For after the Lord had plucked Joshua as a brand out of the
fire, and had made his iniquity to pass from him, and had clothed him
with change of raiment, and had set a fair mitre on his head, the Lord
gave to Joshua a sealed roll, the contents of which may be read to this
day in the book of the prophet Zechariah. Nay, more: 'Will you have me
to speak plainly?' says great Goodwin on this matter. 'Then, though our
Lord had the assurance of faith that He was the Son of God, for He knew
it out of the Scriptures by reading all the prophets, yet, to have it
sealed to Him with joy unspeakable and glorious,--this was deferred to
the time of His baptism. He was then anointed with the oil of assurance
and gladness in a more peculiar and transcendent manner.' 'In His
baptism,' says Bengel, 'our Lord was magnificently enlightened. He was
previously the Son of God, and yet the power of the Divine testimony to
His Sonship at His baptism long affected Him in a lively manner.' And we
see our Lord reading His roll to assure and sustain His heart when all
outward acceptance and sustenance failed Him.
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