radical and revolutionary as his acts had seemed rash and imprudent. Yet this was God's way, and in all this Jesus acted with divine wisdom. In all this he is an example for his followers. So far as Christians can act with the same pure motives that Jesus did when he purified the temple, so far they may follow his example. So far as they have the same pure motives that he had, they should be as frank as he was with Nicodemus.

A lady once chided Frederick W. Robertson for doing a righteous thing which she thought imprudent. When she told him what she thought would be the evil consequences to himself, he replied, "I don't care." When she said, "You know what became of 'I don't care'?" he answered, with the deepest reverence, "Yes, he was crucified on Calvary." Christ's example never warrants real imprudence, and men need to be sure that they have as perfect knowledge and as pure motives as he had before they plead his example for doing what their fellow-men deem imprudent; but, when any man knows perfectly that he is confronted with wrong that should be overthrown, his duty is plain; and, if he falter, he is not Christlike; if he hesitate, he has not the spirit of the kingdom of God.

XIII

THE DISCIPLES OF JESUS BAPTIZING IN JUDEA

John 3:30. "He must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3:22-36.)

A

FTER the conversation with Nicodemus Jesus and his disciples went from Jerusalem out into the rural districts of Judea. Just where he went is not known, but from what follows it is evident that he went into the neighbourhood where John was baptizing, and John had come west of the Jordan to an unknown place called Ænon near Salim. Near this place the disciples of Jesus, not only baptized, but baptized to such an extent as to excite the jealousy of John's disciples, and to give rise to a report that Jesus was baptizing more disciples than John. In process of time a dispute arose between John's disciples and a Jew about purifying, and this dispute probably related to the necessity for John's baptism, or the relative merits of the two baptisms.

Why the disciples of Jesus baptized in the early part of his ministry and discontinued it afterwards is not known. This event seems to have been recorded because it gave John another opportunity to bear witness to Jesus Christ. When the disciples of John came to him with the report that "all men" were coming to Jesus, they had sincere sorrow for their own master, and it seemed to them the harder to bear because he had been overshadowed and superseded by one whom he had introduced. In their re

port to John they speak of Jesus as "he that was with thee beyond Jordan to whom thou bearest witness."

John's answer to his disciples is replete with cheerful, humble loyalty. He said "A man can receive nothing except it have been give him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness that I said, 'I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom which standeth and heareth him rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice; this my joy, therefore, is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease." He was the true friend and not in any sense the rival of the Christ. It was the fullness of his joy that Christ should increase even if it involved his decrease.

We assume that John 3: 31-36 is a report of what John the Baptist said, rather than a statement of the evangelist's own views of Christ. This seems evident because the 31st verse introduces a reason why Christ should increase, as it says, "He that cometh from above is above all; he that is of the earth is of the earth, and of the earth he speaketh; he that cometh from heaven is above all." What follows is in exact accord with what Jesus said to Nicodemus, and is an expansion of what John the Baptist had said of Jesus when he saw him on the banks of the Jordan and called him "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." He now describes him as "He whom God hath sent," and as "the Son of God," and he adds, "He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life; but he that obeyeth not the Son, the wrath of God abideth on him."

John sounds the keynote of true Christian endeavor in all the ages, as he says, with cheerful, trustful, loving faith, and with untainted integrity, "He must increase, but I must decrease." The great Apostle to the Gentiles

had only reached the same height of loving consecration, when he exclaimed, "Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether by life, or by death." The Forerunner had the spirit of the kingdom and the mind of the Master, for Jesus said of himself, "I came, not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me."

In outward appearance, in manner of living, and in methods of working, John the Baptist was very different from his Lord; but, when we look through the coarse raiment and the rugged exterior, we find in John the same mind that was in Christ Jesus. He was preeminent for his unselfishness, his humility and his holy courage. He recognized the great truth that each man has his own place and his own part in the outworkings of God's holy purposes, and that "a man can receive nothing except it have been given him from heaven." In a less degree, and on a lower plane, he exhibited the mind of Jesus, who afterwards said to the Father, "Not my will but thine be done."

True disciples may differ very greatly in manner of life and in outward appearance, but the essential mark of discipleship in every case is the mind of Christ Godward. and manward, for, "If any man have not the spirit of Christ he is none of his."

XIV

JESUS IN SAMARIA

John 4:4. "And he must needs pass through Samaria." (John 4: 1-42.)

W

HEN Jesus knew that the Pharisees had heard that he was making and baptizing more disciples than John, he left Judea and went to Galilee. This rumor was not accurate, for Jesus disciples baptized, but he did not baptize any one. Why this rumour should be considered a sufficient reason for his going away is not known. He might have gone away in order to prevent odious comparisons that would emphasize the contrast between John's decrease and his own increase. He might have gone because he knew that his presence was embarrassing John and that he could not help him in any way.

He was on the borders of Samaria, not far from Ænon, and his direct route to Galilee was through Samaria; yet, the evangelist says, "He must needs pass through Samaria." The expression "must needs" did not refer to any geographical necessity, for many of the Jews, on account of their hatred and distrust of the Samaritans, went to Galilee by way of Perea. Jesus did not share either this hatred or this fear, for he knew that he was as safe in Samaria as he was in Judea, and he would have gone to Galilee by way of Samaria if he had no special reason for going some other way. The words of the evangelist "must needs" indicate that he had some special