Matthew records a statement of the Master, in connection with his baptism at the hands of John, which though fraught with significance in that particular relation, has all too frequently been perverted into a cloak or excuse for carrying on otherwise reprehensible practices. When John in his humility demurred at Jesus' request to be baptized of him, the Master answered, "Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness."
The Son of God had no need for the baptism of water unto repentance; the observance of this rite was simply a preliminary to that baptism of the Spirit which was to be at once the sign and seal of his divine mission. John had foretold the coming of one who would baptize "with the Holy Ghost, and with fire," and the descent of the Spirit upon him was to reveal him as "he that should come." Therefore Jesus' request for baptism, while it might be construed as giving the stamp of authority to John's work, was to be obeyed, to be suffered, simply that the higher significance of baptism, the taking away or destruction of sin by the power of the Spirit, might unimpeachably be made manifest.
Speaking of this incident, Mrs. Eddy says, "Jesus' concessions (in certain cases) to material methods were for the advancement of spiritual good" (Science and Health, p. 56). Even the instance of his anointing the eyes of the blind man with clay and bidding him go and wash them in "cool Siloam's shady rill," so often cited as authority for the employment of material means, bears out Mrs. Eddy's assertion. It is impossible to think for a moment that Jesus was unable to heal the man then and there. The anointing and the washing were simply tests of his willingness to be healed, manifested in obedience; just as Naaman had to dip himself in the Jordan seven times in obedience to Elisha's command before he could receive his healing of leprosy. Neither the clay nor the water had in itself any virtue of healing; nor was the healing the main issue, but rather the inculcation of the spirit of obedience to divine law; in Mrs. Eddy's words, "for the advancement of spiritual good."
