The Desire of Ages
by Ellen G. White
Chapter 11: The Baptism
This chapter is based on Matt. 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11;
Luke 3:21-22.
Tidings of the wilderness prophet and his wonderful
announcement, spread throughout Galilee. The message reached the peasants in
the remotest hill towns, and the fisher folk by the sea, and in these simple,
earnest hearts found its truest response. In Nazareth it was told in the
carpenter shop that had been Joseph's, and One recognized the call. His time
had come. Turning from His daily toil, He bade farewell to His mother, and
followed in the steps of His countrymen who were flocking to the Jordan. {DA 109.1}
Jesus and John the Baptist were cousins, and closely related
by the circumstances of their birth; yet they had had no direct acquaintance
with each other. The life of Jesus had been spent at Nazareth in Galilee; that
of John, in the wilderness of Judea. Amid widely different surroundings they
had lived in seclusion, and had had no communication with each other.
Providence had ordered this. No occasion was to be given for the charge that
they had conspired together to support each other's claims. {DA 109.2}
John was acquainted with the events that had marked the
birth of Jesus. He had heard of the visit to Jerusalem in His boyhood, and of
what had passed in the school of the rabbis. He knew of His sinless life, and
believed Him to be the Messiah; but of this he had no positive assurance. The
fact that Jesus had for so many years remained in obscurity, giving no special
evidence of His mission, gave occasion for [110] doubt
as to whether He could be the Promised One. The Baptist, however, waited in
faith, believing that in God's own time all would be made plain. It had been
revealed to him that the Messiah would seek baptism at his hands, and that a
sign of His divine character should then be given. Thus he would be enabled to
present Him to the people. {DA
109.3}
When Jesus came to be baptized, John recognized in Him a
purity of character that he had never before perceived in any man. The very
atmosphere of His presence was holy and awe-inspiring. Among the multitudes
that had gathered about him at the Jordan, John had heard dark tales of crime,
and had met souls bowed down with the burden of myriad sins; but never had he
come in contact with a human being from whom there breathed an influence so
divine. All this was in harmony with what had been revealed to John regarding
the Messiah. Yet he shrank from granting the request of Jesus. How could he, a
sinner, baptize the Sinless One? And why should He who needed no repentance
submit to a rite that was a confession of guilt to be washed away? [111]
{DA 110.1}
As Jesus asked for baptism, John drew back, exclaiming,
"I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me?" With
firm yet gentle authority, Jesus answered, "Suffer it to be so now: for
thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness." And John, yielding, led
the Saviour down into the Jordan, and buried Him beneath the water. "And
straightway coming up out of the water," Jesus "saw the heavens
opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him." {DA 111.1}
Jesus did not receive baptism as a confession of guilt on
His own account. He identified Himself with sinners, taking the steps that we
are to take, and doing the work that we must do. His life of suffering and
patient endurance after His baptism was also an example to us. {DA 111.2}
Upon coming up out of the water, Jesus bowed in prayer on
the river bank. A new and important era was opening before Him. He was now,
upon a wider stage, entering on the conflict of His life. Though He was the
Prince of Peace, His coming must be as the unsheathing of a sword. The kingdom
He had come to establish was the opposite of that which the Jews desired. He
who was the foundation of the ritual and economy of Israel would be looked upon
as its enemy and destroyer. He who had proclaimed the law upon Sinai would be
condemned as a transgressor. He who had come to break the power of Satan would
be denounced as Beelzebub. No one upon earth had understood Him, and during His
ministry He must still walk alone. Throughout His life His mother and His
brothers did not comprehend His mission. Even His disciples did not understand
Him. He had dwelt in eternal light, as one with God, but His life on earth must
be spent in solitude. {DA
111.3}
As one with us, He must bear the burden of our guilt and
woe. The Sinless One must feel the shame of sin. The peace lover must dwell
with strife, the truth must abide with falsehood, purity with vileness. Every
sin, every discord, every defiling lust that transgression had brought, was
torture to His spirit. {DA
111.4}
Alone He must tread the path; alone He must bear the burden.
Upon Him who had laid off His glory and accepted the weakness of humanity the
redemption of the world must rest. He saw and felt it all, but His purpose
remained steadfast. Upon His arm depended the salvation of the fallen race, and
He reached out His hand to grasp the hand of Omnipotent Love. {DA 111.5}
The Saviour's glance seems to penetrate heaven as He pours
out His soul in prayer. Well He knows how sin has hardened the hearts of men, [112]
and how difficult it will be for them to discern His mission, and accept the
gift of salvation. He pleads with the Father for power to overcome their
unbelief, to break the fetters with which Satan has enthralled them, and in
their behalf to conquer the destroyer. He asks for the witness that God accepts
humanity in the person of His Son. {DA 111.6}
Never before have the angels listened to such a prayer. They
are eager to bear to their loved Commander a message of assurance and comfort.
But no; the Father Himself will answer the petition of His Son. Direct from the
throne issue the beams of His glory. The heavens are opened, and upon the
Saviour's head descends a dovelike form of purest light,—fit emblem
of Him, the meek and lowly One. {DA 112.1}
Of the vast throng at the Jordan, few except John discerned
the heavenly vision. Yet the solemnity of the divine Presence rested upon the
assembly. The people stood silently gazing upon Christ. His form was bathed in
the light that ever surrounds the throne of God. His upturned face was
glorified as they had never before seen the face of man. From the open heavens
a voice was heard saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased." {DA 112.2}
These words of confirmation were given to inspire faith in
those who witnessed the scene, and to strengthen the Saviour for His mission.
Notwithstanding that the sins of a guilty world were laid upon Christ,
notwithstanding the humiliation of taking upon Himself our fallen nature, the
voice from heaven declared Him to be the Son of the Eternal. {DA 112.3}
John had been deeply moved as he saw Jesus bowed as a
suppliant, pleading with tears for the approval of the Father. As the glory of
God encircled Him, and the voice from heaven was heard, John recognized the
token which God had promised. He knew that it was the world's Redeemer whom he
had baptized. The Holy Spirit rested upon him, and with outstretched hand
pointing to Jesus, he cried, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away
the sin of the world." {DA
112.4}
None among the hearers, and not even the speaker himself,
discerned the import of these words, "the Lamb of God." Upon Mount
Moriah, Abraham had heard the question of his son, "My father,
. . . where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" The father
answered, "My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt
offering." Genesis 22:7, 8. And in the ram divinely provided in the place
of Isaac, Abraham saw a symbol of Him who was to die for the sins of men. The
Holy Spirit through Isaiah, taking up the illustration, prophesied of the
Saviour, "He is [113] brought as a lamb to the
slaughter," "and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us
all" (Isaiah 53:7, 6); but the people of Israel had not understood the
lesson. Many of them regarded the sacrificial offerings much as the heathen
looked upon their sacrifices,—as gifts by which they themselves might
propitiate the Deity. God desired to teach them that from His own love comes
the gift which reconciles them to Himself. {DA 112.5}
And the word that was spoken to Jesus at the Jordan,
"This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," embraces
humanity. God spoke to Jesus as our representative. With all our sins and
weaknesses, we are not cast aside as worthless. "He hath made us accepted
in the Beloved." Ephesians 1:6. The glory that rested upon Christ is a
pledge of the love of God for us. It tells us of the power of prayer,—how
the human voice may reach the ear of God, and our petitions find acceptance in
the courts of heaven. By sin, earth was cut off from heaven, and alienated from
its communion; but Jesus has connected it again with the sphere of glory. His
love has encircled man, and reached the highest heaven. The light which fell
from the open portals upon the head of our Saviour will fall upon us as we pray
for help to resist temptation. The voice which spoke to Jesus says to every
believing soul, This is My beloved child, in whom I am well pleased. {DA 113.1}
"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not
yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall
be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is." 1 John 3:2. Our Redeemer has
opened the way so that the most sinful, the most needy, the most oppressed and
despised, may find access to the Father. All may have a home in the mansions
which Jesus has gone to prepare. "These things saith He that is holy, He
that is true, He that hath the key of David, He that openeth, and no man
shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; . . . behold, I have set
before thee an open door, and no man can shut it." Revelation 3:7, 8. {DA 113.2}
Click here to read the next chapter:
"The Temptation"
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