Our King and Saviour, or, The story of Our Lord's life on earth : in which its great events are arranged in their probable chronological order, and so set forth as to make their reality and meaning clear to the understandings and attractive to the imaginations and hearts of young persons and general readers

Front matter

Head of Christ

(From a Painting by Paul de la Uoche.)

OUR KING AND SAVIOUR;

Prefatory Note

SHIS Life of the Lord Jesu3 is not intended for critics and biblical scholars, but for senior Sunday scholars, Sunday teachers, and general readers. Its events are given in the order adopted by Dr. Strong in his very excellent “ Harmony and Exposition of the Gospels.” In its preparation the writer consulted and compared such authorities as Neander, Lange, Pressense, Olshausen, Kitto, Trench, Andrews, Hanna, Ellicott, Renan, Thomson, etc. He availed himself of their criticisms as far as was needful to assist him in forming an independent judgment on disputed points of the Gospel histories. The results of these examinations are given in these pages, but not the reasonings by which they were reached. The style adopted is simple without being juvenile, and is sufficiently expository to make the sacred story appear clear and connected. Should it contribute in any

Prefatory jSote.

degree to the strengthening of its readers’ belief in the absolute reality of the supernatural incidents recorded in the holy Gospels, and in the perfect humanity and supreme divinity of Jesus, the aim of the writer will be attained, and his highest ambition gratified.

Englewood, N. J., 1875.

Contents

Pagb

1 The Birthnight op the Lord Jesus 15

2. Why the Babe was named Jesus 24

I. The Birthnight Of The Lord Jesus

“ Out in the night, so calm and still,

Their song was heard ;

For they knew that the child on Bethlehem’s hill Was Christ the Lord.”

^NaTEARLY nineteen hundred years* ago a babe ly was ushered into the world, in the little eastern city of Bethlehem, under circumstances such as never surrounded the birth of a child either before or since. Its mother was a lady of princely lineage, but her arrival in the city of her great ancestor, the royal David, at a time when the inn or caravansera was crowded with visitors, had compelled her to find lodgings in its stable. Here she gave birth to her first-born son. And here, for want of a more befitting cradle, she laid him on the platform, or manger, which had held the provender of many a traveler’s beast. f

* The precise date of Christ’s birth is unknown. Dr. Strong, in his “Harmony,” places it about August 1, B. C. 6. We follow his chronology, which is based on the Roman consular chronology compared with certain astronomical facts and the dates of Jewish festivals. See Strong’s “ Harmony,” Appendix I, pp. 7-24.

f A caravansera, or oriental inn, is a square stone structure. Its outer walls have no windows, nothing but an arched gateway. Within,

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1 fi

The new-born babe and a slumbering people.

There was no stir in that quiet city on the night of this wonderful birth. While the lady mother pressed the new-born babe to her breast, thrilled with the thought that she held the founder of an everlasting kingdom in her arms, the people of Bethlehem slept, unconscious that the grandest event of the world’s

there is a large open area with a well in the center. On every side of this area is a platform three or four feet high. Back of this plat-

AN ORIENTAL CAR AV AN SERA.

form are little doors opening into small unfurnished chambers, or lodging rooms. Between the rear of these chambers and the outer wall is a covered passage, which is entered at the corners of the quadrangle. This, is the stable. Its floor is on the same level as that of the open area ; and, as the platform on which the chambers are built projects into this covered way, it serves as a resting-place or manger for the nose-bags from which the animals feed. In bad weather it serves as a retreat for servants and teamsters. "When a caravansera is crowded, travelers are often glad to lodge on these projecting platforms, as Mary did when she found every chamber of the caravansera at Bethlehem preoccupied at the time of her arrival.

The Birthnight of the Lord Jesus.

IT

A grand night scene.

history had that night occurred within their ancient walls. No deputations from its officers and noble families hastened to congratulate the mother, or to pay their respects to the royal infant. On the contrary, his birth-chamber had but scant attendance, and its accommodations were scarcely equal to those of a peasant’s cot.

But only a mile or two distant, on one of those lovely meadows through which this infant’s royal ancestor, David, had often led his flock of sheep, a grand

SHEEP-FOLD.

scene was being displayed. There, in the soft stillness of an oriental night, a band of wandering shepherds * sat watching their sheep. It is not unlikely

* Had these shepherds belonged to Bethlehem they would have folded their flocks near the city, in a fold such as you see in the illustration. They must, therefore, have come from a distance seeking pasturage in the dry season.

Our King.

The shepherds see an angel.

that they talked of the time when David’s promised Son should be born in his father’s ancient city. It

FIELDS NEAR BKTIILKIIEM.

was a period of great expectation. Thousands of pious Jews, and many thoughtful Gentiles, animated by the Spirit which had once fired Isaiah’s heart, were looking intently for the appearance of the “ King of the Jews,” the restorer of Israel, the predestined conqueror of the world. Probably those shepherds shared the general hope and longing, and talked wonderingly of how and when the much desired event would occur. Suddenly, a dazzling light, “ the glory of the Lord,” broke upon the gloom of night, revealing the resplendent form of the “ angel of the Lord.” The astonished shepherds looked on this glorious being with speechless fear. Then the voice of the angel fell like soothing music on their ears, hushing their

The Birthnight of the Lord Jesus .

The angelic song.

fears and commanding their attention, while he said : —

“ Fear not : for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”

The angel further said, that they might find this royal babe,

“wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger;” and then a multitude of angelic choristers burst upon the shepherds’ vision, singing, in rapturous strains, this new, sweet song of love and mercy : —

“ Glory to God in the highest,

Peace on earth, good-will toward men.”

The shepherds were simple-hearted men. They could not doubt the reality of the wonderful sights and sounds they had just seen and heard. To them, doubtless, it seemed fitting, that the birth of the child who was to show forth the love of heaven’s King,

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The shepherds find the infant Jesus.

should be heralded by heaven’s choir. Neither did they question the truth of the angel’s words ; but, as soon as the last strains of the heavenly song had died away, they, said to one another : —

BETHLEHEM.

“Let us go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known to us.”

And then leaving their flocks beneath the olive and fig trees, as the gray dawn appeared in the East, they traversed the hilly road toward Bethlehem, ascended the long, bold, vine-clad hill on which it stands, and, in the stable (“or the place of untying of beasts” as the original word signifies) of the caravansera, found the babe, as the angel had described him.

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V

The Shepherds Adoring Jesus.

The Birthnight of the Lord Jesus.

A credential of the Son of God.

You may imagine the adoring rapture with which they kneeled before this infant, so humbly placed, but so royally heralded. With burning words they told their hitherto unheard-of story to the happy, but silent and thoughtful mother. And then, going out into the narrow streets, they no doubt repeated it to every one they met, causing more wonder than conviction in their astonished listeners. But satisfied that they had seen the long-expected Messiah, they soon hastened back to the care of their flocks, making the hills echo their glad songs, as ages before they had echoed the voice of the poet king, whose Heir and Lord they had just seen in the person of Mary’s babe.

Did such a marvelous combination of such humbleness with such grandeur ever mark the birthhour of any other child but that of the infant Jesus? Never, never! Behold, then, in that peerless blending of earthly lowliness with heavenly grandeur, one of the

credentials of the Son of God !

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The sweetest of names.

II. Why The Babe Was Named Jesus

tCCORDING to the laws of the country this babe was circumcised when eight days old. At that time, as was the custom, he received his name. Ordinary children are usually named by their parents ; so this babe was called Jesus by a divine command given through an angel’s lips, first to Mary, and afterward to Joseph, his reputed father. This sweet name signifies Saviour. It was given him because he came to save “ his people,” not from the Roman yoke, as the Jews expected, but “ from their sins.” Other children had borne it, but he received it from the lips of the Infinite Father both as a recognition of his divine character and as a description of the merciful purpose for which he had come into the world. O blessed name ! Its utterance on the day of the child’s circumcision awakened no wonder, thrilled no hearts, except those of the silent Mary and the thoughtful Joseph ; but it has now become the most mighty name in the universe. It is feared in hell, adored in heaven ; while on earth it is ardently loved by millions of human beings.

“ Never was sung a sweeter word,

Nor fuller music e’er was heard,

Nor deeper aught the heart hath stirred,

Than Jesus, Son of God.” — Bernard.

Witnesses Attest the Dignity of Jesus.

The babe in Jerusalem.

III. Inspired Witnesses Attest The Dignity Of Jesus

[September, B. C. 6.]

jjlF^ORTY days after the birth of this princely child, another wonder shed its mysterious rays upon his young life. As required by Jewish law, Mary and Joseph carried him from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, six miles, to redeem him, as a first-born son, from the service of the priesthood, by the payment of five shekels, (about three dollars, see Num. xviii, 15, 16,) and also to offer a sacrifice of two turtle-doves or young pigeons for the purification of the mother. This journey was made without princely pomp, or other outward sign of the infant’s dignity, but humbly, on foot or on mules, as became people not absolutely poor, but whose greatest wealth was the faith and hope which swelled their hearts when they thought of their wonderful child. When they entered the temple unheralded, and unnoted by officiating priests, an extraordinary circumstance occurred. A venerable patriarch, who, being deeply versed in ancient prophecy, was looking earnestly for the coming of the long-promised Star of Jacob, came also into the sacred place. The moment he saw Mary’s babe, the divine Spirit whispered within him,

“ This is the Lord’s Christ ! ”

Then, with holy gladness written on every feature,

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A patriarch’s swan-like lay.

he took the unconscious infant from wondering Mary’s arms, and uttered words of blessing and of prophecy. The latter foretold the glorious work which the infant was to do, the enmity which he would encounter, and the sorrow which his sufferings would bring to his mother’s soul. This aged man showed that he had a better understanding of the Kingdom Jesus was to found, than the apostles gained afterward by three years’ companionship with their Master. Who can explain this fact, except by admitting that Simeon was inspired by Heaven to attest tbre grandeur and greatness of this humbly appearing, but really divine infant? .Doubtless this was the reason why this old man came —

“ In festal grave-clothes to chant his swan-like lay.”

Scarcely had Simeon restored Jesus to his mother’s arms, before an aged widow, upon whose bent shoulders the burdens of more than fourscore summers rested, came, and under a like inspiration, joined in Simeon’s song of joy. She was another witness to the divine character of the child Jesus.

The temple ceremonies ended, the sacred babe was carried back to Bethlehem by his happy mother and her husband. It seems likely that Joseph, finding work at his trade of carpentry, and thinking, perhaps, that the city of David was the proper home for this

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Witnesses Attest the Dignity of Jesus.

Persian sages discover an unknown star.

infant prince of that royal house, had taken up his abode in it. Here he remained for several months, probably ; and here he would have continued, but for another of those marvels which distinguished the infancy of Jesus.

IV. The Strange Star And The Magi

“A star shines forth in heaven suddenly —

A wondrous orb, less than the sun, yet greater;

Less in its outward light, but greater in Its inward glory, pointing to a mystery.

That morning-star sent forth its beams afar Into the land of those who had no light; •

Led them as blind men, by a way they knew not, Until they came and saw the Light of men,

Offered their gifts, received Eternal life,

Worshiped — and went their way.” — Ephraem Strtts.

fHIS new marvel was nothing less than the visit of a deputation of Magi, or wise men, probably in July, from the distant empire of Persia. These sages were astronomers and astrologers. The stars of heaven were their constant study. While watching their nightly movements in the glorious sky they had discovered an unusual luminous body, brilliant as a star, yet not a real star, but a supernatural body placed in the heavens to arrest their attention. It is more than probable that these men had knowledge of the coming of a mighty monarch in Judea, treasured in their

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A sensation in Jerusalem.

books since the days in which Daniel, the prophet, outshone their ancestry in wisdom at the Persian Court. This strange light, therefore, became to them the star of the expected “King of the Jews.” Being zealous searchers after all knowledge, and moved withal by an impulse from Heaven, they left their homes and followed the movements of this strange light through many lands, until it led them to Jerusalem, where it seems to have disappeared. Here they made known the object of their tedious journey. To their astonishment no one knew any thing about it. Neither the angelic visit to Bethlehem, nor the prophecies of Simeon and Anna, had arrested public attention. But their presence,

“ Robed in the stole of Tyrian dye,”

their gorgeous retinue, and especially their question about the birth of a king of the Jews, produced a great sensation in Jerusalem. Herod, the bloodthirsty king, was alarmed lest his throne should be endangered by an insurrection. The Jewish authorities and people were thrilled with the hope, that possibly their long-desired Messiah was about to make his advent. The king summoned the Sanhedrin. That grave and reverend body determined, that, according to one of their prophets who had spoken seven hundred years before, Bethlehem was to be Messiah’s birthplace. With cunning in his

The Strange Star and the Magi.

The Magi do homage to Jesus.

heart, and smooth words upon his lips, Herod, after receiving this information, sent the Magi to the little city indicated by prophecy, exacting from them a promise to return and tell him the result of their visit. In his heart the ruthless monarch resolved to kill the babe if the wise men found him.

The Magi resumed their journey. The “star,” hidden for a time, now reappeared. With joy they followed it through the valley of Gihon, across the plain of Rephaim, to the steep hill on which Bethlehem was built. The star probably guided them to the humble house in which Joseph and Mary now lodged. It was to them the supernatural witness to the royalty of the infant “in whom lay vailed the mighty King.” Without hesitation they fell at his feet and did him homage. Then, they presented him with gifts — “ gold? and frankincense, and myrrh.”

It was their intention to return to Jerusalem agreeably with the request of Herod. But the same mysterious power which had led them from Persia to Bethlehem, warned them by a vision to return by another route to their native land.

This tribute from heathen men to the divine character of the infant Jesus was another unmistakable sign of his heavenly origin. Like the other marvels of his birth, it distinguished him from every other babe born of a woman.

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The babe’s escape.

The King in a rage.

V. The Child’s Life Supernaturally Saved

OTHER vision now informed Joseph that the unscrupulous Herod would seek the life, of the holy babe, and bade him arise and depart quickly with the child and his mother into Egypt. Without hesitation, the good man shook off his slumbers at once, aroused Mary, made hasty preparations, and before dawn was on his way to Egypt. Four or five days’ travel, through the vine-clad hills of Judea to Hebron, thence to Beersheba, and on, across the sandy desert in wThich their ancestors had once wandered forty years, took the holy family to the border of Egypt. There, in some city, the name of which is unknown, containing Jewish settlers, Joseph took lodgings, and living partly on the gifts of the Magi, and partly on his earnings as a carpenter, he patiently waited the further directions of Heaven respecting the wonderful infant committed to his care. Meanwhile, Herod, finding that the Magi did not return, became furiously angry. They had treated him with contempt, and the infant, whose birth had been foretold by prophets, and proclaimed by a mysterious star, was likely to escape his cruel hands, already stained with the blood of his wife and two of his sons. Deter

The Flight into Egypt.

The Child's Life Supernaturally Saved. 35

mined not to be balked in his purpose to kill this dreaded infant, he sent a band of pitiless assassins to Bethlehem with orders to put every babe to death of “ two years old and under.” It was an atrocious order. But his assassins were steeled to pity. Ho cry of despairing mother, no look of innocence, or prattling voice from unsuspecting babe, could stay the stroke of their murderous swords. Passing swiftly and mysteriously from house to house in and around the doomed little city they soon accomplished their bloody work. Then they departed, leaving, probably, from two to threescore sweet little innocents dead upon the heaving breasts of as many agonized mothers.

Doubtless, the crowned monster chuckled over his imaginary success when the hired murderers made their report. He felt that his throne was more secure, for had he not slain the infant “ King of the Jews?” But He who had safely hidden his Son across the Egyptian border laughed at his diabolical rejoicing, and a few months after sent him a summons he could not resist. Racked with the pains of an incurable disease, tormented by a conscience stained with crimes of blackest dye, and maddened with his knowledge that the people would rejoice over his death as a priceless blessing, he died just after ordering the execution of his third son, and went to the dark abode of the

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The return to Palestine.

guilty dead, to receive the just punishment of his many crimes.* *

The knowledge of his death was communicated to Joseph, not by an ordinary human messenger, but by one of those celestial beings which had heralded the birth of Jesus to the shepherds. This angelic visitor said to Joseph : —

“ Herod, who sought the young child’s life, is dead. Return into the land of Israel ! ”

VI. The Beautiful Home Of Our Lord's Childhood

[April, B. C. 4.]

prompt obedience Joseph and Mary AoT quickly started on their return journey through the desert to Palestine. On reaching the borders of Judea, Joseph hearing, no doubt, that Herod’s successor in that province, Archelans, had signalized the commencement of his reign by killing three thousand Jews during a tumult, hesitated with respect to the safety of taking the Holy Child within

* This Herod, misnamed the Great, left three sons, Herod Archelaus, who reigned for ten years in Judea; Herod Antipas, who became tetrarch of Galilee and Perea; and Herod Philip, tetrarch of Batanea, Gaulonitis, etc. It was Herod Antipas who murdered John the Baptist, and to whom Pilate sent Jesus on his trial. See Kitto.

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Beautiful Home of our Lord's Childhood. 39

Beautiful Nazareth.

the sphere of his jurisdiction. Another heavenly vision confirmed his fears, and guided him to the retired village of Nazareth, in Galilee, as the most fitting place in which to rear the “vailed King” committed to his care.

There is infinite wisdom in every plan of our heavenly Father. Short-sighted mortals cannot always discover it. Sometimes they can dimly discern it. In his choice of Nazareth for the home of his “only begotten Son,” during his childhood and youth, this wisdom is, in some things, very distinctly seen. Its obscurity and out-of-the-way position wrere such, that Jesus could live there undisturbed by the jealousy of kings and rulers, or the hatred of priests, until the proper time arrived for the opening of his public ministry. The quiet beauty of the village and its surroundings were also eminently favorable to such a life of meditation and pious thought as we suppose Jesus lived. It lay “in a fold of land broadly open at the summit of the group of mountains which closed on the north the plain of Esdraelon.” Its houses were built of stone, without beauty in themselves, but made pleasant by the vines and fig-trees which grew around them. It contained a fountain from which, no doubt, the youthful Jesus often drank. Its environs were “charming, and no place in the world was so well adapted to dreams of perfect happiness.”

An enchanting landscape.

They have, indeed, been compared to “paradise.” By ascending to the plateau above the village, which was swept by a perpetual breeze, Jesus, looking to the west, could see “ the beautiful lines of Carmel, terminating in an abrupt point which seems to plunge into the sea.” Turning southward, he saw “the mountains of Shechem, with their holy places of the patriarchal age, and the mountains of Gilboa.” Eastward was “ Tabor, with its finely rounded form which antiquity compared to a breast.” Beyond, he had fine views of “the Talley of the Jordan, and the high plains of Perea, which form a continuous line in the east.” To the north were the mountains of Safed, and beyond them the distant slope of Hermon. “ This enchanting circle, the cradle of the kingdom of God,” was the world in which the youthful Jesus unfolded his twofold character ; now standing, perchance, beside the bench of Joseph, and then sitting on the mountain’s brow in wrapt communion with the divine nature which was slowly unfolding itself within him, fitting his young human soul to comprehend and perform the glorious mission which he had come into the world to execute.

A Group of It abb ins Astonished

The boyhood life of Jesus.

VII. The Divine Boy Astonishes A Group Of Rabbins

HERE is a blank in the story of Israel’s young

Prince from the period of his return from Egypt until he was twelve years old. All we know is, that he spent the years of his boyhood in the lovely upland vale just described. No supernatural signs distinguished him from other boys. He was noted only for the strength of his growing mind, for the wisdom of his judgment, and the piety of his spirit. We may imagine, as many curious minds have done, how lie played, talked, studied, rambled, and mused. But all such imaginings are vain. It pleased him to hide this portion of his life behind a vail. Why should we attempt to penetrate it ?

This vail is lifted but once during his boyhood, and then only long enough to afford us a glimpse of a single event. “ His twelfth year,” says Lange, u sheds the only ray which penetrates this darkness, a ray shining, on the one side, as far as the birth of Jesus, and on the other, as his baptism in Jordan.” This event was a journey of over threescore miles with his parents to the great feast of the passover at Jerusalem, in the month of April. It must have been an occasion of much interest to his thoughtful mind. It was

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Jesus goes to Jerusalem.

probably bis first opportunity of beholding the rugged, beautiful, and varied scenery of bis native land ; and that, too, in the season when nature wore her greenest garments. The fields waved with growing wheat. The vines were redolent of sweetness. Crimson tulips, yellow daffodils, scarlet poppies, and sweetscented lilies, made the meadows brilliant with rich colors, and the air fragrant with delicious odors. Every highway was crowded with joyous pilgrims from all parts of the land ‘‘going up,” singing as they went, to Jerusalem, the city which was “ beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth,” to celebrate the deliverance of their ancestors from the iron yoke of the Egyptians fifteen hundred years before.

Thirteen was the usual age for initiating boys into the duties of full membership in the Jewish Church. That Jesus was initiated at twelve, is evidence of his reputation for precocious wisdom and superior piety. That his parents’ opinion of his high qualities was not founded in blind fondness, but in his actual superiority, was proven shortly after the close of the passover festivities.

It appears that when the caravan of pilgrims was organized for its return, Jesus was supposed by his parents to be with the boys of the party, who, according to custom, formed a separate band. It was usual, as it is to this day, for caravans to move only about six miles

A Group of Rabbins Astonished.

.Jesus missing from the caravan of pilgrims.

on the day of departure. This gave opportunity to the pilgrims to ascertain if any thing had been left

ORIENTAL CARAVAN.

behind, while they were yet near enough to the city to remedy their neglect. When, therefore, Mary sought her mysterious son at the first halting-place, she found that he was not with the caravan. Filled with maternal anxiety, she and Joseph retraced their steps to Jerusalem the next morning. Failing to discover him that day among their friends in the city, they went into the temple the day after. There, in one of its arcades, to their relief and surprise, they

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The Rabbins'1 surprise. Mary’s perplexity.

found their marvelous boy sitting in the midst of a circle of Rabbins, asking and answering questions with a wisdom so novel, and yet so profound, that it filled every one with utter astonishment. What was this wisdom but the dawning ray of that divine nature which was mysteriously united to his human spirit!

Mary’s motherly impulses overcame her respect for the venerable gray-bearded Rabbins, who were gazing with wonder on her beloved boy, and she broke in upon the charmed circle abruptly, saying to her son : — “ Behold, we have been seeking thee with sorrowing hearts. Why didst thou not follow us?”

You may imagine the look of conscious innocence, and the quiet dignity, far beyond his years, of this divine boy as he replied : —

“Why did you distress yourself on my account, mother? Did you not think that it was quite natural for me to prefer tarrying awhile in my heavenly Father’s house, to returning to my earthly home?”

Mary did not fully understand her child’s meaning. She scarcely comprehended that, during his stay in the temple, his young human mind had probably begun to perceive its mysterious relation to the divine nature which was within him. Nevertheless, she treasured up his strange words as he walked humbly by her side, and returned with her to obscure, but beautiful Nazareth.

Eighteen Years Hidden by a Vail.

The studies and occupation of Jesus.

VIII. Eighteen Years Hidden By An Impenetrable Vail

GAIN the vail is dropped. All we know of the next eighteen years of our Lord’s wonderful life is, that he lived as an obedient and loving son with his parents in their humble home, that he continued to increase in wisdom and in piety, and that he was highly esteemed by all who knew him. He probably never entered the schools of the Rabbins, for his wisdom was not of men. That he spent much of his time in the study of the Scriptures is made certain by his subsequent familiarity with them. That he wrought at his reputed father’s trade is highly probable, since his labor was, most likely, needful for his maintenance, especially after Joseph’s death, which occurred, as is supposed, some years before Jesus began his public ministry. There was nothing degrading in this occupation. Jewish customs required that youths intended for intellectual pursuits should learn a trade, and the most learned doctors of those far-off times were sandal-makers, blacksmiths, carpenters, and tentmakers. When he became a man he was, doubtless, regarded as a person of uncommon wisdom and purity. His childhood had been unblemished by a single

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Appearance of a remarkable man.

fault; liis youth and early manhood had been unspotted. But among the humble dwellers in that secluded village, no one, save his thoughtful mother and the true-hearted Joseph, imagined that this lowly form was the vail which hid from the common gaze the splendor of the “ well-beloved ” Son of God. And so long had the manifestation of his divine nature been delayed, that even they may have begun to question whether they had not niistaken the purport of the wondrous signs which had distinguished his birth and infancy. Of the signs themselves they could have no doubt. Concerning their meaning, it is more than probable they were greatly perplexed.