should perform for his teacher, except loosing his
sandal-thong." But this exceptionally menial office the Baptist declares
he was not worthy to perform for Jesus. None so well as the Baptist
himself knew his limitations. He had evoked in the people cravings he
could not satisfy. There had gathered to him a conscience-stricken
people, longing for renewal and righteousness, and demanding what he had
no power to give. Therefore, not merely his explicit enouncements from
time to time, but his entire ministry, pointing to a new order of things
which he himself could not inaugurate, declared the incomparable
greatness of Him that was to come after him.

2. This superiority of Christ was based on His pre-existence. "He was
before me." It may appear unaccountable that the Baptist, standing on
Old Testament ground, should have reached the conclusion that Jesus was
Divine. But it is at any rate evident that the Evangelist believed the
Baptist had done so, for he adduces the Baptist's testimony in support
of his own affirmation of the Divine glory of the Incarnate Word (ver.
15). After the wonderful scene at the Baptism, John must have talked
closely with Jesus regarding both His work and His consciousness; and
even if the passage at the close of the third chapter is coloured by the
Evangelist's style, and even by his thought, we must suppose that the
Baptist had somehow arrived at the belief that Jesus was "from above,"
and made known upon earth the things which He, in a pre-existent state,
had "heard and seen."

3. The Baptist pointed to Jesus as the source of spiritual life. "He
baptizeth with the Holy Ghost." Here the Baptist steps on to ground on
which his assertions can be tested. He declares that Jesus can
communicate the Holy Ghost--the fundamental article of the Christian
Creed, which carries with it all else. No one knew better than the
Baptist where human help failed; no one knew better than he what could
be effected by rites and rules, by strength of will and asceticism and
human endeavour; and no one knew better at what point all these become
useless. More and more they seemed to him but a cleansing with water, a
washing of the outside. More and more did he understand that, not from
without, but from within, true cleansing must proceed, and that all
else, save a new creation by the Spirit of God, was inefficacious. Only
Spirit can act upon spirit; and for true renewal we need the action upon
us of the Divine Spirit