ner. life by the might of omnipotence in a peculiar and miraculous manNevertheless, it was also indispensable that he should appear in an essential and necessary connection with the whole human race, that he should be like unto us in all points, yet without sin, that he should enter into the same relations of life in which we are placed, and that, consequently, he should, like us, be born of a woman. Hence, his human nature, although itself without sin, experienced all the consequences of sin, such as the helplessness and weakness, the wants and sufferings of our nature. He appeared, as Paul says (Rom. 8:3), "in the likeness of sinful flesh," èv dμouwμari oapxòs auaprias. For the purpose of redeeming the human race, that is, of arresting the false development which had been commenced, and of manifesting the one which alone was true and genuine, he necessarily made his appearance precisely at that point which this false development had reached. He was born of a woman who was devout and full of child-like faith, but who was, nevertheless, a sinful woman ; still, he was as little contaminated, on account of this circumstance, by the universal sinfulness of man, as the generous graft which is inserted in the wild olive-tree partakes of the evil qualities of the latter. OBS. 2.-Chronologists are not yet agreed respecting the precise year in which Christ was born. It is generally admitted that our present reckoning (Era Dionysiaca) which proceeds from Dionysius Exiguus, a monk of the sixth century, is incorrect; for Herod the Great, who lived, as it is well known, during a short period after the birth of Christ, died before the commencement of the Vulgar Era. Whether the birth of Christ occurred two, four, or seven years before that era commences, has not yet been satisfactorily determined. OBS. 3. — Tradition indicates a certain grotto near Bethlehem as the place in which the Redeemer was born. The evidences which are furnished for the truth of this tradition reach to the middle of the second century, for Justin the Martyr, and, at a later period, Origen, Eusebius, &c., bear witness to its truth. By the directions of the empress Helena, a splendid church was built over this grotto, and a convent, somewhat resembling a fortress, was afterwards connected with the church. The Greeks, Armenians and Latins are at present the joint owners of the church. A staircase on each side of the great altar conducts to the grotto, which is 37 feet in length, 12 feet in breadth, and 9 feet in height; the sides are covered with hangings of silk interwoven with resplendent gold. Immediately below this altar a niche is seen, which is revered as the spot wherein Mary brought forth the Saviour. Another niche is seen at the distance of a few steps from the former, cut out of the rock, which is considered to be the manger wherein the babe lay. Each niche is lined with plates of marble, and contains a number of lamps of silver and gold which burn continually by day and by night. The remote age to which this tradition may be traced, is an argument in favor of its truth. The Evangelist speaks of the manger as a spot not included in the inn, it is true; still it is a common practice at the present day in Palestine, and, generally, in the East, to use grottoes which occur among the rocks, as places of shelter for cattle. § 127. The Circumcision and Presentation of Jesus. 1. Luke 2: 21.—On the eighth day the child was circumcised according to the Law of Moses, and received the name of Jesus (that is, Saviour), as the angel had said to Mary (Luke 1: 31), and also, in a dream, to Joseph (Matt. 1 : 21). OBS. As Christ, by being born of a woman, entered into the common relations and circumstances of human life, and became subject to the common laws by which it is governed, so, too, it was necessary that he should enter into those relations and circumstances, and become subject to those laws which were specially Jewish (Gal. 4: 4), like all other Israelites. It was not an accidental or unimportant circumstance that Christ was of the seed of Abraham, but essentially belonged to the plan of salvation. After preparations had been made for the promised salvation during a period of 2000 years, the Redeemer appeared, in order that he might thenceforth continue the development and at last complete it-fulfilling both the law and the promise. 2. Luke 2: 22, &c.- - For the same reason he was presented to the Lord in the temple on the fortieth day, according to the Jewish law of purifying (Lev. 12: 2, &c.), and the sacrifices which were appointed for the case of a first-born son, were offered. And, behold, a man, named Simeon, came by the Spirit into the temple, who was waiting for the consolation of Israel; for it had been revealed to him that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ. He took up the child in his arms and said: "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." And to Mary he said: "Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against (yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also); that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed." A certain prophetess also, named Anna, a very aged widow, who was in the temple, gave thanks unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. OBS.- Simeon, Anna, and many others who are afterwards mentioned by the Evangelists (?? 131, 132), belong to that holy seed of genuine Israelites still remaining at that period; they are of the 'seven thousand" (? 92. 2) of that age who had not bowed unto the new Baal of carnal Messianic hopes and foolish self-righteousness (? 112. 2). 66 § 128. The Wise Men out of the East, and the Flight into Egypt. 1. Matt. 2:1-12.— As the choir of the angels which praised God, directed the shepherds in the way to the babe in the manger, so the star which the wise men (magians) out of the east saw in their own country, directed them in the same way; the shepherds were the first-fruits of the Jews, as the wise men were the firstfruits of the Gentiles. The latter were probably influenced by the prevailing feeling (§ 120. 3) that the king of the world would come forth from Judea, and they were perhaps acquainted with many of the special predictions granted to the chosen people, for Daniel had been the chief or head of the magians. When they saw this remarkable object in the sky, they rightly inferred, in this case at least, that a remarkable object, corresponding to it, would soon be observed on earth. They consequently hasten to Jerusalem, and ask: "Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him." Then Herod was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; he ascertained, on gathering all the scribes together, that Bethlehem was the place in which Christ was to be born. The wise men hastened thither, worshipped the child, and presented to him gold, frankincense and myrrh. Herod had charged them strictly to inform him when they found the child, "that I may come," he added with malice and hypocrisy, "and worship him also." But God commanded them in a dream to depart into their own country another way. OBS. The statement that the wise men were three in number, and that they were kings, rests on traditions which do not appear to be worthy of credit. According to Kepler's conjecture, which is founded on certain astronomical calculations, and which has been generally adopted by learned men in recent times, the star of the wise men was a remarkable conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn in the constellation of Pisces, occurring in the year 747 after the building of the city of Rome-Mars assumed the same position the following year. Others, however, to whom this view appears to be irreconcilable with Matt. 2: 9, prefer the opinion that an entirely new and peculiar appearance in the heavens is here meant, to which, as they suppose, the sign of the Messiah in heaven at his second coming (Matt. 24: 30) will correspond. Although the precise appearance of the star cannot be described, it evidently arrested the attention of astronomers alone, for if the inhabitants of Jerusalem had noticed it themselves, the words of the wise men would not have occasioned that consternation of which we read. 2. Matt. 2: 13-23.-When Herod found that the wise men had not complied with his injunctions, he determined to secure his object by causing all the children in Bethlehem that were two years old and under, to be murdered. But Joseph, who had been previously warned by an angel in a dream, had already departed into Egypt with the child and his mother, having, doubtless, derived important aid from the costly gifts of the magians. In consequence of another divine intimation, he subsequently returned, after the death of Herod, and established himself in Nazareth, where his trade, which was that of a carpenter, secured employment for him. § 129. The Early Years of Christ. Luke 2: 40-52.- Only one incident belonging to the early life of Jesus is recorded by the sacred writers. When he was twelve years old, he went with Joseph and his mother to Jerusalem for the purpose of keeping the feast there. The scribes who sat in the temple were astonished at his understanding, both when he questioned and when he answered them. To his mother who found him in the temple on the third day, after an anxious search, he said: "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" In these words a distinct consciousness of his own person and his work begins to shine forth. For, a certain consciousness or sense of our own human nature and its purposes is gradually developed in ourselves as the period of childhood recedes, and this progression occurred in Christ also, who was made like unto us in all things. A similar development occurred (not of Christ's divine nature itself, which is incapable of it, but) of his personal consciousness of his divine nature and his Messianic vocation, corresponding in its progress with the former. The early years of Christ, in general, were unquestionably passed in unpretending obedience, in a diligent search after knowledge, and in the study of the Scriptures; the evangelist testifies that he "increased in wisdom and stature [or age], and in favor with God and man.” OBS.-Joseph and Mary, the last members of the royal family, the genuine descendants of David, not only after the flesh, but also after the spirit, are the attendants of the holy child and conduct his education. The education of an individual is his moral generation, and generation is a communication of being. All that was holy and divine in the mind and character of these two chosen persons, promoted the development of the child's soul, which contained in itself all the germs of perfect holiness. But nothing that was unclean and sinful in them as mere human beings, could influence his holy soul, both because the latter presented no point of union or contact, and because his whole human development was alike sustained by the fulness of the indwelling Godhead, and guarded and superintended by the Holy Ghost (Luke 1:35). Both Joseph and Mary possessed the genuine theocratic and devout spirit which existed only during the most flourishing periods of the Old Testament history; but that spirit presented in these two persons entirely distinct features, which, in their combination, formed a harmonious whole. Joseph was a strict observer of the Law, possessed decision and energy of character (Matt. 1: 19, 24; 2: 21–23), sustained the burden of earthly labor (Matt. 13:55), and exhibited in his whole bearing that seriousness which the experience of life produces. These characteristics gave a peculiar direction to the mode of educating his holy pupil; they tended to develop in the latter an intelligent inclination to the righteousness of the Old Testament, which he had really come to fulfil entirely (Matt. 3: 15; Gal. 4: 4, 5); and they trained him to endure privations, to minister to others, and to suffer, which constituted his great work on earth (Matt. 8: 20; 20: 28). Mary, on |