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

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      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

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      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

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