In Eastern countries, the visitors to princes and great men, took off their shoes, that is, the sandals or slippers worn upon the feet, and left them at the door, whilst they went barefooted into the presence of the prince. The fastenings or latchets of these shoes were often undone by a slave, who also held the shoes till his master again required them. Thus to unfasten or bear the shoes of another, signified being his servant, ready to do any service that might be required. John therefore meant, that He who was to come after him was so greatly his superior, that he (John) was not worthy even to do for Him the lowest offices required from a slave. No wonder that with such feelings, John objected to Jesus being baptized by him, who was in every respect so far His inferior; and who, like all other human beings, had need of the Holy Spirit which God alone could give.
But amongst the Jews, those who were admitted to perform the office of Priest were always anointed and baptized; and, as Jesus came to be our great High Priest, it was necessary that He should observe this form, as He had undergone the rite of circumcision. He came to fulfil all righteousness, to do all that was right, and then to suffer punishment, as if He had been sinful instead of sinless. To make atonement for the sin of man, it was necessary that He Who made it, should obey and fulfil perfectly the whole Will of God, and then suffer, "the just for the unjust." Only so could atonement be made: this Jesus explained to John, and then the Baptist no longer hesitated to baptize with water the sinless Son of God.
Chapter VI.—JESUS TEMPTED OF THE DEVIL
"And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: and, lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." The Three Persons in the Holy Trinity were thus at once made manifest, or shown to John the Baptist: before Him, under the form of Man, stood God the Son: God the Holy Ghost came down from heaven in a bodily form, with a gentle motion like that of a dove, and rested upon the Son of God: God the Father was not made visible to the eyes, but His voice was heard, declaring Jesus to be His Son, the promised Messiah, the Saviour of the world.
After His baptism, Jesus was, by the appointment of His Father, "led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil." It was necessary that Jesus should gain a victory over the great enemy of mankind, and show that the Devil had no power to lead Him to do evil. Since Adam fell, no human being had ever so completely resisted the Devil as to deserve the favour of God; thus no one had ever earned eternal life even for himself. Jesus came to make atonement for the sin of countless millions: but He could not have made satisfaction for the sins of others, if He had in the least thing given way to the Devil. Therefore He must fight and conquer, or the work which He came to do must have remained for ever undone.
In Scripture, Jesus Christ is called the second Adam: "the first Adam is of the earth, earthy, the last Adam is the Lord from heaven." The first Adam was created holy and good, but he was tempted by the Devil and sinned; "so by the disobedience of one man came death, for in Adam all die." All who bear the same nature, must share the punishment due to that sinful nature. But the Holy and Eternal Son of God took upon Himself the human nature of man, and became subject to the like infirmities, but without sin. Thus was atonement made—"in Christ shall all," who give themselves to Him, "be made alive": "thus by man came also the resurrection of the dead." The Devil exerted all his power to lead Jesus to do something which would displease God, and destroy the blessed work of redemption. Taking advantage of Jesus being hungry and faint after long fasting, the Devil gently proposed that He should turn some stones into bread, and thus at the same time supply His own wants, and give a convincing proof that He was indeed the Son of God, as He had been just declared to be.
We are ready enough to take any excuse for doing what we wish to do; and by this means we often fall into the snare which Satan so cleverly spreads for us. But Jesus thought of nothing but how to do the Will of His Father completely and entirely. He had been led into the wilderness by the Spirit of God, and it was the Will of His heavenly Father that He should now be enhungered. Jesus was therefore determined to leave the matter entirely in the hands of God. This is what we should all do, rather than try to help ourselves by doing anything that we fear may displease God.
Satan next wanted Jesus to throw Himself down from the roof of the temple into the court below, where the people were assembled, and thus show them at once that He was the promised Messiah, the Son of God, of whom David had written, God "shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee; and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone." But Jesus, still bent upon doing His Father's will, answered from Scripture, "It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God," meaning that no one must run into unnecessary danger, to try whether God will preserve him: this is tempting Providence, and is sinful. To do our duty in spite of danger is trusting God, and is right: but to run into danger just to please ourselves, expecting that God will preserve us, is presumptuous and sinful.
Satan made a last attempt to get Jesus to bow down to him, by promising to give Him power over all the kingdoms of the world; but Jesus was content to have only what God saw fit to give Him, and replied, "Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve."