'(fl:l?

e ~ p t h m t of Wesus
Luke 3:21-23; Matthew 3:13-17;
Mark 1:9-11
INTRODUCTION13
In Luke's account of the baptism of
Jesus the emphasis is on four events
connected with His baptism: (1). The
praying of Jesus
during His bap-
tism; (2). The
opening of the
heavens; (3). The
descent of the
Holy Spirit on
Jesus;and(4). The
voice of God from
heaven. At Jesus'
baptism "the
opened heavens,
the descending
Spirit and the
voice of the Father
alike bore testi-
mony to the perfection of the
Son."-G.c. Morgan, THE CRISES OF
THE CHRIST, pg. 86.
THE TIME OF JESUS' BAPTISM
The crisis separatingJesus'
private and public life
The baptism ofjesus separated his
thirty years of private life from his
three years of public life. Between
these two phases of Jesus' life stands
His baptism by John, which at once
divided and united those phases. "As
Jesus left that in His life which was
preparatory, and entered upon the ac-
tual work of the ministty, He devoted
Himself to the ultimate issue of His
work, that rtamely, of an identification
with men even to death. His being
baptized was an act by which He con-
sented to take His place among sin-
ners. - As in the act of baptism He
yielded Himself, a sacrifice and an of-
fering; the opened heavens, the de-
scending dove, the living voice, each
having its own significance, unite in
the attestation of the perfection ofthe
One so yielding Himself, to the mighti-
est phase in the purpose of God, thatof
redemption by way of sacrifice. ---
Thus the thirty years of privacy merge
into the three years of pUblicity, by the
way of solemn and significant cer-
emony." (G.c. Morgan, THE CRISES
OF THE CHRIST, pg. 82f.
The prayer-life of Jesus
Of all the synoptic Gospel writers,
only Luke brings out the fact thatJesus
was praying while He was being bap-
tized: " .. .jesus also having been baptized,
and praying .... " While Jesus was en-
gaged in deep communion with the
Father in prayer, the heavens opened.
Jesus attached great importance to
prayer. He loved to pray and therefore
He loves for us to pray! He not only
prayed in connection with His bap-
tism, he also prayed while the crowds
were gathering, 5: 15,16; before choos-
ing the twelve apostles, 6: 12; before
and after the feeding of the 5000, Mk.
6:41,46;Mat.14:19,23;whenheques-
lioned the disciples, Lk. 9: 18; at His
transfiguration, Lk. 9:28; just before
His iIivitation to come to Him and find
rest, Mat. 11:25-30; Lk. 10:21; before
He taught His diSCiples the Lord's
Prayer, Lk. 11: 1; atthe tomb ofLazams,
In. 11:41, 42; for Peter, LIe 22:32;
during the night of the institution of
theLord'sSupper,Jn. 17; 14: 16; in the
garden of Gethsemane, Mk. 14:32,35,
36,39; Mat. 26:39, 42, 44; Lk. 22:42;
on the cross, Lk. 23:34; Mat. 27:46;
Mk. 15:34; Lk. 23:46; and after His
resurrection, Lk. 24:30.
A study of Jesus' prayer life is an
edifying study. He turned aside to
pray: (1). In the
midst of an almost
incredibly busy life
and while sub-
jected to a con-
stantly high pres-
sure of work, Lk.
6:12; Mk. 1:35;
(2). When He, as
man, was sub-
jected,aswe, to the
upsurges of deep
emotion, espe-
cially the emotion
of profound sor-
row and great joy,
Mk. 8:11; (3). In the midst of spiritual
conflict and death, In. 12:20-28.
Prayer to Jesus was: (1). Thanks-
giving, Lk. 10:21; Mat. 15:36; (2). The
taking of solemn counsel with the Pa-
ther, asking Him for help in making
important deCisions, Lk. 6: 12; (3). In-
tercession, In. 11: 15; and supremely
communion with God, Lk. 9:28.
It is obvious that prayer is impor-
tant to Luke as well. He records many
of the prayers of Jesus, seven of which
occur in Luke alone, showing Jesus at
prayer before each great crisis of His
life, 3:21; 5: 16; 6: 12; 9: 18; 9:28f;
10:21; 11:1; 22:4lf; 23:46.
The baptism of" all the people"
The Identification of Jesus
with sinnel'5
"Nowitcame aboutwhenall the people
were baptized, that] esus also was bap-
tized .... " In the midst and at the height
of]ohn's baptizing ministry,Jesus was
May, 1994 ;. THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon ;. 13
baptized. He was baptized as one of a
great crowd of people, thus identifying
Himselfwith a rebellious generation in
need of redemption and repentance.
From the very beginning of His public
ministry "Jesus shares the heritage and
predicament of the people." -Lane, THE
GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK,
NICNT.
"The occurrence, (his baptism with
the rest of the people), was toJesus one
of tremendous sig-
nificance: by sub-
jecting Himself to
the baptism, He fi-
nally and openly
took the sin of
mankind upon
Him and placed
Himself on the al-
tar for the sake of
the redemption of
the guilty ones. He
Himself had no
need to be bap-
tized, but He of-
fers Himself as the
Substitute and Representative of sinful
mankind and so He, the Sinless One,
also undergoes this humiliation.
Through this He shows His solidarity
with the guilty human race for whose
salvation He came. He who is Himself
without sin takes upon Himself the
sins of mankind in orderto bring about
reconciliation and redemption. So,
because the baptism ofjesus meant to
Him the final acceptance of the work of
redemption which would have to be
completed throughsufferingand death,
it was a most momentous occurrence.
For this reason He was now pray-
ing .... "- Geldenhuys
The relation of Jesus' baptism to
the people's baptism
The Bible does not cut loose John's
baptism ofJesus from John's baptism
of the people. John did not administer
two totally different baptisms---one for
the people in general and the other for
only Jesus. It is NOT accurate to say
that, because Jesus was sinless, not
needing to repent, and the people were
sinful needing to repent, that the two
baptisms had nothing in common. On
the other hand we must not go to the
other extreme and deny the unique-
ness ofjesus'baptism orHissin1essness,
Mat. 3:13f. Jesus'baptism wasinsepa-
table from the people's baptism by
John, but there was also something
unique about it "by which it differed in
principle from the rite performed on
the average Israelite." -G. Vos.
By submitting to John's baptism of
repentance, Jesus is expressing as
clearly as possible under those circum-
stances His vicarious relation to the
people of God. 'Jesus' identification
with the people in their baptism had
the proximate end of securing for them
vicariously what the sacrament (John's
baptism of repentance) aimed at, the
forgiveness of sin. Even with regard to
repentance we may reason analogously;
for if Jesus bore sin vicariously, and
received forgiveness vicariously, then
there can be no objection on prtnciple
of saying that He repented for the
people vicariously."- Vos, BIBLICAL
THEOLOGY, pg. 319f. Inotherwords,
Jesus took upon Himself as our substi-
tute and representative the responsi-
bility for our sins, Le., the punishment
14 ~ THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon ~ May, 1994
our sins deserved that we might be
forgiven, and the responsibility for our
obedience. He not only died in our
place, He lived in our place. He not
only suffered and died for us, He be-
lieved, repentance and lived in perfect
righteousness for us, so that by His
"passive" and "active" obedience, we
who believe in Him might be saved
and accepted into the family of God.
The age of Jesus at his baptism'
Jesuswasthirty
years old when He
was baptized by
John, Luke 3:23.
This was the age
of Joseph when
he became the
Egyptian
Pharaoh's prime
minister, Gen.
41:46, and the age
of David when he
became King of
Israel, II Sam. 5:4.
More imponantly
forunderstandingthemeaning9fjesus'
baptism, this was the age at' whiCh
Levitical priests began their priestly
service in the Temple, Num. 4:3, 47.
In fact, the requirements for priests
were that they be thiny years of age,
called of God, and anointed with oil
and sprinkled with sacrificial blood,
Exod. 29:21, upon their public inau-
guration into office. CenainlY Luke
makes this reference to Jesus' age to
make us think of the O.T. priesthood,
so that we will understand Jesus' bap-
tism as His public inauguration as
our High Priest, the Mediator of the
New Covenant, Who would, as Priest,
offer Himself as Victim, for the salva-
tion of His people. The statement of
God made from the heavens at His
baptism---"This is My beloved Son in
Whom I am well pleased" --is drawn
from Psalm 2 and Isaiah 42, the first of
which speaks ofJehovah inaugurating
and installing His Son "upon i O ~ My
holy mountain," Le., holy because that
is where the Temple was located, and
where the Lord's PRIESTS ministered.
All the ingredients required by O.T.
law forthe irumguration of a pliest are
present in the baptism ofjesus: (1).
Jesus was 30 years old; (2). He was
called of God when the heavens opened;
and (3). He was anointed, (possibly
"splinkled with hyssop") by John in
baptism, Le., both water from John's
hand and the Spilit from God's hand
WERE POURED OUT on Jesus at His
baptism in O.T. fashion.
THE PLACE OF JESUS' BAPTISM
"in the wilderness"
The "wildemess" theme in the old
testament
John the Baptist was "a voice crying
in the wilderness," whose preparation,
preaching and baptizing ministlY was
in the "wilderness." The people of
Jerusalem were called out into the "wil-
derness" to hear him, repent and be
baptized by him. SeeMat. 3: 1,4; Lk.
3:2,4; 7:24;Jn. 1:23. And immedi-
ately after His baptism the Spilit dlives
Jesus Himself in to the "wilderness,"
Mk. 1:12,13; Lk. 5:16.
The reference to the "wilderness" as
the locale of John's ministry is not a
merely a geographical statement. The
Gospel writers are preserving the em-
phasis on the "wilderness" found in the
O.T. prophedes, [Isaiah 40:3], allow-
ing that emphasis to shame their own
theological understanding of the gos-
pel of Jesus. In Exodus 23:20 God
promises to send Hismessenger, Moses,
before the people on a first exodus
through the "wilderness" to the Land
of Promise in Canaan. In Isaiah 40:3
we see the divine and messianic proph-
ecy that there will be a sec,?nd exodus
through the "wilderness" to the final
deliverance prepared for God's cov-
enant people. "In both the citation
from the Law and from the Prophets
the theme of an exodus through the
wilderness is dominant. .. The blended
citation, (of Luke 3:4f and Mark 1:3D,
functions to draw attention to three
factors . . . :the herald, the Lord, and
the wilderness."-Lane, pg. 46. In the
Synoptic Gospels the significance of
each of these elements is emphasized:
the coming ofjohn and Jesus into the
wilderness is the fulfillment of the
promised salvation of which the proph-
ets spoke.
The Significance of the appearance of
John the forerunner in the "wildemess"
The biblical concept of repentance
is deeply rooted in the "wilderness"
theme of the O.T. IntheO.T. prophets
the call to "tum" signifies a return to
the oliginal relationship with the Lord.
"This means a return to the beginning
of God's histOlY with His people, a
return to the wilderness. Essential to
the prophetic concern with repentance
in Hosea, Amos, and Isaiah is the con-
cept ofIsrael's time in the wilderness as
the peliod of true sonship to God, a
status into which the Lord is going to
lead his people once again in a future
time. --- The correlation between the
wilderness and repentance was not
John's innovation and must have been
understood by his contemporaries.
John's call to repentance and his call to
come out to him in the wilderness to be
baptized are two aspects of the same
reality. ltis a call torenewedsonship
in the wilderness. The peculiar ur-
gency in the call lies in the fact that the
crisis of God's final act is close at hand.
"The same correlation should be
seen between baptism and the wilder-
ness. The summons to be baptized in
theJ ordan meant that Israel must come
once more to the wilderness. As Israel
long ago had been separated from Egypt
by a pilglimage through the waters of
the Red Sea, the nation is exhOlted
again to expelience separation; the
people are called to a second exodus in
preparation for a new covenant with
God. Both John's call to repentance
and his baptism are intelligible as as-
pects of the prophetic tradition which
expected the final salvation of God to
be unveiled in the wilderness.
"Repentance in John's proclama-
tion is conditioned by the action of
God, who is about to enter history in a
definitive fashion. The opportunity
and urgency for repentance lie in the
fact that the one who will baptize with
the Holy Spirit is close at hand. As the
people heed John's call and go out to
him in the desert far more is involved
than contlition and confession. They
return to a place of judgement, the
Wilderness, where the status of Is-
rael as God's Beloved Son must be
re-established in the exchange of
pride for humility. The willingness
to return to the wilderness signifies
the acknowledgment of Israel's his-
tory as one of disobedience and re-
bellion, and a desire to begin once
more. John's proclamation of the for-
giveness of sins provides the assurance
that God extends grace as well as judg-
ment. It is in the context of judgnlent
and grace that the people ofJerusalem
and Judea go out to the wilderness to
be baptized by John." - Lane, pg. 49-51
The prophet, Isaiah, described
Israel's trek in the wilderness as a march
under the leadership of the Spilit of the
Lord, Isa. 63:11. He Wlites also that it
was the Holy Spirit who gave the cov-
enant people rest in the wilderness,
Isa. 63:14. John the Baptist links the
bestowal of the Spirit to the minisny of
Christ, who comes to him to be bap-
tized in the wilderness. "As the first
exodus had been a going forth into the
wilderness under the leadership of
God's Spirit, the prophet announces the
second exodus as a time when there we
be a fresh outpouring of the Spilit, lsa.
32: 15; 44:3. With this concept in mind
John calls the people to thewildemessin
antidpation of the fulfillment ofthe pro-
phetic promise. "-Lane, pg. 52
May, 1994 ~ TIlE COUNSEL of Chalcedon ~ 15
The significance ofJesus' baptism in
the "wilderness"
By submitting to John's "baptism of
repentance" with "all the people, "Jesus
is acknowledging the judgment of God
on Israel, and at the same time, He is
signifYing that He will endure the judg-
ment of God in the place of His people.
'Jesus comes to J ohn as the true Israel-
ite whose repentance is perfect. He IS
the beloved Son, but He comes to the
wilderness because sonship must be
reaffirmed in the
Wilderness.
John'sappearance
in the wilderness,
his call to repen-
tance and his bap-
tism signify that
the time has come
when God will
execute a decisive
judgment from
which a new Is-
rael will emerge.
--- He comes to
John as one will-
ing to assume the
brnnt of this judgment. The bearing of
its burden constitutes His mission."-
Lane, pg. 54
"in the Jordan river"
Just as John the Forerunner steps
out of obscurity into a public ministry,
so Jesus the Messiah now does the
same. He leaves Galilee, (Nazareth),
where he had lived in obscurity all
these thirty years and appears publicly
at the Jordan River.
THE PERSON WHO BAPTIZED
JESUS: JOHN THE FORERUNNER
The ministry of John
"J ohn the Baptist is a crucial figure
in the history of revelation and re-
demption. In retrospect, his appear-
ance in the wilderness was the most
important event in the life of Israel for
more than three hundred years. -- The
very fact of]ohn's appearance was an
eschatological event of the first magni-
tude, and signified that the decisive
turning point in the history of salva-
tion was at hand. It was John, the
preacher of radical repentance, who
initiated the messianic crisis. To speak
of the gospel ofjesus is to speak of the
good news which began with
John'"-Lane, MARK, pg. 47.
john is not introduced in Luke's
narrative because he is important for
his own sake. He is important because
he is "the beginning of the unfolding
drama of redemption which centers in
jesusofNazareth."-Lane. Hisministry
was the result of Divine appointment
infulfillmentofO.T. prophecy; and he
bore witness to the supremacy and
dignity of the Lord's Christ, whose
coming was near.
Luke reports jesus' baptism in two
words in Greek----by means of a
genitive absolute participial construc-
tion. The report of the actual baptism
with water seems almost incidental to
the record of the descent of the Holy
Spirit and the declaration of the Divine
Voice out of the opened heavens. Since
john and his baptism of repentance
has just been presented to the reader,
it must be taken for granted that Luke
assumes John is the baptizer ofJesus.
"But it is extraordinary that exactly
at the baptism of Jesus, where one
16 ~ THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon t- May, 1994
might expect John at least to share
some of the limelight withJesus, he
isnotmentionedatall."-Stonehause.
The point is this: John the Baptist is
brought into Luke's historical narra-
tives because of the light his ministry
castsuponthe meaningofjesus Christ.
The introduction ofjohn the Baptism,
and of Simeon, for that matter, into the
account of the origin and early history
of Christianity has as its purpose: to
"interpret authoritatively the mean-
ing of the stupen-
dous event repre-
sented by the
birth of Christ and
His presence in
the world." -
Stonehouse
Thefocus of
John's preaching
"]ohn'smessage
is telescoped to fo-
cus upon a single
theme, the procla-
mation of the Per-
son still to come
who will baptize the people with the
Holy Spirit."-Lane, pg. 51. There is
coming a New Baptizer, whose dignity
will far overshadow thatofJ ohn. John
introduces Christ as "The Coming
One", which reflects Israel's messianic
expectation that God Himself will
"come" to earth to bring salvation to
His covenant people, Mal. 3: f 4:5f.
He "who comes in the name of the
Lord," Psa. 118:26, will bring salva-
tionandsudden,siftingjudgment, Mal.
3:1; 4:5f.
The post-baptismal testimony of
John regardingJesus
John 1:15, 30
john distinguishes in the life and
ministry of Christ two phases: (1). The
phase of ministry which FOLLOWS
the ministry of John the Baptist; and
(2). The phase which precedes the life
of] ohn. John bore witness of Him, and
cried out, saying, "This was He of whom
J said, 'He who comes after me has a
higher rank thai J, for He existed before
me. ' -- This is He on behalf of whom J said,
"After me comes a Man who has a higher
J'(11Jk than J, for He existed before me."
"He who comes after me has a
higher rank than I" is literally in Greek,
"He who has come after me is before
(EMPROSTHEN) me," Le., refening
to Christ's minisny in the O. T. The
Greek preposition, EMPROSTHEN,
with the perfect of the verb, "He who
has come," denotes precedence in
appearing on the historical scene.
"For He existed before me" is PROTOS,
(before), with the imperfect verb, EN,
(existed), and the pronoun MOU, (me).
"PROTOS" with the imperfect of the
verb Signifies "absolute anteriority
as tomode of existence" -Stonehouse.
(" Anteriority" refers to existence pre-
ceding time.) The point is that this
second phrase, "for He existed before
me," relates to the eternal existence of
the Lord Chl1St, usually called His
pre-existence as the Second Person of
the Trinity. The conjunction, "for,"
(HOIl), therefore links together the
clauses in such a way so as to signify:
"in Christ's eternal existence before
time lies the possibility of His appear-
ance and activity under the
O.T." -Stonehouse. Hence, there is no
mere repetition here.
In saying that this pre-existent One
is a "Man who has a higher rank than
I, forHe existed before me," John is not
saying that Christ existed physically as
an actual human being before John's
binh. He is simply rellecting His un-
derstanding of the incarnation of Christ
in terms of Mal. 3: 1 and 4:5f. The
eternal Lord Himself has "visited" the
earth in His Representative, "The Mes-
senger of the Covenant," justas Malachi
had prophesied. Or has Luke has
carefully explained: THE LORD'S
CHRIST IS CHRIST THE LORD.
Therefore, even in His humanity, as
well as His Deity,j esus ranks infinitely
higher than John.
JoI1l11:29, 36
Thissecond outstanding testimony
of john the Baptism to Jesus Christ
bl1ngs out the vicarious sin-bearing
of Jesus Christ. The next day l1e (John)
saw Jesus coming to him, and said, "Be-
hold, the Lamb of Godwho takes away the
sin of the world!" -- And he looked upon
Jesus as He walked, and said, "Behold, the
Lamb of God!"
In the dialogue between john and
jesus the point was made that Jesus'
baptism was a vicarious baptism, em-
phasizing His identity with sinners
and His substitutionary work in their
behalf. These words are John's com-
mentary on jesus' baptism. He also
learned that Chlist was "the lamb of
God," i.e., the substitutionary and pro-
pitiatory sacrifice for sinners, from the
Old Testament in at least two places:
(1). In the sacrificial lamb of the
Levitical system; and (2). In the repre-
sentation of the Servant of God as a
lamb in Isaiah 53, especially in verses
6 and 7 ---All of us like sheep have gone
astray, each of us has turned to his own
way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity
of us all to fallon Him. He was oppressed
and He was afflicted, yet He did not open
His mouth; like a lamb that is led to
slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent
before its shearers, so He did not open His
mouth.
The Meaning of "lamb"
In Isaiah 53:6,7 the primary use of
the figure of the lamb forthe Servant of
God is "to depict the innocence, meek-
ness and willingness to render vicari-
0us service for the people through
suffering and death. The features of
innocence and meekness are inherent
in the character of the lamb generi-
cally, but they are with special em pha-
sis suggested here, because, the people
having been described as a wayward,
wandel1ng Ilock, the very quality of a
lamb sets the Servant in contrast with
this sinful condit jon.
"But it immediately appears that
these traits of innocence and meek-
ness are not intended for the general
purpose of idealizing the character of
the Servant, but for the specific pur-
pose of showing Him both fitted and
willing to bear the sin for others. This
is the transition between verse 6 and
verse 7 in the prophecy: because
innocent He can bear sin of others,
because meek He is willing to do so.
And also his appunenance, (Le., his
connection), (with a distinction) to
the flock serves its purpose here: be-
ing of the flock He can suffer for the
flock.-Vos, BIBLICAL THEOLOGY,
pg. 324f.
The Meaning of "takes away the
sins of the world"
The Greek word for "takes away"
denotes to take away the sins of the
world by bearing those sins. "What
Jesus had done in the baptism was not
yet the actual removal of sin, but only
as yet the taking of sin upon Himself.
To the other task His whole life was to
be devoted."-Vos, pg. 326.
The meaning of
"the sins of the world"
Isaiah prophesied that the Messi-
anie Lamb would take upon Himself
the sin of the chosen people of the
Covenant. John speaks of His bearing
"the sins of the world." Is there a
contradiction in the Bible? Does the
O.T. speak of Christ's death for the
elect and the N.T. of His death for the
world? Since there are no contradic-
tions in the Bible, and since there is no
dichotomy between the O.T. and the
N.T., there must be a way to interpret
john's comments in such a way that
they harmonize with the teaching of
the Scripture elsewhere that Christ
came to bear away the sins of the elect,
Rev. 5:9.
May, 1994 THE COUNSEL of Cbalcedon t 17
So, what does it mean to say that
Jesus takes away the sins of the
"WORLD"? In The Magnificat, Mary
told us that the Messiah would come
to "give help to Israel," Lk. 1:54. In
The Nunc Dimittis Simeon told us that
the chosen people of God whom Christ
came to redeem are to be found among
"all peoples" and that Christ came to be
a "light . . . to the Gentiles", as well as
"the glory of ... Israel: Lk. 2:31-32.
These two hymns together teach us
tlult the chosen of
God whom Christ
came to , save are
not confined to
one nation or eth-
mcgroup, but they
are to be found
throughout the
earthamongallthe
world's nations
and peoples. It is
in this light that we
must interpret
John's remark that
Christcametotake
away the sins of the
"wORLD." Christ came to take away
the sins of people from every tribe and
people, by nature lost in sin, and not
merely the sin of a particular nation,
e.g. the Jewish nation,John 3:16. He
came to save the "world: taken quali-
tativelynot quantitatively, and not just
the Jews .. "All the sins, (see I John 3:5
for the plural) which the Lamb re-
moves are spoken of collectively as
"the sin." This passage does not teach
a universal atonement, i.e., that Jesus
took away the sins of everybody who
has every lived withc:mt exception. If
he did then everybody is saved. If they
are not saved, and He died for every-
body without exception, then He failed.
Either of these views: (1). That every-
body, Christians and anti-christians,
without exception are saved; or (2).
That Christ tried to saved everybody
by taking away their sins, but He failed
because they would not let Him do so,
is dishonoring to Jesus Christ, the Son
of God. John the Baptist did not teach
universal atonement, nor did the
Apostle John, nor did Jesus Himself,
In. 1:12, 13; 10:11, 27, 28; 17:9;
11:50-52.
Jesusis the Lamb of God who came
to take away the sin of all His people
throughout the whole world. For God
so loved something as vile and evil as
the world, i.e., mankind in rebellion
against God, taken qualitatively not
quantitatively, that He gave His only
begotten Son. That this is the proper
way to take these texts, and that Christ's
death "had special reference to His
people is set forth when He is said to
have been a RANSOM---The Son of
man came not to be served but to serve,
and to give His life a RANSOM FOR
MANY, Mark 10:45; Matthew 20:28.
The nature of a ransom is such that
when paid and accepted it automati-
cally frees those for whom it was in-
tended. No further obligation can be
charged against them. If the death of
Christ was a ransom for all men alike,
ifby His death He purchased all man-
kind, then the regenerating and cleans-
ing power of the Holy Spirit which He
purchased for them must then be com-
municated not merely to some but to
all alike, and the penalry of eternal
punishment cannot be jusdy inflicted
on any. If, as we have said, God is so
18 THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon May, 1994
just that He cannot pardon sin without
an atonement, He would certainly be
most unjust if He demanded the pen-
alty twice over, once from the Substi-
tute and again from the persons
themselves." -Lorraine Boettner, THE
ATONEMENT, pg. 84
John 1:34
This is the third great post-baptismal
declaration by John concerning Jesus:
And I have seen, and have borne witness
that this the Son of
God. "I" is "I my-
seW in Greek in-
dicating that
John's testimony
is an
EYE-WITNESS
testimonyaswell
as, an OFFICIAL
testimony by the
Forerunner. The
close relation of
"seen" and "have
borne witness"
describes the im-
mediacy of the
witness, i.e. "\ no soo.ner saw that I
witnessed." In this statement John is
reftectingupon His faithfulness "in ob-
serving and answering by witness the
signal set for him by God in the descent
of the Spirit upon Jesus."-Vos., pg.
326.
JOHN 2:31-32.
In this lengthy passage John the
Baptist is the speaker, as most com-
mentators agree. He exposes the ab-
surdity of supposing any rivalry be-
tween himself andJesus. 'Jesus stands
so incomparably higher than all mes-
sengersof God that it could occur to
John as little to conceivejealousyagainst
Him, as the friend of the bridegroom
(the presider at the wedding activities)
could do so with regard to the bride-
groom. His work is to efface himself,
and therein to find his supreme
joy.n-vos. The Baptism of Ie sus to be
c;oncluded next month n.