SECTION II.

THE BEGINNING OF THE GOSPEL. — JOHN THE BAPTIST APPEARS AS THE FORERUNNER OF CHRIST. THEREAFTER CHRIST HIMSELF APPEARS.

(Mark. i. 1-15.)

The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; as it is written,¹ — namely, in that word of Malachi's, — 'Behold, I

1) This is not the place to criticise the different explanations of this difficult passage. The reading ὲν τῷ Ἡσαΐᾳ τῷ προφήτῃ seems at first view to have most in its favour, partly as the best authenticated and partly as the most difficult. But here come to be considered not merely the great variations, ἐν τῷ προφήτῃ, ἐν τοῖς προφήταις, but also the many variations which again modify the reading, ἐν Ἡσαΐᾳ, &c., e. g., ἐν Ἐσαΐᾳ, &c. Hence it may be fairly conjectured that the expression, ἐν ’Πσαΐα τῳ προφήτῃ, is a later interpolation, which, on account of its inexactness, has undergone various corrections. In other places Mark does not incline to give detailed quotations, and so probably he originally wrote, The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as it is written. As the principal passage to which he referred (Isa. xl. 3) was not' known among the Jews as Messianic in this definite reference to Christ's forerunner, so he placed before it the passage Mai. iii. 1, which treated in a better-understood manner of that forerunner, and was a more definite prophetic expression for the beginning of the Gospel. Both passages, then, mutually explain each other. The passage in the later prophet, Malachi, showed that the word of the earlier, Isaiah, was to be interpreted as referring to Christ's forerunner. On the other hand, the expression in Isaiah showed that that messenger in Malachi should be conceived of as the voice of the preacher in the wilderness. send My messenger before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee,' — to be supplemented by the word of Isaiah, 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.'

John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

And there went out unto him all the land of Judea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins. And John was clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey.

Thus John was great in his spiritual power. He was in his action and appearance the messenger of the Lord spoken of by Malachi; in his whole being and bearing, a living voice of God, according to Isaiah. Yet this great prophet testified of a greater who should come after him.

And he preached, saying, 'There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. I indeed have baptized you with water (have blessed you as immersed in the floods of water); but He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost (shall immerse you in the waves of the fulness of the Spirit).'

He who was announced soon came. In those days — when John was thus testifying of Him — it came to pass that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan, He came from Nazareth of Galilee. He also was baptized by John with water. He thus seemed to belong to the old, and even to be of lower standing than they of Jerusalem who were baptized by John. But this semblance quickly disappeared. Straightway, as He was coming out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him: and there came a voice from heaven, saying, 'Thou art My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'

This was the first open testimony of God to the higher dignity of Christ, in which He stood high above the Baptist. For his consciousness, the contrast between heaven and earth disappeared. The Spirit descended upon Him with a definiteness as if a dove had flown down and rested on Him, with a power of gentleness and heavenly mildness as if He Himself had been changed to a dove. He received a perfect. testimony of the Father's good pleasure, and thus was the consciousness of the Son perfected in Him. The voice in the wilderness had first testified to Him, and now the voice from heaven also did the same.

But the Spirit which filled Him immediately drives Him into the wilderness. In this abode He continued forty days. Here in the wilderness He was tempted of the devil, as once was Adam in paradise; here He lived among the wild beasts. As the second Man, the Man of the Spirit, the Prince of the earth, He lived free from danger among the wild beasts of the wilderness, as Adam did among the tame beasts of paradise. And the angels ministered unto Him. The ministry of the angels changed for Him the wilderness into a paradise, in contrast to those terrors of the cherub which drove Adam out of paradise into the wilderness.

Now, after that John was put into prison, Jesus came into Galilee. He came upon the arena which the Baptist had left. The lot which had befallen John in this region gives Him no alarm. He preached here the Gospel of the kingdom of God, saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent ye, and believe the Gospel! '— that was the beginning of the Gospel. The voice in the wilderness uttered its cry, and the sound died away. But then came He Himself, the Lord; and the divine strength in which He came forth showed that the Lion of Judah was come upon the arena.

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