We now begin His actual history. John the Baptist comes to prepare the way
of Jehovah before Him, according to the prophecy of Isaiah; proclaiming
that the kingdom of heaven was at hand, and calling on the people to
repent. It is by these three things that John's ministry to Israel is
characterised in this Gospel. First the Lord Jehovah Himself was coming.
The Holy Ghost leaves out the words "for our God," at the end of the verse,
because Jesus comes as man in humiliation, although acknowledged at the
same time to be Jehovah, and Israel could not be thus owned as entitled to
say "our." In the second place the kingdom of heaven
[see note #6] was at
hand-that new dispensation which was to take the place of the one which,
properly speaking, belonged to Sinai, where the Lord had spoken on the
earth. In this new dispensation "the heavens should reign." They should be
the source of, and characterise, God's authority in His Christ. Thirdly,
the people, instead of being blessed in their present condition, were
called to repentance in view of the approach of this kingdom. John
therefore takes his place in the wilderness, departing from the Jews, with
whom he could not associate himself because he came in the way of
righteousness (chap. 21: 32). His food is that which he finds in the
wilderness (even his prophetic garments bearing witness to the position
which he had taken on the part of God), himself filled with the Holy Ghost.
Thus was he a prophet, for he came from God, and addressed himself to the
people of God to call them to repentance, and he proclaimed the blessing of
God according to the promises of Jehovah their God; but he was more than a
prophet, for he declared as an immediate thing the introduction of a new
dispensation, long expected, and the advent of the Lord in Person. At the
same time, although coming to Israel, he did not own the people, for they
were to be judged; the threshing-floor of Jehovah was to be cleansed, the
trees that did not bear good fruit to be cut down. It would be a remnant
only that Jehovah would place in the new position in the kingdom that he
announced, without its being yet revealed in what manner it was to be
established. He proclaimed the judgment of the people.
What a fact of immeasurable greatness was the presence of the Lord God in
the midst of His people, in the Person of Him who, although He was
doubtless to be the fulfilment of all the promises, was necessarily, though
rejected, the Judge of all the evil existing among His people!
And the more we give these passages their true application, that is to say,
the more we apply them to Israel, the more we apprehend their real force.
[see note #7]
No doubt repentance is an eternal necessity to every soul that approaches
God; but what a light is thrown upon this truth, when we see the
intervention of the Lord Himself who calls His people to this repentance,
setting aside-on their refusal-the whole system of their relationships with
Him, and establishing a new dispensation-a kingdom which only belongs to
those who hear Him-and causing at length His judgment to break forth
against His people and the city which He had so long cherished! "If thou
hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong
unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes."
This truth gives room for the exhibition of another and most highly
important one, announced here in connection with the sovereign rights of
God rather than in its consequences, but which already contained in itself
all those consequences. The people from all parts, and as we learn
elsewhere especially the ungodly and despised, went out to be baptised,
confessing their sins. But those who, in their own eyes, held the chief
place among the people, were in the eyes of the prophet who loved the
people according to God, the objects of the judgment he announced. Wrath
was impending. Who had warned these scornful men to flee from it? Let them
humble themselves like the rest; let them take their true place, and prove
their change of heart. To boast in the privileges of their nation, or of
their fathers, availed nothing before God. He required that which His very
nature, His truth, demanded. Moreover He was sovereign; He was able of
those stones to raise up children to Abraham. This is what His sovereign
grace has done, through Christ, with regard to the Gentiles. There was
reality needed. The axe was at the root of the trees, and those that did
not bring forth good fruit should be cut down. This is the great moral
principle which the judgment was going to put in force. The blow was not
yet struck, but the axe was already at the root of the trees. John was come
to bring those who received his testimony into a new position, or at least
into a new state in which they were prepared for it. On their repentance he
would distinguish them from the rest by baptism. But He who was coming
after John-He whose shoes John was not worthy to bear-would thoroughly
purge His floor, would separate those that were truly His, morally His,
from among His people Israel (that was His floor), and would execute
judgment on the rest. John on his part opened the door to repentance
beforehand; afterwards should come the judgment.
Judgment was not the only work that belonged to Jesus. Two things are
however attributed to Him in John's testimony He baptises with fire-this is
the judgment proclaimed in verse 12, which consumes all that is evil. But
He baptises also with the Holy Ghost-that Spirit which, given to, and
acting in divine energy in man, quickened, redeemed, cleansed in the blood
of Christ, brings him out fromthe influence of all that acts on the flesh,
and sets him in connection and in communion with all that is revealed of
God, with the glory into which He brings His creatures in the life which He
imparts, destroying morally in us the power of all that is contrary to the
enjoyment of these privileges.
Observe here, that the only good fruit recognised by John, as the way of
escape, is the sincere confession, through grace, of sin. Those only who
make this confession escape the axe. There were really no good trees
excepting those which confessed that they were bad.
But what a solemn moment was this for the people beloved of God! What an
event was the presence of Jehovah in the midst of the nation with whom He
stood in relationship!
Observe that John the Baptist does not here present the Messiah as the
Saviour come in grace, but as the Head of the kingdom, as Jehovah, who
would execute judgment if the people did not repent. We shall see
afterwards the position which He took in grace.
In verse 13 Jesus Himself, who until now has been presented as the Messiah
and even as Jehovah, comes to John to be baptised with the baptism of
repentance. We must remember that to come to this baptism was the only good
fruit which a Jew, in his then condition, could produce. The act proved
itself to be the fruit of a work of God-of the effectual work of the Holy
Ghost. He who repents confesses that he has previously walked afar from
God; so that it is a new movement, the fruit of God's word and work in him,
the sign of a new life, of the life of the Spirit in his soul. By the very
fact of John's mission, there was no other fruit, no other admissible
proof, of life from God, in a Jew. We are not to infer from this, that
there were none in whom the Spirit already acted vitally; but, in this
condition of the people and according to the call of God by His servant,
that was the proof of this life-of the turning of the heart to God. These
were the true remnant of the people, those whom God acknowledged as such;
and it was thus they were separated from the mass who were ripening for
judgment. These were the true saints-the excellent of the earth; although
the self-abasement of repentance could be their only true place. It was
there they must begin. When God brings in mercy and justice, they avail
themselves thankfully of the former, confessing it to be their only
resource, and they bow their heart before the latter, as the just
consequence of the condition of God's people, but as applying it to
themselves .
Now Jesus presents Himself in the midst of those who do this. Although
truly the Lord, Jehovah, the righteous Judge of His people, He who was to
purge His floor, He nevertheless takes His place among the faithful remnant
who humble themselves before this judgment. He takes the place of the
lowest of His people before God; as in Psalm 16 He calls Jehovah His Lord,
saying unto Him, "My goodness extendeth not to Thee"; and says to the
saints, and the excellent in the earth, "all my delight is in them."
Perfect testimony of grace-the Saviour identifying Himself, according to
this grace, with the first movement of the Spirit in the hearts of His own
people, humbling Himself not only in the condescension of grace towards
them, but in taking His place as one of them in their true position before
God; not merely to comfort their hearts by such kindness, but in order to
sympathise with all their sorrows and their difficulties; in order to be
the pattern, the source, and the perfect expression of every sentiment
suitable to their position.
With wicked unrepentant Israel He could not associate Himself, but with the
first living effect of the word and Spirit of God in the poor of the flock,
He could and did in grace. He does so now. With the first right step, one
really of God, Christ is found.
But there was yet more. He comes to bring those who received Him into
relation with God, according to the favour which rested on perfectness like
His, and on the love which, by taking up His people's cause, satisfied the
heart of the Lord, and, having perfectly glorified God in all that He is,
made it possible for Him to satisfy Himself with goodness. We know indeed
that in order to do this, the Saviour had to lay down His life, because the
condition of the Jew, as that of every man, required this sacrifice before
either the one or the other could stand in relation with the God of truth.
But even for this the love of Jesus did not fail. Here however He is
leading them on to the enjoyment of the blessing expressed in His Person,
which should be securely founded on that sacrifice-blessing which they must
reach by the path of repentance, into which they entered by John's baptism;
which Jesus received with them, that they might go on together towards the
possession of all the good things which God has prepared for them that
loved Him.
John, feeling the dignity and excellency of the Person of Him who came unto
him, opposes the Lord's intention. The Holy Ghost by this brings out the
true character of the Lord's action. As to Himself, it was righteousness
which brought Him there, and not sin-righteousness which He accomplished in
love. He, as well as John the Baptist, fulfilled that which belonged to the
place assigned Him by God. With what condescension He links Himself at the
same time with John-"It becometh us." He is the lowly and obedient Servant.
It was thus He ever behaved Himself on earth. Moreover, as to His position,
grace brought Jesus there, where sin brought us, who came in by the door
the Lord had opened for His sheep. In confessing sin as it is, in coming
before God in the confession of (the opposite of sin morally) our sin, we
find ourselves in company with Jesus.
[see note #8] Indeed it is in us the fruit of
His Spirit. This was the case with the poor sinners who came out to John.
Thus it was that Jesus took His place in righteousness and obedience among
men, and more exactly among the repentant Jews. It is in this position of a
man-righteous, obedient, and fulfilling on earth, in perfect humility, the
work for which He had offered Himself in grace, according to Psalm 40,
giving Himself up to the accomplishment of all the will of God in complete
renunciation-that God His Father fully acknowledged Him, and sealed Him,
declaring Him on earth to be His well-beloved Son.
Being baptised-the most striking token of the place He had taken with His
people-the heavens are opened unto Him, and He sees the Holy Ghost
descending on Him like a dove; and, lo! a voice from heaven, saying, "This
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
But these circumstances demand attention.
Never were the heavens opened to the earth, nor to a man on the earth,
before the beloved Son was there.
[see note #9] God had doubtless, in His
longsuffering and in the way of providence, blessed all His creatures; He
had also blessed His own people, according to the rules of His government
on earth. Besides this, there were the elect, whom He had preserved in
faithfulness. Nevertheless until now the heavens had not been opened. A
testimony had been sent by God in connection with His government of the
earth; but there was no object on the earth upon which the eye of God could
rest with complacency, until Jesus, sinless and obedient, His beloved Son,
stood there. But what is so precious to us is, that it is as soon as in
grace He takes publicly this place of humiliation with Israel-that is, with
the faithful remnant, presenting Himself thus before God, fulfilling His
will-the heavens open upon an object worthy of their attention. Ever
doubtless was He worthy of their adoration, even before the world was. But
now He has just taken this place in the dealings of God as a man, and the
heavens opened unto Jesus, the object of God's entire affection on the
earth. The Holy Ghost descends upon Him visibly. And He, a man on earth, a
man taking His place with the meek of the people who repented, is
acknowledged as the Son of God. He is not only anointed of God, but, as
man, He is conscious of the descent of the Holy Ghost upon Him-the seal of
the Father set upon Him. Here it is evidently not His divine nature, in the
character of the Eternal Son of the Father. The seal would not even be in
conformity with that character; and as to His Person it is manifested, and
His consciousness of it, at twelve years old in Luke's Gospel. But while He
is such, He is also a man, the Son of God on the earth, and is sealed as a
man. As a man He has the consciousness of the immediate presence of the
Holy Ghost with Him. This presence is in connection with the character of
lowliness, meekness, and obedience, in which the Lord appeared down here.
It is "like a dove" that the Holy Ghost descends upon Him; just as it was
in the form of tongues of fire, that He came down upon the heads of the
disciples, for their testimony in power in this world, according to the
grace which addressed each and every one in his own language.
Jesus thus creates in His own position as man the place into which He
introduces us by redemption (John 20: 17). But the glory of His Person is
always carefully guarded. There is no object presented to Jesus, as to Saul
for instance, and, in a still more analogous case, to Stephen, who, being
full of the Spirit, sees also the heavens opened, and looks up into them,
and sees Jesus, the Son of man, and is transformed into His image. Jesus
has come; He is Himself the object over whom the heavens open; He has no
transforming object, as Stephen, or as we ourselves in the Spirit; heaven
looks down at Him, the perfect object of delight. It is His relationship
with His Father, already existing, which is sealed.
[see note #10] Neither does
the Holy Ghost create His character (except so far as, with respect to His
human nature, He was conceived in the virgin Mary's womb by the power of
the Holy Ghost); He had connected Himself with the poor, in the perfection
of that character, before He was sealed, and then acts according to the
energy and the power of that which He received without measure in His human
life here below (compare Acts 10: 38, Matthew 12: 28, John 3: 34).
We find in the word four memorable occasions on which the heavens open.
Christ is the object of each of these revelations; each has its especial
character. Here the Holy Ghost descends upon Him, and He is acknowledged
the Son of God (compare John 1: 33, 34). At the end of the same chapter of
John, He declares Himself to be the Son of man. There it is the angels of
God who ascend and descend upon Him. He is, as Son of man, the object of
their ministry.
[see note #11] At the end of Acts 7 an entirely new scene is
opened. The Jews reject the last testimony that God sends them. Stephen, by
whom this testimony is rendered, is filled with the Holy Ghost, and the
heavens are opened to him. The earthly system was definitely closed by the
rejection of the Holy Ghost's testimony to the glory of the ascended
Christ. But this is not merely a testimony. The Christian is filled with
the Spirit, heaven is opened to him, the glory of God is manifested to him,
and the Son of man appears to him, standing at the right hand of God. This
is a different thing from the heavens open over Jesus, the object of God's
delight on earth. It is heaven open to the Christian himself, his object
being there when rejected on earth. He sees there by the Holy Ghost the
heavenly glory of God, and Jesus, the Son of man, the special object of the
testimony he renders, in the glory of God. The difference is as remarkable
as it is interesting to us; and it exhibits, in a most striking manner, the
true position of the Christian as on earth, and the change which the
rejection of Jesus by His earthly people has produced. Only, the church,
the union of believers in one body with the Lord in heaven, was not yet
revealed. Afterwards (Rev. 19) heaven opens, and the Lord Himself comes
forth, the King of kings and Lord of lords.
Thus we see Jesus, the Son of God on earth, the object of heaven's delight,
sealed with the Holy Ghost; Jesus, the Son of man, the object of the
ministry of heaven, angels being His servants; Jesus, on high at the right
hand of God, and the believer, full of the Spirit, and suffering here for
His sake, beholding the glory on high, and the Son of man in the glory; and
Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, coming forth to judge and make
war against the scornful men who dispute His authority and oppress the
earth.
To return: the Father Himself acknowledges Jesus, the obedient man on
earth, who enters as the true Shepherd by the door, as His beloved Son in
whom is all His delight. Heaven is opened to Him; He sees the Holy Ghost
come down to seal Him, the infallible strength and support of the
perfection of His human life; and He has the Father's own testimony to the
relationship between them. No object on which His faith was to rest is
presented to Him as it is to us. It is His own relation to heaven and to
His Father which is sealed. His soul enjoys it through the descent of the
Holy Ghost and the voice of His Father.
But this passage in Matthew requires some further notice. The blessed Lord,
or rather what occurred as to Him, gives the place or model in which He
sets believers, be they Jew or Gentile: only of course we are brought there
by redemption. "I go to my Father and your Father, my God and your God," is
His blessed word after His resurrection. But to us heaven is opened; we are
sealed with the Holy Ghost; the Father owns us as sons. Only the divine
dignity of Christ's Person is always carefully guarded here in humiliation,
as in the transfiguration in glory. Moses and Elias are in the same glory,
but disappear when Peter's haste, permitted to be expressed, would put them
on a level. The nearer we are to a divine Person, the more we adore and
recognise what He is.
But another very remarkable fact is found here. For the first time, when
Christ takes this place among men in lowliness, the Trinity is fully
revealed. No doubt the Son and Spirit are mentioned in the Old Testament.
But there the unity of the Godhead is the great revealed point. Here the
Son is owned in man, the Holy Ghost comes down on Him, and the Father owns
Him as His Son. What a wonderful connection with man! what a place for man
to be in! Through Christ's connection with Him the Godhead is revealed in
its own fulness. His being a man draws it out in its display. But He was
really a man, but the Man in whom the counsels of God about man were to be
fulfilled.
Hence, as He has realised and displayed the place in which man is set with
God in His own Person, and in the counsels of grace as to us our
relationship with God, so, as we are in conflict with the enemy, He enters
into that side of our position also. We have our relationship with God and
our Father, and now we have to say to Satan also. He overcomes for us, and
shews us how to overcome. Remark too, the relationship with God is first
fully settled and brought out, and then, as in that place, the conflict
with Satan begins, and so with us. But the first question was, Would the
second Adam stand where the first had failed? only, in the wilderness of
this world and Satan's power-instead of the blessings of God-for there we
had got.
Another point is to be remarked here, fully to bring out the place the Lord
takes. The law and the prophets were till John. Then the new thing is
announced, the kingdom of heaven. But judgment closes with God's people.
The axe is at the root of the trees, the fan is in the hand of the coming
One, the wheat is gathered into God's garner, the chaff burnt up. That is,
there is a close of the history of God's people in judgment. We come in on
the ground of being lost, anticipating the judgment; but man's history as
responsible was closed. Hence it is said, "now once in the end of the world
he hath appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." It has
happened externally and literally to Israel; but it is morally true for us:
only we are gathered for heaven, as in result the remnant then, and shall
be in heaven. But, Christ rejected, the history of responsibility is over,
and we come in in grace as already lost. Consequent on the announcement of
this as imminent, Christ comes and, identifying Himself with the remnant
who escape on repentance, makes this new place for man on the earth: only
we could not be in it till redemption was accomplished. Still He revealed
the Father's name to those He had given Him out of it.