f Jesus from the baptismal grave
demonstrate the distinct individuality of the three Personages of the
Godhead. On that solemn occasion Jesus the Son was present in the flesh;
the presence of the Holy Ghost was manifest through the accompanying
sign of the dove, and the voice of the Eternal Father was heard from
heaven. Had we no other evidence of the separate personality of each
member of the Holy Trinity, this instance should be conclusive; but
other scriptures confirm the great truth.[295]

THE TEMPTATIONS OF CHRIST.

Soon after His baptism, immediately thereafter as Mark asserts, Jesus
was constrained by the promptings of the Spirit to withdraw from men and
the distractions of community life, by retiring into the wilderness
where He would be free to commune with His God. So strong was the
influence of the impelling force that He was led thereby, or, as stated
by the evangelist, driven, into solitary seclusion, in which He remained
during forty days, "with the wild beasts" of the desert. This remarkable
episode in our Lord's life is described, though not with equal fulness,
in three of the Gospels;[296] John is silent thereon.

The circumstances attending this time of exile and test must have been
related by Jesus Himself, for of other human witnesses there were none.
The recorded narratives deal principally with events marking the close
of the forty-day period, but considered in their entirety they place
beyond doubt the fact that the season was one of fasting and prayer.
Christ's realization that He was the chosen and foreordained Messiah
came to Him gradually. As shown by His words to His mother on the
occasion of the memorable interview with the doctors in the temple
courts, He knew, when but a Boy of twelve years, that in a particular
and personal sense He was the Son of God; yet it is evident that a
comprehension of the full purport of His earthly mission developed
within Him only as He progressed step by step in wisdom. His
acknowledgment by the Father, and the continued companionship of the
Holy Ghost, opened His soul to the glorious fact of His divinity. He had
much to think about, much that demanded prayer and the communion with
God that prayer alone could insure. Throughout the period of retirement,
he ate not, but chose to fast, that His mortal body might the more
completely be subjected to His divine spirit.

Then, when He was hungry and physically weak, the tempter came with the
insidious suggesti