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may have been drawn to Jesus by that invisible Spirit without whom not a sparrow falls to the ground. If so, then was it a heaven-sent witness to the divinity of his character and claims.

But there were other imposing concomitants of the baptism of Jesus. The opening of the heavens, and the heavenly voice.

Rosenmuller, Schleusner and Kuinoel understand the phrase," and the heavens were opened," as signifying that it lightened, lightning producing the appearance of the skies being rent. But although instances of a similar mode of speaking are adduced from profane authors, these learned commentators refer to no instance of the same kind in the Scriptures, and to fortify their interpretation resort to Epiphanius, who, upon the authority of the Gospel of the Ebionites, declares that, at the baptism of Jesus, "straightway a great light shone round the place," and to Justin Martyr, who states that a fire was kindled (on the same occasion) in the Jordan.' These authorities, it is evident, afford but very feeble support to the idea that the opening of the heavens is a phrase employed merely as descriptive of the effect produced by lightning.

It is worthy of note that in the Baptist's own account of the Baptism of Jesus, as it stands in the Gospel of John the Evangelist, no mention is made of the heavens being opened. If the Baptist had witnessed any extraordinary miraculous phenomenon in the firmament, it is not easy to account for the omission. In connection with this omission, it is also to be remarked that the grammatical construction of the language in the other three gospels authorises the idea that the heavens were opened not to John but to Jesus. The passage in Matthew reads thus: "And Jesus when he was baptized,

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went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him." Violations of the rule, however, concerning the relative and antecedent occur in the Scriptures. Therefore the pronoun does not necessarily refer to Jesus. It may relate to John. I conclude, however, from the other notices, and from a consideration of all the circumstances, that Jesus is the antecedent, and that the meaning of Matthew is, "And Jesus when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto Jesus, and John saw the spirit of God descending, &c." The grammatical question, however, is of very little importance. Two modes of explaining the phrase "the heavens were opened" suggest themselves. If John believed, as, under the circumstances, and in the exaltation of his feelings, he could not help doing, that the dove was a celestial messenger, sent down at the moment from heaven, then was it his natural and instantaneous inference that the heavens opened to give egress to the bird. It may be therefore that an inference is stated as a visible fact. But the following appears to be the most probable explanation of this language.

According to Luke, Jesus came up out of the water, after he was baptized, “praying." I have already intimated how unspeakably impressive this act of Baptism must have been to him. It was the consecration of his whole being to God, the divinest offering ever presented to heaven. On all occasions his prayers were the truest that ever ascended to the throne of Infinite Goodness. And when he ascended out of the river, praying, his countenance, glowing with the lofty emotions that filled his great spirit, must have shone with a brightness like the sun. Had the veil of the visible

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heavens been rent in twain before him, and a beatific vision of Majesty and Love been spread before his eyes, his countenance could not have borne more expressive testimony to his inward exaltation. His sense of the Divine Presence was at that moment as vivid and intimate as if the very heavens were opened and he beheld the Everlasting Throne and Him who sitteth thereon smiling on him with fatherly love. His countenance was as of one communing with the revealed glories of the better world, and John beheld there in that Face a brightness, the reflection of Heaven, and Jesus seemed like one, looking with his bodily eyes at angelic spirits, and at the Father of Spirits. He, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, shone into the heart of John, and gave him the light of the knowledge of the glory of heaven in the face of Jesus Christ.

This explanation is corroborated by a passage in the very same chapter of John, in which the Baptism is recorded, (i. 51.) When Nathaniel, upon witnessing an instance of the miraculous knowledge of Jesus, exclaimed, "Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the king of Israel,' Jesus answered and said unto him, 'Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig-tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these.' And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, hereafter ye shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.'" That this language is figurative will not be doubted. But when I consider what and how wonderful those things were, which are here described as the opening of heaven and the ascending and descending of angels, and which those, whom he addressed, subsequently witnessed,—his miracles of power and mercy, his sufferings, and his rising from the dead-this figure

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of speech seems to me neither violent nor too strong. What with Jewish modes of thought and expression, this language, vivid indeed, is natural but still inadequate. It could hardly have been stronger. Yet, after all, it does but imperfectly describe what took place thereafter, and what the disciples saw. Had the skies parted asunder, had visible angels ascended and descended, they, who witnessed what Jesus did, and heard his inspired words, could not have had in the spectacle, however imposing, such decisive evidence of the intimate communication between him and the heavenly world and the Almighty Father, as they possessed in the miracles they actually beheld. The spectators of his life, the hearers of his teaching, did indeed see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending. And they saw more. For in him they saw God. "Whosoever hath seen me, hath seen the Father," said Jesus to the very Philip who was with Nathaniel when that impressive promise was made to him. If those then, who beheld the works and listened to the word of Jesus, are said to have seen "heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man," with how much greater significance may it be said, that the heavens were opened (at his Baptism) unto him, who felt the divine presence in his own spirit and beheld the glory of heaven, and in whose illuminated face the vision and the faith were expressed.

It will be seen that there is no inconsistency in the different explanations which I have proposed of the phrase," the heavens were opened." The sudden appearance of the dove, conjoined with the inspired looks of Jesus, coming up out of the water in prayer, conspired to lift up the spirit of the Baptist and to produce the vivid impression that the very heavens were opened

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at that moment to Jesus. In that divine countenance heaven was thrown open to John also.

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"And, lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."" In the first chapter of his Gospel, John the Evangelist has given us John the Baptist's own account of the occasion, as follows: "And John bare record, saying, ‘I saw the Spirit descending from Heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptise with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he who baptiseth with the Holy Spirit. And I saw and bare record that this is the Son of God."" Now it is observable that in this account of the Baptist's there is no mention of a voice from Heaven. Had an audible voice from Heaven been heard, it certainly would have been the principal and most direct testimonial to the divine character of Jesus. It would have been the circumstance which would most powerfully impress and decide the mind of John. But he declares that he knew Jesus to be the Son of God, not because he heard a voice declaring the fact, but because he saw the Spirit of God, descending and remaining on him. This was the token by which Jesus was designated to the Baptist as the Son of God.

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Such being the character of the Baptist's account, it be inferred that no voice was audible, at least to John or to any of the bystanders. Jesus alone heard the voice from heaven. And this inference is somewhat confirmed by the fact that two out of the three other narratives give us the words as addressed directly to Jesus, "Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased."