there to prevent such a course? Simply the force of a presentiment which amounted to an inspiration. He does not waver for an instant in his testimony that he is not the Christ. He is convinced that the utmost part he has to play is that of a precursor or a herald. The real humility of a mind, naturally authoritative and impatient, is beautifully revealed in a series of sayings which he utters about the coming of Christ. John declares that One comes after him, who is preferred before him; that he is not worthy to unloose the shoe's latchet of the real Christ; that this new Prophet will increase as he himself decreases. Here was a character surely nobler than Elijah's, for while Elijah regarded his successor as his inferior, and doubted if the prophetic mantle could descend on him, John wished nothing better for himself than extinction in the fuller light that was to come. However limited was John's range of thought, none has ever yet excelled him in magnanimity of temper.

This note of expectation in John's ministry must have exercised a powerful influence over popular thought. It excited speculation, it kindled hope. Who was this mystic personage, whose footfall John already heard approaching? As John's fame spread this question came to be debated throughout a hundred villages and cities. Some caravan passing through Nazareth would bring the news to the home of Mary, and all the memories of Bethlehem and Jerusalem, all the episodes and tokens of thirty patient years took sudden coherence and significance. The news came to her heart with a shock of triumph; to Jesus with a shock of awe. Or was it fear that Mary felt, when what had faded to a dream became insistent, tangible; was it joy that Jesus felt, when the sweet and gracious consciousness grew on Him that His hour had come? With what awe-struck eyes did Mother and Son look on one another in those days! With what

timidity in the one, what growing ecstasy in the other, did each catch the vibrations of that call of destiny, daily growing louder! Sacred in every great life is the hour of high resolution, when the dedicated soul accepts its fate; but nowhere so sacred as in this lowly home of Nazareth, where the fate of the world itself hung trembling. If a voice warned John that the true Messiah was at hand, did not that same voice warn Jesus that the time had come when this secluded life of Nazareth must end? Silently He made His preparations, as silently took farewell of these simple Nazarenes with whom His life had passed, and these green hills among which He would dwell no more.

May we trust tradition for any true portrait of the Master? There is but one extant description, written long after His death, and doubtless, so far as its literary form goes, a forgery; and yet it sums up a general and received impression of Christ's appearance. It is supposed to have been written by Lentulus, a pro-consul of Judea, who thus describes our Lord: "He is tall of stature, and His aspect is sweet and full of power, so that they who look upon Him may at once love and fear Him. The hair of His head is of the colour of wine: as far as the ears it is straight and without glitter; from the ears to the shoulders it is curled and glossy, and from the shoulders it descends over the back, divided into two parts, after the manner of the Nazarenes. His brow is pure and even; His countenance without a spot, but adorned with a gentle glow; His expression bland and open; His nose and mouth are of perfect beauty; His beard is copious, forked, and of the colour of His hair His eyes are blue and very bright. In reproof and threatening He is terrible, in teaching and exhortation He is gentle and loving. The grace and majesty of His appearance are marvellous."

This is He whom we now see passing in the early dawn along the road leading downward to the Jordan valley, where John is baptizing. A little later, and the invincible presentiment of John is fulfilled. Among the crowd at Bethabara John discerns the face that had long filled his dreams, and utters the immortal encomium, "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world!"

CHAPTER III

THE INFLUENCE OF JOHN ON JESUS

No two temperaments could manifest wider disparity than did those of John and Jesus. John's attitude to society was bitterly critical and hostile, while Christ's was tolerant and genial. John was by nature and choice a recluse, while Jesus loved the stir of life. John had the peculiar dignity which belongs to a lofty and austere character, but he had little charm; Jesus possessed a power of charm that was felt even by young children. No one can imagine John taking up little children in his arms and blessing them, or sharing in marriage festivals, or mingling freely with the people in familiar intercourse; but all these things Jesus did out of the affectionate warmth of a nature eminently social. Perhaps this disparity of temperament strengthened the bond of friendship between the two teachers, for it is not uncommon in friendship for one to admire in the other qualities which he himself does not possess. At all events it is certain that the friendship between John and Jesus was firm and constant. It was never threatened by the jealousy which too often poisons the relations of public men, although the disciples of both teachers more than once tried to make mischief. John never spoke of Jesus except in terms of affectionate reverence; and Jesus, throughout His ministry, expressed the warmest admira

tion for John. If Jesus was to John "the Lamb of God," John was to Jesus "a burning and a shining light," incomparably greater than the greatest of the prophets.

It must be remembered that both teachers were young men, and they were inspired by common hopes and enthusiasms. Moral ardour makes light of disparity of temperament; there is no union surer than the union of common ideas. Jesus soon came to use the very language of John. He denounces the scribes and Pharisees as serpents and vipers, and these strong expressions of disgust which He learned at Bethabara were on His lips throughout His ministry. He adopted baptism as a sign of penitence, and in His last address to His disciples told them to baptize among all nations. He incorporated John's message in His own, omitting and extenuating nothing, but greatly enlarging and supplementing it. It is probable that before the visit to Bethabara Jesus had made some tentative efforts at teaching among His own people. The phrase used by St. Luke, that Jesus grew "in favour with God and man," seems to point to some form of public life and notoriety in Nazareth. It is hardly to be believed that a mind so full and ardent had made no effort to utter itself through all the years that lay between boyhood and mature manhood. But if the voice of Christ had already spoken to the world it was only in accents of idyllic sweetness. He had spoken as a poet and idealist, in words of lyric charm. None had as yet been offended in Him, for He had given no cause of offence to any. His knowledge of the world had not yet included the sadder and the baser sides of life. But at Bethabara these wider and sadder perspectives were opened to Him. John communicated to Him the fire of his own intensity and vehemence, and He speedily shared John's hatreds and indignations. The life of the public man, full of dispute and controversy, animated