The Scripture history of Our blessed Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ

Preface

The object of this little work is to illustrate, in a simple and concise way, the Life, Teachings and Divinity of our blessed Lord, and the strict fidelity of the Church to these " first principles." It is designed, and in the opinion of judicious friends happily arranged, for the instruction of the young and those who have neither time nor means to devote to an extended study of the great subjects of which it treats ; while to all classes of readers it will be a useful manual, on account e>f the clearness and simplicity with which it unfolds the leading doctrines of our faith. The Scriptural argument for our Saviour's Divinity, especially, is as complete, compact and convincing as it is possible to comprise in the same space.

The style is purposely plain and simple, and the language, as far as practicable, that of the Holy Scriptures ; as being in itself the most suitable, and the best every way to be treasured up in the minds of the young and the old.

A brief private history of this little book, it is hoped, will give Christian readers an interest in its perusal and circulation. Most of its material was first prepared for the private instruction of a Sun-

6 PREFACE.

day-School Class in a small village in Jefferson County, New York, where, until recently, services of the Church had never been held. The authoress, herself brought by a gracious Providence to love these privileges, was led, by her anxious care for these lambs in the wilderness, to devote her leisure hours to the preparation of a simple compend, to aid them to appreciate, as she did, the wonderful life, character and doctrines of their Saviour.

Meanwhile, through these and other efforts in this community, there was growing up a desire for the ministrations of the Church, which resulted in the establishment of regular missionary services, and the gathering together of an interesting congre gation, of whom fifteen are new communicants.

Then followed the desire for a little Church of their own. This suggested the idea of reconstructing and publishing the old manuscript, with the hope that from its profits a sufficient sum might be secured to lay the foundation of a House sacred to Prayer. With this purpose and mission, and the hope that it may encourage some wanderer to keep the faith, it is now sent forth to the Christian world. And to this end it is recommended to the public by the author's friend and pastor,

THEODORE BABCOCK.

Rectory of Trinity Church, Watertown, Western New York, Epiphany, 1860.

CONTENTS,

CHAPTER PAGE

I. The Divinity of Jesus Christ 9

II. The Birth and Childhood of Jesus 16

III. Baptism and Public Ministry of Our Saviour. 34

IV. The Miracles of Our Lord 42

V. Continuation of Our Lord's Miracles and Doctrines , 50

VI. Continuation of Our Lord's Ministry 58

VII. The Closing of Our Lord's Public Ministry . . 68

VIII. The Account of Our Saviour's Crucifixion... 90

IX. The Resurrection of Our Lord 119

THE SOEIPTUEB

HISTORY OF JESUS CHEIST,

Chapter I. The Divinity Of Jesus Cheist, Our Sayioue

God created heaven and earth ; He said, Let there be light, and there was light. He made the evening and the morning. He gathered the waters together, and called them seas ; the dry land He called earth, and he caused it to bring forth the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind. He made the sun, moon, and the stars. He created every living thing that moveth in the deep, and the winged

10 THE HISTOEY OF JESUS CHRIST.

fowl that fly above the earth. He created every living creature on the earth, the cattle, and creeping things, and beasts.

Then God said, Let us make Man in our image, after our likeness. Here God spoke to His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, begotten before all worlds, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds, and of whom God said, Let all the angels of God worship him ; and to this Son He said, Thy throne, God, is for ever and ever ; a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity ; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

He spake here also to the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together, is worshipped and glorified, who spake by the prophets of old, who descended in the likeness of a dove upon Jesus at His baptism ; the Comforter that Christ promised to send, that would reprove the world of

THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 11

sin, of righteousness, and of judgment ; the Spirit of Truth, that Christ promised should come and lead His followers into all truth, that would show them things to come, and that would glorify Christ, the only begotten Son of the Father.

This Son, St. John says, was in the beginning with God. Ay, he says this Son was with God, and this Son was God, and that by Him were all things made ; and as if to make it still stronger, he adds, And without the Son was not any thing made that was made. St. John calls this Son the Word ; and, that there could be no doubt of the meaning of it, he says, The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. And he says in another place, There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost ; and these three are One.

When Adam and Eve were lost by sin, God in pity promised a Saviour, even Christ, "the Seed of a woman."

12 THE HISTOEY OF JESUS CHRIST.

About two thousand years after, the Lord appeared unto Abraham, and commanded him to walk before Him and be perfect, and promised to make him a father of nations, and of kings, promised him the land of Canaan for his inheritance, and that in his seed should all the nations of the earth be blessed. From Abraham was to spring the promised Seed, the Shiloh, the Messiah, our Saviour.

About two hundred years after, Jacob specified the tribe of which our Saviour should be born, namely, the tribe of Judah ; and the time, namely, before the sceptre and a law-giver should depart from Judah. The Lord swore unto David that his seed should endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven.

David says, " The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." Here the Lord, the Great Jehovah, speaks unto the Son, David's Lord, that should be His offspring in the flesh, and said, Sit thou on my right hand, even as we know that Jesus Christ now sits at the right hand of God.

THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 13

Again, " The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent. Thou art a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek." This refers to Jesus Christ, and shows that the coming Messiah was to unite in His person the offices of King and Priest. The Messiah could not be a priest after Aaron's order ; for He was to be born of David. But He was to be a priest after the order of Melchizedek, King of Salem, and Priest of the .Most High God, who blessed Abraham, and brought forth bread and wine to him — the very same that Christ appointed as the memorials of his body and bipod. Melchizedek was the only priest of the True God, of whom we have any knowledge, before Aaron. He was without predecessor or successor, as St. Paul says, without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life ; but made like unto the Son of God.

Isaiah says, " There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots." He said, speaking of the Messiah's birth, " Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given ; and the government shall be upon his shoulders, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever.

Jeremiah prophesies, " Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In His days, Juclah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby He shall be called— the Lord our Righteousness y

Micah says : " Thou Bethlehem Bphratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall One come forth unto me that is -to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."

The Old Testament Scriptures taught that the Messiah was to be born of a virgin in Bethlehem, of the house of David, son of Jesse, of the tribe of Judah, descendant of Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham, all of which was exactly fulfilled. The first promise of the coming of our Saviour was given to our first parents. The next promise was given to Abraham, about two thousand years before His coming. The paschal lamb, the type of our Saviour as the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, was first slain about fifteen hundred years before He appeared on earth. The prophets foretold His eoming many hundred years before His advent ; and the last prophet of the Jewish dispensation wrote about four hundred years before the Christian era.

Id THE HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST.

CHAPTER H.

THE BIETH AND CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.

In the year four thousand, Caesar Augustus gave out a decree that all the world should be taxed. Bach family went to their own city. Joseph took Mary and went to Bethlehem, because they were of the lineage of David. So many had gathered there that the inns could give them no lodgings, and they rested in a stable. Our Saviour was born in a stable, and cradled in a manger. The Son of God, equal with God, whose goings forth were from everlasting, in whom were centred the hopes of a fallen world, for whom Moses was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after, whom the prophets of old revealed to man, the real High Priest of whom the great king of Salem and the high priest of the true God was but a

BIKTH AND CHILDHOOD. 17

type, the descendant of the most illustrious kings of the earth, David and Solomon, made himself of no reputation, and was made in the likeness of man, and humbled himself to be born of a virgin in a lowly place, too mean for the abode of man.

But the angels of heaven watched over him, and brought the glad tidings to earth. An angel of the Lord came to the shepherds, as they were keeping watch over their flocks by night, and the glory of the Lord shone around about them, and they were sore afraid. But the angel said unto them, " 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. And this shall be a sign unto you : ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." The first announcement of our Saviour's birth was made to shepherds, even as the first promise was given to shepherds of old, Abraham, Moses, and David.

After the announcement, suddenly there was

with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host 2* praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. This song of the angels the Church ever echoes in her Gloria in excelsis.

When the angels were gone away into heaven, the shepherds went to Bethlehem, and there found the babe in the manger. When they saw the child, they made known abroad the marvellous things they had seen and heard ; and they returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

When the child was eight days old, he was made a member of the Jewish Church established by the direct words of God. God commanded His priests to receive little children into His Church, even at the tender age of eight days, under the awful penalty of cutting off from His people the soul that was uncircumcised. Here children, by the direct instructions of God, became children of His family by adoption, children of His covenant, before they were old enough to choose between good and evil.

At the time for the circumcising of the child,

BIETH AND CHILDHOOD. 19

he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel of the Lord before his conception. Jesus, as the name given to the Messiah, signified Jehovah, the Saviour, or Jehovah-Salvation" ; for He should save His people from their sins. Isaiah foretold that "the Lord himself shall give you (the house of David) a sign ; behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel, which, being interpreted, is, God with us"

At the end of forty days, the time of the purification being over, Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to the Temple, to present Him to the Lord ; (according to the law of the Lord, every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord ;) and to offer the necessary oblation to redeem Him. They were too poor to offer a lamb, as the law required of all those who were able to offer it, and they consequently offered a pair of turtle-doves, or two young pigeons. Well, indeed, may we look "upon the dove as a sacred emblem ; for was it not the dove that brought the olive leaf to Noah ? Mary offered doves when she presented Jesus

20 THE HISTOEY OF JESUS CHRIST.

to the Lord in the Holy Temple, and the Holy Spirit descended from heaven like a dove, and abode upon our Saviour at His baptism.

There was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon; he was a just, devout man, and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed to him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ, or the Anointed, the Promised Messiah. He came by the Spirit into the Temple ; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, he took Him in his arms, and blessed God, and said, " Lord, now lettest thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word , for mine eyes have seen thy Salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people ; a Light to lighten the Gentiles, and the Glory of Thy people Israel." Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, " 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. And at this instant, Anna, the pure prophetess of fourscore and four years, that departed not from the Temple, but served God continually with fastings and prayers, perceived by the Holy Spirit that this holy child was Jesus, the Immanuel, God in the flesh. She, too, gave thanks to God, and spoke of Him to all who looked for redemption in Israel.

Jesus was born in the days of King Herod, and there came from the East, Magi, or wise men, to worship Jesus, the King of the Jews, who was to reign over all nations, according to the sure prophecies of old. They went to Herod and inquired where they should find the King of the Jews ; they told- him they had seen His star in the East, and had come to worship Him. When Herod heard these things, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. He immediately gathered the scribes and chief priests together, and demanded of them where Christ should be born. They told him, in Bethlehem of Judea. Then Herod privately summoned the wise men to his presence, and inquired particularly about the time the star appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem, and

22 THE HISTOKY OF JESUS CHRIST.

told them to search diligently for trie child; and, when they found Him, to inform him, so that he could go to worship Him, too.

After listening to the king's instructions, they took their departure, and the star that they saw in the east went before them, and stood over where the young child was. They rejoiced with exceeding great joy when they saw the star. When they came into the house, they saw the child and the mother, and fell down and worshipped Him. They opened their treasures, and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. God warned them in a dream not to return to Herod, and they returned to their own country by another way. After their departure, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, and bade him, Arise, and take the young child and His mother and flee into Egypt, and remain there until he brought him word ; for Herod would seek the child's life. Joseph arose, and took them by night on their way to Egypt. They remained there until the death of Herod. When Herod saw that the wise men did not obey his instruotions, he was exceeding wroth, and sent forth and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time he had inquired of the wise men. Here were the first martyrs slain for Jesus. " These were redeemed from among men, being the first-fruits unto God, and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile, for they were without fault before the throne of God."

At the death of Herod, the angel of the Lord recalled Joseph and Mary to their own country, but Joseph, still fearing for the safety of the young child, turned aside and dwelt in the city of Nazareth. The child grew and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him.

At the age of twelve years, Jesus went up to Jerusalem, to the annual feast of the Passover, with Mary and Joseph ; and when they returned, He remained behind in the holy temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them and asking and answering questions, and all were astonished at His understanding and

24 THE HISTOKY OF JESUS CHRIST.

answers. Mary and Joseph missed Him, and after three days found Him there. His mother said, Son, why hast Thou dealt thus with us ? Behold, we have sought Thee sorrowing. But He also, anticipating His holy calling, answered, Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business ? They understood not the holy mission that brought Him to this world.

After this He went back to Nazareth with Mary and Joseph, and was subject unto them, thus adding new force to the fifth commandment by His obedience to His parents. Jesus, although the Son of God, submitted to the rite of circumcision, and thereby became a child of the covenant, a member of the Church upon earth. He was again taken to the temple and presented to the Lord at the purification of the Virgin Mary. At a proper age He went up to the great feast. He came to His own temple, even as Malachi prophesied ; He knew all things, and by Him were all things made ; still He listened to the doctors respectfully, and asked and answered questions in a child-like manner, though His wisdom astonished all that heard Him.

BIKTH AND CHILDHOOD. 25

He saw the corruptions of the Jewish Church. He saw that the whole creation groaned and travailed in pain ; He beheld in the future the glorious dispensation of the Gospel, which would abolish death, and bring life and immortality to light ; but yet He quietly and patiently waited for His time to come. The only record we have of His life, from twelve years old until His baptism, is, that He increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. These eighteen years of His life were spent in obscurity, and in performing all common duties and labors in a manner becoming His perfect character.

When we consider this part of our Saviour's life, how can we murmur because our calling is humble and our advantages few? When we realize that Christ our Lord left heaven to dwell upon earth for our salvation, we ought to welcome every trial, and any life, even the most monotonous, and any clime or home, whether among the red men of the forest, in the crowded city, or in the most obscure spot upon earth, if it is God's will to place us there.

If we love Jesus truly ; if we are His followers in spirit as in name, we shall possess that zeal and faith which made martyrs of old "sink down upon a bed of coals, as if it were a bed of roses," which made the encircling flames more welcome than love's fond embrace. This love of Jesus will make the golden crowns of earth turn to dross before the heavenly crowns unseen. It will make earthly honors undesired, and fame of no worth. It will teach us to look above the wealth of a world to our treasures laid up in heaven. It will make the great men of earth of no account, and their praise or censure of less import than the idle wind. It will make this earth grow smaller and smaller, until it becomes a mere speck in the vast universe, and its inhabitants but mere atoms of the dust. But it will make us earnestly desire to have even the lowest and meanest creature brought to the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in this world, and to life everlasting in the world to come.

If we are friends of Jesus, if we love Him, we must do whatsoever He has commanded us to do, without consulting our own feelings or

BIKTH AND CHILDHOOD. 27

preferences. He has commanded us to love one another ; to repent and he baptized every one of us for the remission of sins ; to eat of His body which was given for us, and to drink of His blood which was shed for us ; and that we should love the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind. We must believe on the Son, if we would have everlasting life ; for we read in St. John: "He that believeth not the Son, shall not see life ; but the wrath of God abideth on him." Like the Apostles, we must be sure that He is the Christ the Son of the living God.

If we love Jesus, we must love His bride, the Church ; for Christ is the Head of the Church ; and so great was His love that He gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word; and He continually nourishes and cherishes it, and has promised to be with it even unto the end of the world ; and then He will present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing ; but it will be holy and without blemish.

Without the Church, we could not obey the commands of Jesus to wash away our sins by the waters of baptism ; neither could we partake of the Lord's Supper in remembrance of Him, and we should have no preachers sent to preach the Gospel of peace and glad tidings of good things. St. Paul says: "How shall they call upon the Lord in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard ? and how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach, except they be sent?"

God, in His infinite wisdom, established the Church under the Mosaic dispensation, which was a shadow of heavenly things, and a type of the Christian dispensation which was to follow. The tabernacle was a shadow of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, not man. The veil in the inner temple was a type of the flesh of Christ, and was rent in twain from the top to the bottom when He expired upon the cross.

There were, by divine appointment, seasons set apart for religious worship, for commemorating certain events, and to keep constantly before His people their obligations to God. Their weekly feast — the Sabbath — was kept for the creation of the world, for the wonderful deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt, and as a perpetual covenant between God and them. Their yearly feast of the Passover was to commemorate the fearful night in Egypt when the angel of death passed over the families of Israel, and smote the first-born of every Egyptian.

The feast of Pentecost was kept in remembrance of the giving of the law fifty days after the Passover. They had the feast of New Moons, the feast of Expiation, and many other sacred seasons.

Under the Christian dispensation, the Church appointed and still observes certain days to commemorate its great events, and to keep the life of our Saviour ever before His followers ; and still has its ecclesiastical as well as civil year. The sacred year of the Jews commenced in the month in which the Passover was celebrated, answering to our month of April. The civil year commenced from the first new moon of October.

The Christian Church commences its sacred 3* year at Advent, about four weeks before Christmas. The Gospel and Epistle, and also the Collect, for each Sunday in Advent, are arranged in such a manner as to direct our thoughts to the advent or comino; of Jesus Christ in the last day, when he shall come again in His glorious majesty, to judge both the quick and the dead. Then comes Christmas Day, when the Church is- decked with her wreaths of evergreen, and the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together beautify the place of the sanctuary, and her children

" Carol joyfully, Carol the good tidings,"

"Speed the grateful sound, Telling ■ Merry Christmas/ All the world around."

Then the Church bids them remember St. Stephen, the first glorious martyr, teaching them that they must rejoice in the birth of our Saviour, and, like St. Stephen, cheerfully lay down their life for Jesus. She next calls upon them to remember St. John, the Evangelist, whom Jesus loved, and to whom Jesus on the cross gave the charge of his mother, saying to her,

Woman, behold thy Son ! and to the disciple, Behold thy mother !

Then, on the 28th of December, the Church points to the little martyrs, who were slain in Herod's wrath. The first day of the New Year commemorates the circumcision of our Saviour Jesus Christ. The sixth of January is the Epiphany, or manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles, made in the visit of the Magi, or wise men, to Jesus. The second of February, forty days after Christmas, is the day Mary and Joseph presented Christ in the temple, at the time of her purification, when she offered a sacrifice of a pair of turtle doves.

The next month brings the Lenten season of forty days' fasting and retirement from the busy world, when we give up our thoughts more especially to holy meditation, to the examination of our former lives, to renewed devotion, repentance and charity, and to following our Saviour through His forty days of fasting and temptation in the wilderness, through His works of love and charity, and His gracious miracles. We take with Him the Last Supper, go with

Him into the Mount of Olives, abide in Gethsemane while He prays, behold His agony and bloody sweat, follow Him to the cross and to His burial ; and then wait for His resurrection on the joyful Easter morn, the Queen of days.

The Passover for hundreds of years pointed to the death of our Saviour as the Lamb of God that should take away the sins of the world. Good Friday keeps up the memory of His death and His sacrifice completed. And Easter Day commemorates His glorious resurrection, and is the Christian's great Passover feast.

Christ said, When the Bridegroom should be taken away, then should His disciples fast ; and the Church set apart the very appropriate number of forty days for this purpose. Forty days it rained until the earth was covered, and every living thing perished, except the precious freight of the Ark. Moses fasted forty days when he received the Commandments. Elijah fasted forty days when he fled from the fury of Jezebel. The Ninevites fasted as long, repenting in sackcloth and ashes. And our Saviour's fasting forty days consecrated the number.