JOHN PREACHES IN THE WILDERNESS, AND BAPTIZES JESUS IN THE RIVER JORDAN. JESUS TURNS WATER INTO WINE. HE DRIVES THE MONEY-CHANGERS, AND THOSE WHO SOLD DOVES, OUT OF THE TEMPLE. HE TALKS WITH NICODEMUS. JOHN IS PUT TO DEATH BY HEROD.
AFTER what we have read in the last chapter, the Bible tells us nothing more about Jesus, or about John the Baptist, for many years. During those years Jesus grew up, while he was living with his parents in the city of Nazareth. The people did not know that he was the Son of God, and John the Baptist had not yet preached to them about him. John was still living in the wilderness. His clothes were made of the coarse hair that grows on the back of the camel, and were fastened around his waist by a girdle, or belt, of leather. He had for his food the insects called locusts, which he found out in the wilderness, and the honey which the wild bees left among the rocks, and in the hollow trees.
But now the time had come for John to preach to the people, and God commanded him to go and tell them to make ready for the Saviour by repenting of their sins. Then he went into the lonely country near to the river Jordan, and a great multitude came there to hear him. And he preached to them, and told them that the Saviour, who had been promised, was soon coming among them, and that he would save the righteous, but destroy the wicked. The Jews must not think, John said, that their sins would be forgiven, because they were descended from a good man like Abraham; they must obey God themselves. And many who heard John preach, repented, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan.
Now baptism means the washing away of our sins. Baptism itself does not wash them away, but it means, or represents, their being washed away; yet not by the water on our bodies, but by the Holy Spirit in our hearts. John spoke to the people who came out to hear him, and said, I indeed baptize you with water, but the Saviour who is coming after me, is greater than I; he will baptize you with the Holy Ghost. John meant to tell the people that although he baptized them with water, he could not wash their sins away; but that Jesus, because he had power to send the Holy Spirit into their hearts, could really wash away their sins for them.
Then Jesus came out of his home in Nazareth for John to baptize him also. But when John saw him he did not wish to baptize him; John said, I have need to be baptized by thee and dost thou come to be baptized by me? John felt that he had need to have his own sins washed away. But Jesus had no sins to be washed away; why then should he be baptized? It was because he had come on earth to obey all of God's commandments, for us and in our place, so that if we believe in him, we may be rewarded for his obedience.
When John refused to baptize Jesus, Jesus told him that although he could not understand it now, yet it was right that he should baptize him. Then John consented and went down with him into the river Jordan, and baptized him there. And while Jesus was coming up out of the water, praying to God, the sky above him opened and there came down from heaven what seemed to be a dove, and it lighted on him. It was the Holy Spirit that came down in the form of a dove. At the same time God's voice spoke out of heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. Jesus was now about thirty years of age. And he went out into the wilderness and stayed there, alone, forty days and forty nights, and all that time ate nothing, but fasted and prayed to God: afterward he was hungry.
We have read how Satan tempted Eve to disobey God, and so caused us all to have wicked hearts and be sinners. And now when Satan saw Jesus coming to give us new hearts and make us righteous, he thought he would try to prevent it. Therefore he went out into the wilderness to tempt Jesus, as he had tempted Eve in the garden of Eden. And he came to him and said, If thou art the Son of God, change these stones that are lying on the ground into bread, so that thou mayest have food, because thou art hungry. But Jesus knew why Satan had come, and he would not do even this to obey him. He told him it was written in the Bible that we must be more careful to obey God, and do what is right, than to get bread when we are hungry.
Next, Satan took him into Jerusalem, and up on to a very high part of the temple. And he said to him, If thou art the Son of God, cast thyself down, for it is written in the Bible that the angels shall hold thee up as thou art falling, lest thou be dashed against a stone. But Jesus said it was also written in the Bible, that we must not put ourselves in danger, only to try whether God will save us from harm.
Then Satan set before Jesus his principal temptation. He took him up on to a high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world at the same time, with their beautiful cities, their mighty armies, and their great riches: and he said to him, All these will I give thee for thine own, if thou wilt kneel down and worship me. It was to try and make Jesus do this, that Satan had come out in the wilderness. But Jesus answered him, saying, Go from me, Satan, for it is written in the Bible, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. When Satan saw that he could not make Jesus obey his words, he departed from him, and, behold, angels came and waited on him.
And Jesus returned to the river Jordan where John was. When John saw him, he said, Behold the Lamb of God! He called Jesus the Lamb of God, because he was to be offered up as a sacrifice on the cross, as lambs were offered up on the altar. And two men who heard John say this, followed Jesus. Jesus spoke to them, and took them to the place where he dwelt, and one of them, named Andrew, brought his brother Peter also. The next day two others, named Philip and Nathaniel, followed him. All these men came to Jesus that he might teach them; therefore they were his disciples, for a disciple is a person who learns something from another.
Jesus went into the city of Cana, which was in that part of the land called Galilee, and there was a marriage in the city. The mother of Jesus was there, and both Jesus and his disciples were invited to the marriage. And a feast was made ready for all who should come. Food was prepared for them to eat, and wine for them to drink; but before the end of the feast, the wine was all gone. And when they wanted more, the mother of Jesus said to him, They have no wine. Then she said to the servants, Whatever he tells you to do, do it.
Now there were in the house six water-pots made of stone, such as the Jews kept to hold water. Jesus said to the servants, Fill the water-pots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. Then he said, Take some out now and carry it to the chief man of the feast. And when they did so, the water was changed into wine. But the chief man, or ruler of the feast, did not know what Jesus had done, (yet the servants knew), therefore when he tasted of the water that was made wine, he called the bridegroom to him and said, Other persons, when they give a feast, set the good wine on the table first, and after men have had enough, they bring out that which is worse; but thou hast kept the good wine until now. This was the first miracle that Jesus did to show his power to the people. And when his disciples saw it, they believed that he was the Son of God.
The time was near for the feast of the passover, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem to keep it. When he came to the temple, he found in the court of the Gentiles, men who had brought oxen and sheep and doves there, to sell for sacrifices; and other men who had tables on which were pieces of silver money. This money was Jewish money, and was called the half shekel. We are told that each Jew gave one of these half shekels to the priests, every year, to buy sacrifices with, or whatever else was needed at the temple. The men at the tables were money-changers; they exchanged, or sold, the half shekels to those Jews who wanted them to give them to the priests. But Jesus was much displeased to find men selling in the court of the temple, and he made a scourge, or whip of small cords, and drove them all out, and also the sheep and the oxen. And he poured out the changers' money on the ground, and threw down their tables, and said to those who sold doves, Take them away, make not my Father's house a place to buy and sell in. And while he was at the feast of the passover, many believed on him when they saw the miracles that he did.
There was a man named Nicodemus, who was one of the rulers of the Jews. He came to Jesus in the night, and said to him, Master, we know that God has sent thee to teach us what is right, for no man could do the miracles that thou doest if God were not with him. Jesus answered Nicodemus, and told him, that unless he were born again, that is, unless he had a new heart, he could not be one of God's children.
We have read that while the children of Israel were journeying through the wilderness they sinned, and fiery serpents came into their camp, and bit them. And God told Moses to make a serpent of brass and lift it up on a pole, and when any one who had been bitten looked at that serpent, he was made well. And now Jesus said to Nicodemus, As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must I be lifted up. He meant that he was to be lifted up on the cross, that we might look up to him as they looked to the serpent of brass, and be forgiven our sins. For, he said, God loved us so much, as to send his only Son into the world, that whoever looked up to him, in faith, should not be punished, but forgiven, and taken to heaven.
Now Herod, who slew the little children in Bethlehem, was dead, and his son Herod was ruler over that part of the land called Galilee. This Herod, like his father, was a wicked man. He had married Herodias, his brother's wife, while his brother was yet alive. When John the Baptist told Herod that this was wrong, Herodias was angry, and would have persuaded her husband to kill him, but she could not. For Herod was afraid to kill John, because he had heard him preach, and knew that he was a holy man. Yet, to please Herodias, he took John and bound him, and shut him up in prison. And while John was in prison, Herod, on his birthday, made a great feast for the lords, high captains, and chief men of Galilee. And Salome, the daughter of Herodias, came in and danced before them. Then Herod was greatly pleased with her and said, Ask of me whatever thou wilt, and it shall be given thee, even to the half of my kingdom.
And Salome went to her mother and said, What shall I ask? Her mother answered, Ask the king to command that John the Baptist's head be cut off, and brought to thee here in a large dish. And Salome came back in haste to the king, saying, I want thee to give me presently, in a large dish, the head of John the Baptist. Then Herod was very sorry, yet because he had promised her, and because the men who were with him had heard him do so, he would not refuse. And immediately he sent a man who cut off John's head in the prison, and brought it in a large dish to Salome, and she gave it to her mother. When John's disciples heard of it, they came and took up his dead body and laid it in a tomb, and went and told Jesus.
Jesus went again into Cana of Galilee, where he had changed the water into wine. And a nobleman who lived in another city came to him, and begged him to heal his son who was very sick. The nobleman said, Sir, come, before my child dies. Jesus said to him, Go to thy home, thy son is made well. And the man believed what Jesus said, and left him to go to his home. But before he reached there, his servants met him and said to him, Thy son is well. He asked at what time he began to get better. They answered, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. Then the man knew that it was at the same hour when Jesus said to him, Thy son is made well. And the nobleman and all his family believed that Jesus was the Son of God.
The Jews, as we have read, offered up their sacrifices only at the temple in Jerusalem. But they had houses in every city, where they met together to worship, when they did not want to offer up sacrifices, or to go to Jerusalem. These houses were called synagogues. On the Sabbath days the Jews met there to pray and read the Scriptures. Their Scriptures were the same as those we have now, excepting the part called the New Testament, which was not written until after Jesus was crucified.
As they did not yet know how to print, they copied the different books of the Scriptures with pen and ink, on rolls of paper, or parchment. These rolls were kept in the synagogue, in a box, or chest, called the ark, because it was shaped like the ark that used to stand in the most holy place in the temple. When the people met together in the synagogue on the Sabbath day, the chief officer, or, as he was called, the ruler of the synagogue, sometimes asked one of them to read the Scriptures and speak to the rest.
Jesus came to Nazareth where he had been brought up, and he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. And the roll on which was written the book of the prophet Isaiah, was handed him, that he might read to the people. When he had opened the roll, he read to them from the part where Isaiah told the children of Israel of the Saviour who was coming into the world. After he was done reading, Jesus closed the roll and sat down; and the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he said to them that those words of the prophet had come true, and that he was the Saviour, the Son of God, of whom Isaiah had spoken. But when he said this, all the men in the synagogue were filled with anger, for they would not believe that he was the Saviour. And they rose up and led him out to the top of a steep hill, on which their city was built, that they might cast him down and kill him. But Jesus, because he had the power of God, went out from among them, and they could do him no harm.