resent that day when Christ was baptized. Was
there ever a man lifted so near to heaven as Herod must have been if
he were present on that occasion? I see John standing surrounded by
a great throng of people who are hanging on his words. The eyes of
the preacher, that never had quailed before, suddenly began to look
strange. He turned pale and seemed to draw back as though something
wonderful had happened, and right in the middle of a sentence he
ceased to speak. If I were suddenly to grow pale, and stop speaking,
you would ask:

"Has death crept onto the platform? Is the tongue of the speaker
palsied?"

There must have been quite a commotion among the audience when John
stopped. The eyes of the Baptist were fixed upon a Stranger who
pushed His way through the crowd, and coming up to the preacher,
requested to be baptized. That was a common occurrence; it had
happened day after day for weeks past. John listened to the
Stranger's words, but instead of going at once to the Jordan and
baptizing Him, he said:

"I need to be baptized of Thee!"

What a thrill of excitement must have shot through the audience! I
can hear one whispering to another:

"I believe that is the Messiah!"

Yes, it was the long-looked-for One, for whose appearing the nation
had been waiting these thousands of years. From the time God had
made the promise to Adam, away back in Eden, every true Israelite
had been looking for the Messiah; and there He was in their midst!

He insisted that John should baptize Him, and the forerunner
recognized His authority as Master, took Him to the Jordan, and
baptized Him. As He came up from the water, lo! the heavens opened,
and the Spirit of God in the form of a dove descended and rested on
Him. When Noah sent forth the dove from the Ark, it could find no
resting-place; but now the Son of God had come to do the will of
God, and the dove found its resting-place upon Him. The Holy Ghost
had found a home. Now God broke the silence of four thousand years.
There came a voice from heaven, and Herod may have heard it if he
was there that day:

"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

Even if he had not witnessed this scene and heard the voice, he must
have heard about it; for the thing was not done in a corner. There
were thousands to witness it, and the news must have been taken to
every corner of the land.

Yet Herod, living in such times, and hearing such a preacher, missed
the kingdom of heave