DISCOURSE: 1531
THE BLOODY BAPTISM OF OUR LORD
Luke 12:50. I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!
ANY one who understands the true nature of Christianity would suppose that the religion of Jesus must of necessity approve itself to the heart and judgment of every person to whom it is proclaimed; and, above all, that the Founder of it, in whom every species and degree of excellence were combined, must, so far as his character is made known, be an object of universal approbation. But the very reverse of this has proved to be the fact, even as our blessed Lord himself declared it would be. In the verse before my text, he says, “I am come to send fire on the earth.” And in the verse after my text, he puts the question to us; “Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division;” and such a division, too, as shall separate from each other the nearest and dearest relatives [Note: ver. 49, 51–53.]. As to himself, he states, that he had nothing but the bitterest persecution to expect, so long as he should continue upon earth: and that, in fact, he longed for the period when the storm should burst upon him: “I have a baptism to be baptized with: and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!”
In discoursing on these words, it will be proper for me to shew,
I. What a fearful “baptism” awaited him—
In baptism, the whole body was frequently immersed under water: and, in reference to this, our blessed Lord calls his own sufferings “a baptism;” because he was about to be wholly immersed in sorrow, and to become, to an extent that no other person ever did or could become, “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief [Note: Isaiah 53:3.].”
Inconceivably great were the agonies of his body—
[We forbear to notice his privations during the course of his ministry: when he, on many occasions, “had not where to lay his head.” We will notice only his sufferings during the short period of one single day. Follow him, after his seizure by those who were sent to apprehend him, and see how he was treated at the tribunals of his judges: see him arrayed in mock majesty, insulted in every possible way, spit upon, smitten in the face, and the crown of thorns driven into his temples: see him scourged, so that “long and deep furrows were made upon his back:” see him fastened to the cross by nails driven through his hands and feet; and the cross, with him suspended on it, descending with such violence into the hole prepared for its reception, that almost all “his bones were dislocated” by the shock [Note: Psalms 22:14.]: see him left thus in the midst of all imaginable indignities, till he should be relieved by death: surely “his visage was marred more than any man’s, and his form more than the sons of men [Note: Isaiah 52:14.]:” so that it may well be asked, “Was ever sorrow like unto his sorrow [Note: Lamentations 1:12.]?” — — —]
But it was in his soul chiefly that his pains so much exceeded those of all other men—
[Who can conceive the agonies he endured in the garden, before his body had been subjected to any suffering from man? Then it was that the cup of affliction was put into his hands by God himself; and he was constrained to drink it even to the very dregs, till, through the agonies of his mind, the blood issued from every pore of his body, and he was, literally as it were, baptized in blood. Nor can we by any means conceive what his pure and holy mind must have endured, whilst he encountered such “contradiction of sinners against himself [Note: Hebrews 12:3.]”,” both in the courts of justice and on the cross — — — Hear him, under the hidings of his Father’s face, crying, “My God, my God! why hast thou forsaken me?” Can any finite imagination conceive of the agonies he then sustained, when the sins of the whole world were laid upon him, and the debt of the whole human race was exacted at his hands? — — —]
But if this baptism was so terrible, what reason can be assigned,
II.
Why he so earnestly longed for its accomplishment—
Were it only as a woman longs for the pains which shall soon terminate in the birth of her child, he might well desire their speedy arrival, in order to their speedier termination [Note: John 16:21.]. But he had far higher reasons for the desire which he expressed. He longed for this baptism,
1. Because by it the Father would be glorified—
[This, in particular, operated upon his mind, at the time that he deprecated the bitter cup: “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again [Note: John 12:27-28.].” It was by this event that all the perfections of the Godhead were to be displayed — — — and therefore our adorable Saviour longed for the time when this most desirable object should be consummated — — —]
2. Because by it his own work, so far as it was to be carried on in this world, was to be completed—
[Christ had undertaken to “make his soul an offering for sin [Note: Isaiah 53:10.],” and, by death, to expiate the sins of our fallen race. Without this, all his previous labours and sufferings would be in vain. For this, therefore, he longed, that he might be able to say, “It is finished [Note: John 19:30.]” — — —]
3. Because by it salvation would be wrought for a ruined world—
[This was the great work which Jesus had come to effect: and so intent was he upon it, that, when Peter would have persuaded him to spare himself, he reproved his infatuated Disciple in the most indignant terms: “Get thee behind me, Satan; thou art an offence unto me [Note: Matthew 16:21-23.].” This was, in fact, “the joy that had been set before him;” in the prospect of which he not only “endured the cross, and despised the shame [Note: Hebrews 12:2.],” but desired both the one and the other; fully “satisfied, if only he might see at last of the travail of his soul” in the happiness and salvation of his redeemed people [Note: . where all this is plainly asserted.]
2. Are ye not then deeply criminal?
[We are in the habit of reprobating infidels as amongst the vilest of men. And far am I from intending, in any respect, to lessen the abhorrence with which they are viewed, and should be viewed. But it may well be doubted, whether the great mass of Christians be not in a worse state than they. For infidels, however profane, are at least consistent: they do not profess to believe the Scriptures: they regard them all, and every thing contained in them, as “a cunningly-devised fable.” But the Christian world profess to receive the Bible as the word of God, and to expect that men shall be dealt with in judgment according to the plan proposed in it: yet do they in their lives give the lie to all that they profess. If they really believed in that word, they would believe in Christ, and love him, and serve him, and glorify him. Could a man believe that his house was on fire, and ready to fall upon him, and not flee out of it? It is a delusion altogether: and in pretending to believe at all, they only lie unto the Holy Ghost.]
3. Are ye not utterly inexcusable?
[What excuse can you offer in vindication of yourselves? Is not every part of the inspired volume brought before you in its season? Ye know that “we have kept back nothing that was profitable unto you,” but “have declared unto you the whole counsel of God.” But, at all events, the inspired volume has been in your hands, and ye might have drunk water at the fountain-head. It has been accessible to you at all times: and if it have been “a fountain sealed,” whose fault is that? Has not God promised, by his Holy Spirit to open it? and has not Christ told you, that “if you would ask of him, he would give you living waters, which should be in you a well of water springing up unto everlasting life?” What is there that has been wanting to you? Has there been any defect of evidence? No: the evidence has shone forth as bright as the sun. Has there been any want of encouragement? No: there is not any species of encouragement that has not been poured upon you as a flood. Nothing has been wanting, but a humble and docile spirit. It is your own pride, and worldliness, and unbelief, that has kept from you the blessings of salvation: and you have none but yourselves to blame.]
Application—
[I say, then, confess your hypocrisy, and humble yourselves for it — — — And take the Holy Scriptures, and “search them with all diligence; and pray to the Holy Spirit to guide you into all truth.” But mark more especially what they speak of Christ; for “of Him they testify in every part [Note: ver. 39.]:” and, having found him, believe in him, and surrender up yourselves to him: and let your whole life attest the consistency of your character, and the integrity of your hearts before God.]