Elijah, or Isaiah, or any other who had lived
before him. With exultation Zacharias said to him, "Thou, child, shalt
be called the prophet of the Most High."

God had arranged that he should be ready to proclaim the coming One just
before the Messiah should appear among men. For this reason he was
called the Fore-runner of the Messiah. But though Jesus was in the
world, the time for His appearance as the Messiah had not yet come.

John was greatly saddened by what he saw of the wickedness of men, even
those who professed to be the people of God, and their unfitness to
receive Him for whom they were looking. Led by the Spirit of God, John
retired to the wilderness of Judaea, in the region of the Dead Sea and
the Jordan, for meditation and communion with God. But he was not
entirely concealed. There were a few who heard of his sanctity and
wisdom, sought instruction from him, and abode with him, becoming his
disciples. He seems to have had special influence over young men. Our
Bethsaidan boys have now grown to be such since we saw them in their
early home, and as school and fisher boys. They were now toiling at
their nets with their fathers, closer than ever in their friendship for
each other, still waiting and watching for Him whom they had been taught
from their earliest days to expect. We think of their interest in the
rumors concerning the prophet of Judaea.

[Illustration: THE BOY JESUS IN THE TEMPLE _H. Hofmann_ Page 54]

As the two pair of brothers talk together, we can hear one of them
saying, "I must see and hear and know for myself. I will lay aside my
fishing, and go to the wilderness of Judaea." To this the others reply,
as on another occasion to Peter, "We also come with thee." Leaving the
quiet shores of Gennesaret, they follow the road each has traveled
annually since twelve years of age on his way to the feast in Jerusalem.

They met the hermit in the wilderness. His appearance was strange
indeed. His hair was long and unkempt; his face tanned with the sun and
the desert air; his body unnourished by the simple food of locusts and
wild honey. His raiment was of the coarsest and cheapest cloth of
camel's hair. His girdle was a rough band of leather, such as was worn
by the poor,--most unlike those made of fine material, and ornamented
with needlework. His whole appearance must have been a great contrast to
his gentle and refined namesake from Galilee.

The solemn earnestness of the prophet, and the grea