plained the scriptures, filled the doctors with won-der. All that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers."

Mary was, doubtless, gratified in beholding him in this situation. But she appears, at first, less to have felt joy in finding him again than the inquietude she experienced in missing him. She therefore said to him, "Son, why hast thou dealt thus with us? Behold thy father (Joseph was reputed such) and I have sought thee sorrowing." In truth, if Jesus had been only the son of Mary, his conduct would have been improper. The Lord, therefore, in his answer, reminds her that he has a father whose interests and service ought to be most dear to him. "How is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business ?" "You ought to have understood by my miraculous conception, and the revelations which accompanied it, that I was not always to continue with you, but was to employ myself in His business who is really my Father." "After this," says the Evangelist, "he went down with them into Nazareth, and was subject unto them."

My young friends, this history should strongly incite you to piety towards God, and filial affection. When you behold Jesus in his youth, engaging with such zeal and earnestness in the services of the temple, and the business of his Father, and reluctantly abandoning the prayers, and the praises, which rose from the consecrated hill of Zion, will you not be induced to imitate so illustrious a model? When you behold the Son of God never forgetting that he is the Son of Mary; and although he had infinitely ennobled her, by condescending to be born of her; although he had conferred on her blessings unspeakable, yet "remaining subject unto her," will you ever

violate that filial duty which is enjoined upon you, not only by the powerful impressions of nature and the commands of the law, but also by the touching example of your Redeemer?

Having returned to Nazareth, Jesus there remained till he came from Galilee to be baptized by John. This circumstance next claims our attention in the prosecution of his history.

The baptism of John is termed the baptism of repentance. It was a token to the Jews who received it, of the necessity of purification, both of the heart and life, before they could become the subjects of the holy and immaculate Messiah. This, however, could not be its design when applied to Christ, who needed no repentance, who was without sin, and to prepare for whose coming it was instituted. The baptism received by Christ, was his solemn inauguration into the ministry upon which he was now entering; and he chose this ceremony, in conformity with the law of God.

By recurring to the Old Testament, you will find that the priests under the law entered upon the public service of God at the age of thirty; and were set apart to it by the partial application of water to their body from a laver, and by pouring oil upon their heads. This application of water was called by the Jews baptism, whenever they spoke or wrote in Greek, as is evident from the Septuagint translation made by them 286 years before the Saviour. In like manner, Christ entered upon his ministry when "he began to be about thirty years of age;" was solemnly installed into it by baptism, and was then anointed with the Holy Ghost, whose influences in the Old Testament are typified by the effusion of oil. The same allusion is made by Peter: "That word ye

know which began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost." The baptism of Jesus then, I repeat, was a public consecration to his ministry, at the age and in correspondence with the forms used among the Jews.

This baptism took place at Bethabara. John probably chose this place in which to preach and baptize, because it was much frequented, especially at the great festivals, when a large proportion of the Jews who lived beyond Jordan, passed through it to go up to Jerusalem. John was entirely unacquainted with the Saviour. He had lived at first in the mountains of Judea, and on leaving them, had retired to the desert, whilst Jesus had resided in Galilee. But when Jesus presented himself before him, the Holy Spirit immediately revealed to him that this was He, whose coming he had announced without knowing him. No wonder that the holy forerunner, who knew the innocence and dignity of the Son of God, was filled with astonishment. No wonder that, sensible of his unworthiness to baptize him, he modestly declined it, and exclaimed "I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?" I am but a sinful man, and thou art the Saviour of sinners; I baptize but with water, and need more of the graces and gifts of that Spirit with which thou baptizest. Mine is the baptism of repentance; how then can I administer it to thee, who art sinless, and needest no repentance?

Thus John, penetrated with a sense of the dignity of the Saviour, and his own unworthiness, declines an honour that the angels themselves would have esteemed too great for them. But if through humility he at first resists the Son of God, he no longer

hesitates to obey when Jesus says to him, "Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becomes us to fulfil all righteousness: "In my present state of humiliation it becomes me to perform all the works, and submit to all the ordinances appointed by God."

As soon as Jesus was baptized, he kneeled down on the banks of Jordan and prayed. The Evangelist does not tell us what was the subject of our Lord's prayer; but without doubt it related to that ministry upon which he was just entering. He knows that the moment of his inauguration is come, and he kneels to receive the influences of the anointing Spirit. To signalize this glorious inauguration, the sky was opened, and an immense expanse appeared beyond it, from which the Holy Spirit descended and rested upon him. The gifts of this Spirit, which Jesus now" received without measure," are invisible. But that the heavenly consecration of the Saviour might be seen by John, and his testimony to the Messiah be founded on full certainty, a visible symbol of the Holy Spirit was presented to him. This symbol was probably a luminous body, and it was in the form of a dove. Nothing could more beautifully shadow forth the character of the Saviour. His mildness, his gentleness, his charity, virtues of which the dove is the emblem, shone in the whole course of his life, in the doctrines which he preached, in the miracles which he wrought, in the sacrifice of himself, by which he consummated his ministry.

This appearance was attended by the voice of God the Father, which was heard (probably loud like thunder, as in the instance recorded, John xii. 29.) and which declared, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." Such was the consecration of the Son of God. In this manner God declar

ed to the Jews that he was their long expected deliverer.

Jesus, thus consecrated, began his ministry, not by going immediately to Jerusalem to declare his commission, but by retiring into the wilderness, there to prepare himself for his work, by fasting, meditation, prayer, and enduring temptations. Like Moses and Elijah, who were both types of him, he fasted for forty days, during all which time he was tempted of the devil. The various subtle arts which this great deceiver used for so long a period are not recorded. We are informed only of the three assaults made at the expiration of the forty days. These come next to be considered by us.

Two opposite opinions are held by Christians concerning the nature of this temptation. One class supposes that Satan visibly appeared to Christ, and that the speeches, and the actions here related, were addressed to his outward senses. The other class maintains that this temptation was addressed to his imagination; that the Saviour, exhausted and overcome by his long fasting, fell into a kind of trance, during the continuance of which, whilst his bodily and mental powers were enfeebled, the devil presented to his imagination those various sets of images which are here mentioned; which images were indignantly repelled by the Saviour.

Such are the two opinions which are held concerning this portion of our Lord's history. Which of them must we embrace? Let us hear the arguments on both sides, and we shall be able to determine..

Those who maintain that this temptation was addressed to his senses urge, That the Evangelists do not give the most remote intimation of its being a vi