This relation and intimacy between these two, John and Jesus, must be steadily kept in mind.

The Contemptuous Rejection.

From the very first, though Jesus was accepted by individuals of every class, He was rejected by the nation.  This is the twin-fact standing out in boldest outline through the Gospel stories.  The nation’s rejection began with the formal presentation of Him to it by John.  First was the simple refusal to accept, then the decision to reject, then the determination that everybody else should reject too.  First, that He should not be admitted to their circle, then that He should be kept out of their circle, and then that He should be kept out of every circle.  There are these three distinct stages in the rejection from the Jordan waters to the Calvary Hill.

First came the contemptuous rejection.  John was a great man.  Made of the same rugged stuff as the old prophets, he was more than they in being the King’s own messenger and herald.  In his character he was great as the greatest, though not as great in privilege as those living in the kingdom.  He preached and baptized.  With glowing eyes of fire, deep-set under shaggy brows, and plain vigorous speech which, if pricked, would ooze out red life, he told of the sin that must be cleaned out as a preparation for the coming One.  And to all who would, he applied the cleansing rite.

He had great drawing power.  Away from cultured Jerusalem on the hilltops down to the river bottoms, and the stony barrens of the Jordan; from the Judean hill country, away from the stately temple service with its music and impressive ritual, to his simple open-air, plain, fervid preaching, he drew men.  All sorts came, the proud Pharisee, the cynical Sadducee, the soldiers, the publicans, farmers, shepherds, tradespeople—­all came.  His daily gatherings represented the whole people.  The nation came to his call.  It was the unconscious testimony of the nation to his rugged greatness and to his divine mission.  They were impelled to come, and listen, and do, and questioningly wonder if this can be the promised national leader.

One day a committee came from the Jewish Senate to make official inquiry as to who he claimed to be.  With critical, captious questions they demand his authority.  True to his mission and his Master, he said, “I am not the One, but sent to tell you that He’s coming, and so near that it’s time to get ready.”  Then the next day, as Jesus walks quietly through the crowd, probably just back from the wilderness, he finishes his reply to the deputation.  With glowing eyes intently riveted upon Jesus, and finger pointing, before the alert eyes of his hundreds of hearers—­Pharisees, Sadducees, official committee, Roman soldiers, and common folk—­he said in clear, ringing tones, “That is He:  the coming One!”