then, did He come to John to be baptized? It was because He put Himself in the sinner's place, and so He did all that sinners ought to do. He was their example or pattern.

Jesus when He was baptized went up out of the water; and lo! the heavens opened, and John saw the Holy Spirit coming down like a dove and resting upon Jesus; and he heard a voice saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

Now when John saw the Holy Spirit resting upon Jesus he knew for certain that He was the Saviour, the Christ, for this was the sign that God had promised to give him that he might know Christ when he saw Him.* As soon as John knew that Jesus was the Christ he was able to point Him out to the people, and say, " Behold the Lamb of God!"

When the learned men and teachers of the people in Jerusalem heard about John the Baptist,

* A child can easily be made to understand that Jesus was our Lord's personal name and Christ was His title, just as in the designation "Queen Victoria " Victoria is the personal or Christian name and "Queen" the title of the sovereign.

and that he was hapting a great many people, they sent messengers to him to ask him who he was, for they did not wish anyone besides themselves to teach the neonis. They said, "Art

thou the Christ?" And when he answered "No," they asked, "Who art thou?" And John told them that he was "a voice in the wilderness, crying, Make ready the way of the Lord!"

CHAPTER IX.

Jesus in the Wilderness.-The Temptation. Read St. Matt. iv. 1-11; St. Mark i. 12, 13; St. Luke iv. 1-13. E are not told whether Satan knew that Jesus was God as well as man, but he

knew, we may suppose, that Jesus was the Saviour of men, and that He had come to destroy the kingdom of the devil and take his power from him. And so Satan would do all he could to hinder and distress the Lord Jesus, and he would even try to tempt Him into sin.

After His baptism Jesus went into the wilderness to be alone with God. And when He had been there many days without food Satan came to Him to tempt Him.

Satan said, "If Thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread."

To turn a stone into bread would be a miracle. A miracle is a wonderful thing that God only can do; but God can give a man power to do miracles if He pleases. Jesus was God as well as man, and He could do miracles by His own

power. Jesus did many miracles, but He always did them for some good purpose. He made the deaf to hear and the blind to see; He cured people of diseases by a word, and raised the dead to life; but He never did miracles to please Himself, or for His own profit. He taught men to ask God for their daily bread, and to trust Him for it. Jesus would do what He taught to encourage us to trust in God. He would leave it to God to send Him food if He pleased; He would still trust in God His Father. So He said to Satan: "It is written" (in the Holy Scriptures), " Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." It is God who keeps us alive by His power; it is God who causes our food to nourish us.

Then Satan showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, and said to Him, "If Thou wilt worship me all shall be Thine." + Satan could not really give the kingdoms of the world to anyone, for "the earth is the Lord's;" but Satan was always a liar, and he tempts men

* Deut. viii. 3.

St. Luke iv. 7.

with a lie. Satan is only the prince of the wickedness that is in the world. He is the prince of wicked men, because they listen to him and obey him.

Jesus fought Satan with the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, the Holy Scriptures; so He said, "Get thee hence, Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.'

Again Satan tried to tempt Jesus to do what was wrong. He told our Lord to cast Himself down from a high tower of the Temple, "for," .said Satan," it is written, He shall give His angels charge over Thee, and in their hands they shall bear Thee up lest at any time Thou dash Thy foot against a stone." But Jesus answered, "It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." It is wrong to go into danger just on purpose to see whether God will keep us from being hurt. That would be tempting God; but it is right to believe that God will take care of us when we cannot help going into danger. That is trusting God, and God tells us to trust in Him.

*Deut. vi. 13; Exod. x. 20.