill towns and the fisher folk
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  by the sea, and in these simple, earnest hearts found its truest response.
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  In Nazareth, it was told in the carpenter's shop that had been Joseph's,
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  and one recognized the call his time had come. Turning from his daily
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  toil, he bade farewell to his mother and followed in the steps of his
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  countrymen who were flocking to the Jordan. Jesus and John the Baptist were cousins
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  and closely related by the circumstances of their birth, yet they had no direct
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  acquaintance with each other. The life of Jesus had been spent at Nazareth and
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  Galilee, that of John in the wilderness of Judea, amid widely different surroundings.
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  They had lived in seclusion and had had no communication with each other.
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  Providence had ordered this. No occasion was to be given for the charge that
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  they had conspired together to support each other's claims. John was a quainted with
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  the events that had marked the birth of Jesus. He had heard of the
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  visit to Jerusalem in his boyhood, and of what had passed in the school
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  of the rabbis. He knew of his sinless life and believed him to be
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  the Messiah, but of this he had no positive assurance. The fact that
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  Jesus had for so many years remained in obscurity, giving no special evidence of
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  his mission, gave occasion for doubt as to whether he could be the promised
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  One. The Baptist, however, waited in faith, believing that in God's
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  own time all would be made plain. It had been revealed to him that
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  the Messiah would seek baptism at his hands, and that a sign of his
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  divine character should then be given. Thus he would be enabled to present him
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  to the people. When Jesus came to be baptized, John recognized in him
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  a purity of character that he had never before perceived in any man. The
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  very atmosphere of his presence was wholly in awe inspiring. Among the multitudes it
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  had gathered about him at the Jordan, John had heard dark tales of crime,
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  and had met souls bowed down with the burden of myriad sins, but
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  never had he come in contact with a human being from whom their breathed and
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  influenced so divine. All this was in harmony with what had been revealed to
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  John regarding the Messiah. Yet he shrank from granting the request of Jesus.
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  How could he, a sinner, baptize the sinless one, and why should
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  he who needed no repentance, submit to a right that was a confession of
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  guilt to be washed away. As Jesus asked for baptism, John drew back,
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  exclaiming, I have need to be baptized of thee and comest thou to
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  me with firm yet gentle authority. Jesus answered, suffer it to be so
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  now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. And John,
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  yielding, led the Savior down into the Jordan and buried him beneath the water,
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  And straightway, coming up out of the water, Jesus saw the heavens
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  opened and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him. Jesus did not receive
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  baptism as a confession of guilt on his own account. He identified himself with
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  sinners, taking the steps that we are to take, and doing the work
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  that we must do. His life of suffering and patient endurance after his baptism
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  was also an example to us. Upon coming up out of the water,
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  Jesus bowed in prayer on the river bank. A new and important error was
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  opening before him. He was now upon a wider stage, entering on the
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  conflict of his life. Though he was the prince of peace, his coming
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  must be as the unsheathing of a sword. The kingdom he had come to
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  establish was the opposite of that which the Jews desired. He who was the
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  foundation of the ritual and economy of Israel would be looked upon as its enemy
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  and destroyer. He who had proclaimed the law upon Sinai would be condemned as
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  a transgressor. He who had come to break the power of Satan would be
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  denounced as belzebub. No one upon earth had understood him, and during his
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  ministry he must still walk alone throughout his life. His mother, his brothers
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  did not comprehend his mission. Even his disciples did not understand him. He
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  had dwelt in eternal light as one with God, but his life on earth
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  must be spent in solitude as one with us. He must bear the burden
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  of our guilt and woe. The sinless one must feel the shame of sin.
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  The peace lover must dwell with strife. The truth must abide with falsehood,
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  purity with vileness. Every sin, every discord, every defiling lust that
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  transgression had brought was torture to his spirit alone. He must tread the path
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  alone. He must bear the burden upon him who had laid off his glory
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  and accepted the weakness of humanity. The redemption of the world must rest.
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  He saw and felt at all, but his purpose remains deadfast. Upon his
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  arm depended the salvation of the fallen race, and he reached out his hand
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  to grasp the hand of omnipotent love. The Saviour's glance seems to penetrate heath,
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  and as he pours out his soul and prayer well, he knows how
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  sin has hardened the hearts of men, and how difficult it will be for
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  them to distn his mission and accept the gift of salvation. He pleads with
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  the Father for power to overcome their unbelief, to break the fetters with which
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  Satan has enthralled them, and in their behalf, to conquer the destroyer.
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  He asks for the witness that God accepts humanity in the person of his son.
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  Never before have the angels listened to such a prayer. They are eager
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  to bear to their loved commander a message of assurance and comfort. But no,
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  the Father himself will answer the petition of his son. Direct from the
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  throne issues the beams of his glory. The heavens are opened, and upon
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  the Saviour's head descends a dove like form of purest light, fit emblem of
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  him, the meek and lowly, one of the vast throng. At the
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  Jordan, few except John discerned the heavenly vision. Yet the solemnity of the
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  divine presence rested upon the assembly. The people stood silently gazing upon Christ.
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  His form was bathed in the light that ever surrounds the throne of God.
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  His upturned face was glorified as they had never before seen the face of man.
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  From the open heavens, a voice was heard, saying, this is
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  my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. These words of confirmation
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  were given to inspire faith in those who witnessed the scene, and to strengthen
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  the Savior for his mission. Notwithstanding that the sins of a guilty world were
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  laid upon Christ, notwithstanding humiliation of taking upon himself our fallen nature. The
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  voice from heaven declared him to be the son of the Eternal. John had
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  been deeply moved as he saw Jesus bowed as a suppliant, pleading with tears
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  for the approval of the Father. As the glory of God encircled him and
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  the voice from Heaven was heard, John recognized the token which God had promised.
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  He knew that it was the world redeemer, whom he had baptized.
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  The Holy Spirit rested upon him, and with outstretched hands, pointing to Jesus,
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  he cried, behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin
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  of the world. None among the hearers, and not even the speaker himself,
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  discern the import of these words, the Lamb of God. Upon Mount
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  Moriah, Abraham had heard the question of his son, my father, where
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  is the lamb for a burnt offering? The father answered, my son,
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  God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering Genesis twenty two seven and
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  eight. And in the Ram divinely provided in the place of Isaac, Abraham
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  saw a symbol of him who was to die for the sins of men.
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  The Holy Spirit, through Isaiah, taking up the illustration, prophesied the Savior
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  he has brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and the Lord hath laid
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  on him the iniquity of us all Isaiah fifty three, seven and six.
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  But the people of Israel had not understood the less Many of them regarded the
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  sacrificial offerings, much as the heathen looked upon their sacrifices as gifts by which
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  they themselves might propitiate the deity. God desired to teach them that from his
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  own love comes a gift which reconciles them to himself. And the word that
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  was spoken to Jesus at the Jordan, this is my beloved son, in
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  whom I am well pleased, embraces humanity. God spoke to Jesus as our
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  representative. With all our sins and weaknesses, we are not cast aside as
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  worthless. He hath made us accepted in the Beloved Ephesians one six. The
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  glory that rested upon Christ is a pledge of the love of God for us.
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  It tells us of the power of prayer, how the human voice may
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  reach the ear of God, and our petitions find acceptance in the courts of
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  heaven. By sin, Earth was cut off from Heaven and alienated from its
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  communion. But Jesus has connected it again with the sphere of glory. His
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  love has encircled man and reached the highest heaven. The light which fell from
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  the open portals upon the head of our Savior will fall upon us as we
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  pray for help to resist temptation. The voice which spoke to Jesus says to
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  every believing soul, this is my beloved child, in whom I am well
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  pleased. Beloved. Now are we the sons of God. And it doth
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  not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when he shall
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  appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he
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  is verse John three two. Our Redeemer is open the way so that the
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  most sinful, the most needy, the most oppressed and despised may find access
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  to the Father. All may have a home in the mansions which Jesus has
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  gone to prepare. These things. Seth he that is holy, he that
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  is true, He that hath the key of David, He that openeth,
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  and no man shutteth, and shutteth, and no man openeth. Behold,
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  I have said, set before the and open door, and no man can
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  shut it. Revelation three, seven and eight, end of Chapter eleven,