The Story of Jesus The Christ. Helen Braun Hojt
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to know, to be ready for it. As he grew older he knew
that he could not do good work unless he thought, studied, and
prayed much about it. To do this he left his home and his
friends, and went to live all alone in the wilderness.
He could find enough to eat there: locusts, and the honey
which the bees left in the rocks and the hollow trees. Locusts
are something like our grasshoppers, and even now, in that coun¬
try, people eat a great many of them. There were caves in the
sides of the hills, where John could find shelter from the cold
and storms, and from any wild beasts that might be about. His
22
A CHILD’S STORY OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST
clothing was made of the coarse hair which grows on a camel>
and was fastened around his waist with a leather belt.
There in the woods he lived alone for many years with noth¬
ing to take his mind from his work. At last the time came for
him to preach.
There is a river in Pal¬
estine called the Jordan,,
and it was to the banks
of the Jordan that John
came from the wilderness
and began to preach. He
was so much in earnest,
and spoke so well, that
people liked to listen to
him; and before long great
crowds from all around
came everyday to hear him.
They all thought he
must be the Christ; but
John said: 66 No, I am not
the Christ. I am the
prophet from the wilder¬
ness whose work it is to
prepare the way for the
Christ, and tell people about
John the Baptist in the Wilderness llim.
«He is to be so much
greater than I am that I am not good enough even to be his ser¬
vant. Your Saviour is coming very soon, but he will not save
you unless you are sorry for your sins. You must not say to} T> ur-
selves: ‘ God will love us because we are the children of Abraham/
You must be good yourselves if you want to be loved and saved/»»
THE BOYHOOD OF THE CHRIST
23
Over and over again John said to the people, “ Repent, and
be baptized, every one of you.» To repent is to be so sorry
for something we have
done that we will ask
God’s forgiveness and
try very hard never to
do it again. After they
repented he baptised
them. You know how
pure and clean water
makes things that are
Washed in it. So water
is used in baptism as a
sign that the one who
is baptized wants his
heart made pure and
clean.
J ohn baptized so
many people that he
is called John the Bap¬
tist, but he told them
John the Baptist Preaching
all that the baptism did
not make them good;
it only show r ed others that they meant to try to be better men
and women. “ When the Christ conies,“ he said, „he will give
you a new heart, and that is what you need to be really good.»
We should all pray just as David did so long ago: «Create
in me a clean heart, 0 God; and renew a right spirit within
me.» This is nfot a very long prayer, but it means a great deal;
for when we have been given new, clean hearts we will never
again do wrong without being very, very sorry, and praying to
be forgiven.
THE MINISTRY OF THE CHRIST
THE OPENING OF THE MINISTRY
One day John was preaching as usual, when a stranger came
to him and asked to be baptized. John looked at him for a
minute, and then said:
«I need to be baptized
by you. Why do you
come to me?» For in
that one look something
in the stranger’s face
told John that it was
Jesus, the Christ, who
had asked to be bap¬
tized. Although they
were cousins, their
homes were so far apart
that they had never
seen each other.
John knew that the
Saviour did not need to
repent, for he had never
done anything that was
wrong. He did not want
to baptize him, but Jesus
said: «I want you to do it. It is right that you should, even if
you do not know the reason why.» Then they both went into the
Jordan, and Jesus was baptized.
When he came up out of the water something in the form of
a dove rested on his head, and a voice from heaven said, “ This
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.» It was God’s
voice.
Baptism of Jesus
24
THE MINISTRY OF THE CHRIST
25
Jesus did not wait to talk to the people then; he went off by
himself into the wilderness, where he could be alone with God.
He wanted to think about the new life he had just begun. He
had no home now, for he had given up his home and everything
that