The most wonderful story in the world : a life of Christ for little children

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The Most Wonderful Story in

Contents

I. The Baby in the Manger ... 9

II. The Boy in the Temple .... 23

III. Jesus Begins His Work .... 33

II The Boy 11st The Temple

I T is a lovely day in spring; the sun is shining in the blue sky; the birds are singing and the sweet-smelling flowers are all springing up in the fields, and on the sides of the green hills round the country village, where our Saviour lived when He was a little Boy. There is a great bustle in Our Lord’s home; Joseph is in his best clothes; he is not working in his shop. That is shut up. A donkey is tied to the post outside the little house. Mary is almost too busy to eat her breakfast; she is pack¬ ing up baskets of food, and shutting up the house, and getting herself ready for a journey. Every year she and Joseph went away from home for a week or longer. They left their little Boy behind, in the charge of some of their neighbors. The village wa9 nearly empty during that time; all the people who were strong and well, went to the City of Jeru¬ salem to keep the Feast of the Passover. It was held in the beautiful church called the Temple, where Jesus had been taken as a little Baby. And all the boys, as soon as they were thirteen years old, were expected to go with their fathers, and take part in the wonderful sendee that was held there. 23

Jesus knew all about this service; His mother and He sometimes talked about it. I daresay He often told His mother how much He would like to go to it. Sometimes in the summer evenings, when all Mary’s work was done for the day, she would sit in the garden under the shade of the trees, and tell her little Son the story of the Passover.

And this is what she told Him.

Years and years ago, God’s people lived in a strange country that did not belong to them. The country was called Egypt, and there was a cruel king in it, who made them work very hard for him, and gave them no money for doing it. They were whipped, and beaten, and ill-treated all day long; their little boy children were killed, and they were very, very unhappy. They cried to God; He sent them a man named Moses, to save them from the cruel king, and bring them right out of the country, into peace and safety. The king tried with all his might to keep them. He would not let them go, so God began to punish him in dreadful ways. He sent sickness and death among the animals and people; and at last, when the king was still ob¬ stinate, God told Moses that He would send one of His angels from Heaven, to kill the eldest child in every house in the land. Then Moses was told how God’s people could be saved. Every father of a family must take a little lamb and kill it; then he must sprinkle his doorposts outside his house, and also sprinkle the top of the door with its blood. Late in the evening, he must get all his family ready dressed for a long journey, for Moses was going to take them away from the wicked king that very same night. And while they were getting ready, the lamb was being cooked ready to be eaten for their last meal in Egypt. They were to eat, with their sticks in their hands, and their walking shoes on their feet, perfectly ready to start on their jour¬ ney.

While they were doing this, the Angel of Death was flying from house to house.

But the angel passed over every house that had the blood sprinkled upon its door. Everybody was safe inside it. In all the other houses, the eldest child dropped down dead. The cruel king lost his eldest child as well as everyone else; and he was in such a state of terror and fright, that he sent a message to Moses to take God’s people away, as quick as ever he could.

And this was done; they all escaped from the cruel king, and went a long, long way into a coun¬ try that was given to them by God.

But God wanted the people to remember the night they were saved, and brought out of Egypt; so once every year they had to kill the lamb and eat it, and sprinkle its blood outside their houses. This was called the Feast of the Passover, and everyone who could, went up to Jerusalem to take part in the Feast. It was called the “ Passover,” because it was kept in memory of the night when the Angel of Death passed over the houses of the people who had sprinkled the blood on their doors, and eaten the lamb, as God had told them to do.

As Mary told this story to her Son, -she little thought how much it had to do with Him.

She did not understand then, that He was one day going to be killed like the lamb, so that the whole world might be saved from death, and have eternal life.

And I do not think that when He was a little Boy, Jesus knew this Himself. We are not told that He did. The Lord Jesus would listen with grave and earnest face to this story. He seemed so wise and thoughtful for His years, and so anxious and eager to take part in it, that though He was now only twelve years old, His father had decided to take Him with them to the Feast. There was a glad eager light in the Boy’s eyes, as He helped His mother in her preparations for the journey. At last they started; Mary seated herself on the donkey, and her parcels of provisions were packed up and strapped to it; they did not journey alone this time, as they had done when they fled into Egypt, and Jesus was a little Baby. Now, whole families of their friends and neighbors were going along the same road; the children and women riding on don¬ keys; the husbands and grown-up sons walking by their sides, and leading the donkeys along. How the boys loved it! They would go across wide flat moors or plains, with corn-fields stretching on either side; then across a river to the hills beyond. When night came on, they would camp out, sometimes by a well of water, or under some rocks or palm trees. And at last, after about four days’ travelling, they would catch sight of the gold roof, and marble walls of the Temple rising high above the walls of Jeru¬ salem, and shining in the sun. We can picture our Lord’s eager delight when He first saw Jerusalem, the Holy City. His mother Mary had another joy as they began to get near to Jerusalem. In one of the little villages outside Jerusalem she had a cousin living; she was much older than Mary, but she had a little boy, only about six months older than our Lord, and his name was John.

I do not expect the little boys had ever met each other before this time; they lived so far away from each other; John’s father was a priest, and he used to help in the Church services. Little John never mixed with other children; he was brought up dif¬ ferently to other boys. His parents were very good and holy people, and God sent an angel when little John was born, to tell them that He was going to make him one of His special servants and messen¬ gers; and that he must be brought up in a very careful and special way. So they trained him as God wished. Later on, we shall hear more about him, but I am quite sure they would take him to the Passover as soon as he was old enough; and per¬ haps this was his first appearance at Jerusalem. We can imagine how glad Mary was to meet her cousin again; how they talked about their darling sons; and how the boys made friends with each other at once, and talked together of the wonderful visit they were going to make. And then Jerusalem was reached, and they all took part in the Temple ser¬ vices, and in the Feast of the Passover. There were thousands of people in Jerusalem; rich people and poor; and many enjoyed meeting their friends and acquaintances whom they never saw at any other time but this. Our Lord Jesus, like many other boys of His age, was allowed to go about by Him¬ self, and when the day came for them to go home, His mother did not trouble to keep Him by her side; and she and Joseph were so taken up with the com¬ pany of their friends, that she did not miss Him upon the road home. But when the day came to an end, and dusk set in, she began to look about for Him. She went to little John’s mother, but found that she had not seen Him; then she went to some other relations of hers; they knew nothing of Him; then she and Joseph began to get frightened; they knew that robbers came down from the hills, and robbed and killed travellers, if they were alone and unprotected. Her Child was only a little Boy; He might have taken a wrong turning and got lost; He might have fallen into the river and been drowned; He might have had a bad tumble and hurt Himself. She was very angry with herself for not having thought about Him, and seen that He was with her, when they left Jerusalem. I expect she thought He had gone on in front with His little cousin John.

“We must go back to Jerusalem at once and look for Him/’ she said to Joseph. “ I could not go to sleep to-night in peace, if He were not with us.”

So Joseph took her back; it was a long day’s journey to Jerusalem, and by the time they had reached the town again, it was three days since they had seen their little Son. They did not look about the streets for Him. Mary knew He would not be there. They went straight back to the Tem¬ ple. She reminded her husband how the Boy seemed as if He could not tear Himself away from God’s House. The other boys liked to wander about the town looking into the shops, and buying things at the bazaars. Jesus seemed wrapped up in the beauty and silence of the Temple. As they dragged their tired feet up the Temple steps, Mary and Joseph asked everyone they met, if they had seen their little Son.

And at last someone told them that there was a child in a classroom, where some good and learned men sat, and taught the Bible to any who wanted to learn it.

“ He is astonishing them all by the wonderful questions He asks them! They have never had such a clever pupil before.”

“ Oh, that must be Him,” said Mary, and trem¬ bling with eagerness, she hurried into the room, where the class was being held. She was very tired and anxious, and when she saw her dear little Son in the midst of the clever old scholars, sitting there with a heavenly smile upon His face, and an eager light in His beautiful eyes, she did not draw Him into her arms and kiss Him, as many a mother would have done, but she scolded Him. She was tired and anxious, and a little cross. He had never, never given her a moment’s anxiety before; and she could not understand it now.

She said: “Why have you behaved like this? We have been looking everywhere for you. We have been miserably unhappy about you.”

He got up from His seat at once, and went up to her. Then He put His little hand very gently into hers, and looking up at her with a sweet tender look in His eyes, He said softly:

“ Why have you been looking for Me ? Don’t you know that I must be about My Father’s busi¬ ness ? ”

His mother and father looked at Him with puz¬ zled eyes. They could not understand what He meant. But they said no more to Him, only took Him away with them. And He went with them quietly. He had much to think over during His homeward journey. The remembrance of the beau¬ tiful Temple, its services, and the many truths He had been learning from the good teachers there, filled His heart and mind.

Mary was full of thought, too. What did He mean by His Father’s business? He did not mean

Joseph’s business. He was not learning about carpentering in the Temple. And then she remembered how several times He had called God His Father, and she began to see that His desire to learn more about God and Heaven, was perhaps the business His father, God, wanted Him to do. She did not say anything about this; she only treasured up in her heart all His little sayings, and remembered them all her life long.

And Jesus went back to His village home and played as usual with the other children in the streets, and upon the hills. And He helped His father more and more in his workshop, and worked for His mother, and obeyed her in all things. We are told He grew bigger and taller; and as He grew bigger, He grew more wise, more holy, more like God.

Everybody loved Him in the village, and it was because He loved everyone. If boys fought together, or a big boy bullied a little one, the little boy always turned to Jesus. He would put His arms round him and comfort him, and then He would talk so sweetly and lovingly to the bully, or to the one who was in fault, that they could not be angry any more. He used to carry burdens for everyone, if they were weak, and old, and tired. He never said a cross or angry word to anyone. He was always smiling and happy. He loved to be among the flowers in the fields; and sometimes, after wander¬ ing away by Himself for a long time, would come home with such shining eyes, and such a rapt smile on His lips, that His mother would ask Him whom he had met.

“ I have been talking with My Father/’ He would say. And Mary would look at Him with hushed, adoring eyes, and say to herself:

“ That means, He has been praying to God! ”

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W E have talked a little about Jesus Christ’s cousin John. When be was a little baby, God told his parents that he would be a great preacher when he grew up; and that he would prepare everybody for the coming of God’s Son, the Christ, whom all the Jews ex¬ pected one day to come and rule and reign over them. When John grew up, he went away by him¬ self into a lonely desert; a place with hills, and rocks, and caves, but with no houses or people in it. He lived in a cave; he ate the fruit on the trees; and the honey which the bees made, and stored away in holes in the rocks. He also ate the dried bodies of a large insect called a locust. He had a very long beard and very long hair. He had never had his hair cut in all his life. He dressed himself in a rough hairy garment made of camel’s skin, and when he one day came out towards the edge of the desert, and began to speak to the first people he saw, I expect they were rather frightened at his looks.

But they soon told their friends, and neighbors, that a strange man, a prophet, was beginning to 33 ' y preach; and crowds went out of the towns and vil¬ lages to see and hear him. Children, boys and girls, men and women, rich and poor, all flocked out to the desert. They were curious to see this strange man. They knew he was different to themselves. God had told him he must be. God had spoken to him, and told him what to say to the people; and he would begin all his sermons or talks with crying out in a very loud voice:

“ Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” He told everyone they must he sorry for their sins, and give them up, and turn to God. And then he told them that Someone much greater and more holy than he was, was coming after him, and that He was Christ the Son of God.

Everyone began to be interested. They lis¬ tened to him, and many of them began to be sorry that they had not been pleasing God, only pleasing themselves, and they asked John to help them and tell them what to do. He took them down to a rush¬ ing river; and in a quiet spot, where the water made a shallow pool, he told the people who were really sorry for being wicked, to walk into the water with him. He wanted to teach them, that just as our bodies are washed by clean water, so their hearts must be washed clean by God. And he called this baptizing them. Hundreds of people were baptized in the river—soldiers, and tax col¬ lectors, and travellers, and merchants, and poor working men, Every day fresh people came to hear

John preach, and to be baptized, and they called John, John the Baptist.

One day a young man came up among the crowds, and listened very quietly and attentively to John. Then He stepped up in His turn, and told John He would like to be baptized. John looked at Him. He seemed quite a stranger to him, but there was something so sweet about His face and Voice, such an earnest, holy look in His eyes, that he knew at once He was ready for baptism. He took Him into the water; and now something very wonderful happened. After He had been baptized, He came up out of the river praying. He was looking up into the sky and speaking to God, and John could not take his eyes off Him. Suddenly John saw a flash of light in the sky, as if it were opening; and then a shining, beautiful white dove seemed to fly right down, and rest upon His Head. At the same time a Voice was heard. Not John’s voice, or any voice in the crowd on the river’s bank. It came right down from the opening in the sky, from which the beautiful dove had come down. And the Voice said these words:

“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

It was the Voice of God. John knew at that same moment whom he had been baptizing. It was Jesus Christ the Son of God. John had been told by God before, that when he saw a dove come down from the sky, and rest upon anyone, that person was

Christ, the One for whom he had been preparing the way. And now God’s Voice made it quite clear.

Yes, this quiet young man was Jesus. He was grown up now; and God had told Him that the time had come for Him to leave His village home, and begin His work. So he had left His mother and come out to the Wilderness.

He and John had not met each other since they were little boys. They were strangers to each other; but now John knew who He was. Directly our Lord Jesus was baptized, He slipped away quietly through the crowds of people, and disappeared. He did not go home. God wished Him to go right away from everyone by Himself, and stay away for a long time. So He now walked away from John, along the river’s side for a long, long way, until He came to very lonely country. It was a wild wilderness, and not at all a nice place to stay in. Jesus went right into it, till He was miles and miles away from any house or people. There were great mountains and rocks all round Him. At night He heard the roars and howls of wild beasts roaming about in search of something to eat. Ho beautiful flowers or trees with fruit on them grew in this wilderness. It was full of stones, and sand, and dry, withered bushes. In the day, the hot sun shone so fiercely down, that it seemed to scorch and burn everything It touched. At night it was very cold, and our Lord had only the bare ground to sleep upon, and hard, rough stones for His pillows. There was no food to be got anywhere. He was soon cold and hungry and, tired.

At the beginning of the time, Jesus had been getting very close to God. He was preparing Him¬ self for the' trials and temptations and troubles that were coming to Him now. He talked to God and God talked to Him; and when He was praying, He did not seem to feel His hunger, or the cold. But by and by there came to our Lord the wicked spirit called Satan. He had always been God’s enemy, and he hated His dear Son. He was al¬ ways trying to keep people from loving God, and pleasing Him. He wanted to prevent them from going to Heaven; and he hated Jesus Christ com¬ ing into the world. He was afraid people would love Him and follow Him, and Satan wanted to keep them away from Him. Satan is still in the world now; we can’t see him, but he whispers wicked thoughts into our minds, and shows us how to be naughty. He makes boys and girls quarrel, and lose their tempers and sulk, and tell lies. He is always tempting people to do wrong. All the time that Jesus had been a little Boy, Satan had tried to make Him naughty. But he had never once done it. I think that as a little Child, Jesus had so many angels guarding Him, that Satan had not been able to get near Him. He had tried, and tried, to make Him disobedient and untruthful, but it was of no use. Though he tried his hardest, Satan had never been able to make Jesus sin. Now it wa9 God’s will that Satan should try to tempt Jesus again, and the way was made easy for him to do it. I think God for a little time, withdrew the band of guardian angels. He wanted Satan to know that however strong he was, Jesus Christ was stronger, and that it was quite impossible, being the Son of God, for Him to give way to Satan, and do anything wrong. Jesus was lonely, and tired, and weak from hunger. Satan thought he had a very good chance of tempting Him to be wicked.

And so he waited till Jesus was really fainting from hunger; and then he came to Him, and point¬ ing to the heaps of stones close by, he said:

“ If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.”

Satan reminded Jesus that God could do every¬ thing, and'that if He were the Son of God, He could too. Why should He go hungry, when He was able to turn stones into bread in one minute? Jesus knew that it was God’s will that He should eat nothing in the Wilderness, and it would be wrong to disobey God’s will. He had always trusted in God to supply His wants. So He said very quietly:

“ ‘ It is written that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.’ ”

Then Satan did a very wonderful thing. He is able to do things that we cannot do; and Jesus suddenly found Himself caught away through the air, and put upon one of the very small towers of the beautiful Temple in Jerusalem. He stood on the very top of it, and Satan was close beside Him. They were so high up, that the streets, and houses, and people, in Jerusalem, were all far below them, and looked like little dots on the ground.

“Now,” said Satan, “if you’re the Son of God throw yourself down. Show me what you oan do. It is written in the Bible that God gives you angela to take care of you, and bear you up safely, so trust yourself to them.”

Would it have been wrong for Jesus to do this? Yes, for God did not want Him to show His power in such a way. Jesus had never been proud or boastful as a little Boy, and He was not going to be so now.

He answered very quietly:

“ It is written again, i Thou shalt not tempt the Lord Thy God!’”

Then Satan tried to tempt Him once more. He knew that Jesus had come into the world to be a king, and he knew that lots of the people were so wicked, that they would prevent Jesus being King over them. Satan himself would keep them from being His subjects. Now he brought Jesus up to the top of an enormously high mountain. It seemed to look over the whole world. They could see coun¬ try after country, and kingdom after kingdom, all stretched out below them. They saw the most beau¬ tiful palaces and gardens, and temples; they saw kings with their bands of soldiers, with their armor all shining in the sun; and then Satan turned to Jesus:

“You want to be King; you can be King over all these! All these things will I give You, if You will fall down and worship me.”

Jesus knew that He would have a very difficult time in getting a kingdom in this world. Satan was going to try to turn everyone against Him; he was going to fight against Him, with all his might and strength. If Jesus worshipped Satan, He would have no difficulties at all; people would crowd to Him, and make Him their King.

Again Jesus spoke:

“ Get thee hence, Satan, for it is written, ‘ Thou shalt worship the Lord Thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.’ ”

It was no good; Satan saw that He could get no power over Jesus. He could not make Him do or say a wrong thing; and in great anger he went away.

The time of temptation was over. Beautiful white shining angels flew down from Heaven. Now Jesus could eat, and drink, and rest Himself. I expect the angels fed Him, and sheltered Him from the hot sun, and warmed Him when it grew cold at night. How delighted they must have been to come down from Heaven, and wait upon their Lord and Master!

Jesus had been in the Wilderness nearly six weeks.

When He came away, He felt strengthened and ready to begin His Work. He had been baptized; He had shown Satan that He was stronger than he was, and would not sin; and now He was going to begin to teach people, and help them to love God. So when He came out of the Wilderness, He went hack to Galilee. I expect His mother tried to get Him to come home again and live with her; but He had to tell her very gently and lovingly that now she must give Him up, and let Him do “ His Father’s business.” And He began to go about the villages preaching in the same way that John had done, saying, “ Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”

One sunny morning, Jesus walked down to the seashore. The great blue water stretched away from the sand, the little fishing boats were drawn up on the beach. Some fishermen had been out all night catching fish. Now they were sitting down in their boat, which was fastened to the beach, mend¬ ing their nets. There were great holes in them, and they wanted to have their nets ready, for when they went out fishing the next time. A little farther along the shore, two young men, who were brothers, were just casting their nets into the sea.

Jesus came very near these two brothers; and then He suddenly called them to Him.

“ Follow Me,” He said; “ I will make you fishers of men.”

Now these two men had seen Jesus before. One of them, called Andrew, had been listening to John the Baptist, when he was preaching, and Jesus had passed by. John suddenly broke off his sermon, and pointing to Jesus, he said: “Behold the Lamb of God.” The young fisherman was curious; he and another young fellow followed Jesus; and sud¬ denly Jesus turned round, and asked them what they wanted. Andrew said very meekly: “Master, where do You live ? ”

Jesus said, “ Come and see,” but I am sure He smiled when He spoke, and that smile made the young men want to know Him. It was so full of love and tenderness. They went to the house where He was lodging, and stayed with Him all day, lis¬ tening to His talk. Then Andrew went home, and was so full of this wonderful stranger, that he told his brother Peter about Him, and brought him to Jesus.