Chapter 10: The Voice in the Wilderness

Chapter 10: The Voice in the Wilderness

From among the faithful in Israel, who had long waited for the coming of the Messiah, the forerunner of Christ arose. The aged priest Zacharias and his wife Elisabeth were "both righteous before God;" (Luke 1:6) and in their quiet and holy lives the light of faith shone out like a star amid the darkness of those evil days. To this godly pair was given the promise of a son, who should "go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways." (Luke 1:76).
--In the time of John the Baptist, greed for riches, and the love of luxury and display had become widespread. Sensuous pleasures, feasting and drinking, were causing physical disease and degeneracy, benumbing the spiritual perceptions, and lessening the sensibility to sin. John was to stand as a reformer.
--As a prophet, John was "to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord" (Luke 1:17). In preparing the way for Christ's first advent, he was a representative of those who are to prepare a people for our Lord's second coming. The world is given to self-indulgence. Errors and fables abound. Satan's snares for destroying souls are multiplied.
--John was to go forth as Jehovah's messenger, to bring to men the

light of God. He must give a new direction to their thoughts. He must impress them with the holiness of God's requirements, and their need of His perfect righteousness. God did not send him to the teachers of theology to learn how to interpret the Scriptures. He called him to the desert, that he might learn of nature and nature's God. John found in the wilderness his school and his sanctuary. Like Moses amid the mountains of Midian, he was shut in by God's presence, and surrounded by the evidences of His power.
--God does not send messengers to flatter the sinner. He delivers no message of peace to lull the unsanctified into fatal security. He lays heavy burdens upon the conscience of the wrongdoer, and pierces the soul with arrows of conviction. The ministering angels present to him the fearful judgments of God to deepen the sense of need, and prompt the cry, "What must I do to be saved?" (Acts 16:30). Then the hand that has humbled in the dust, lifts up the penitent.
*John proclaimed the coming of the Messiah, and called the people to repentance. 

As a symbol of cleansing from sin, 

he baptized them in the waters of the Jordan.

--But if men cling to sin, they become identified with it. Then the glory of God, which destroys sin, must destroy them. At the second advent of Christ the wicked shall be consumed "with the Spirit of His mouth," and destroyed "with the brightness of His coming" (2 Thessalonians 2:8). 

The light of the glory of God, 

which imparts life to the righteous, 

will slay the wicked.

--In the time of John the Baptist, Christ was about to appear as the revealer of the character of God.

Chapter 9: Days of Conflict

Chapter 9: Days of Conflict

From its earliest years the Jewish child was surrounded with the requirements of the rabbis. Rigid rules were prescribed for every act, down to the smallest details of life.
--But Jesus did not interest Himself in these matters. From childhood He acted independently of the rabbinical laws. The Scriptures of the Old Testament were His constant study, and the words, "Thus saith

the Lord," were ever upon His lips. He saw that the requirements of society and the requirements of God were in constant collision.
--Jesus tried to please those with whom He came in contact. Because He was so gentle and unobtrusive, the scribes and elders supposed that He would be easily influenced by their teaching. They knew that no authority could be found in Scripture for their traditions. They realized that in spiritual understanding Jesus was far in advance of them. Yet they were angry because He did not obey their dictates.
--Jesus had begun to act for Himself in the formation of His character, and not even respect and love for His parents could turn Him from obedience to God's word.
--They did not know that for our sake He had become poor, that we "through His poverty might be rich." 2 Corinthians 8:9. "The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding." Job 28:28.
--Jesus did not contend for His rights. Often His work was made unnecessarily severe because He was willing and uncomplaining.
*The life of Christ was marked with respect and love for His mother. Mary believed in her heart that the holy child born of her was the long-promised Messiah, yet she dared not express her faith.
--Yet through childhood, youth, and manhood, Jesus walked alone. In His purity and His faithfulness, He trod the wine press alone.
--Jesus was the healer of the body as well as of the soul.

Filled with intense purpose, 

He carried out the design of His life 

that He Himself should be the light of men.

Chapter 8: The Passover Visit

Chapter 8: The Passover Visit

Among the Jews the twelfth year was the dividing line between childhood and youth. On completing this year a Hebrew boy was called a son of the law, and also a son of God. He was given special opportunities for religious instruction, and was expected to participate in the sacred feasts and observances. It was in accordance with this custom that Jesus in His boyhood made the Passover visit to Jerusalem.
--There were three annual feasts, the Passover, the Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles, at which all the men of Israel were commanded to appear before the Lord at Jerusalem. Of these feasts the Passover was the most largely attended. The time of the Passover corresponded to the close of March or the beginning of April, and the whole land was bright with flowers, and glad with the song of birds.
--The Passover was followed by the seven days' feast of unleavened bread. On the second day of the feast, the first fruits of the year's harvest, a sheaf of barley, was presented before the Lord. All the ceremonies of the feast were types of the work of Christ. The deliverance of Israel from Egypt was an object lesson of redemption, which the Passover was intended to keep in memory. The slain lamb, the unleavened bread, the sheaf of first fruits, represented the Savior.
--For the first time the child Jesus looked upon the temple. Rapt in the contemplation of these scenes, He did not remain beside His parents. He sought to be alone.
--When the paschal services were ended, He still lingered in the temple courts; and when the worshipers departed from Jerusalem, He was left behind.
--At that day an apartment connected with the temple was devoted to a sacred school, after the manner of the schools of the prophets. Here leading rabbis with their pupils assembled, and hither the child Jesus came. Jesus presented Himself as one thirsting for a knowledge of God. His questions were suggestive of deep truths which had long been obscured, yet which were vital to the salvation of souls. The doctors turned upon Him with questions, and they were amazed at His answers. With the humility of a child He repeated the words of Scripture, giving them a depth of meaning that the wise men had not conceived of.
*The words of Jesus had moved their hearts as they had never before been moved by words from human lips. The light was shining in darkness; but "the darkness apprehended it not." John 1:5.
--Meanwhile Joseph and Mary were in great perplexity and distress.

In the departure from Jerusalem they had lost sight of Jesus. In the school of the rabbis they found Jesus. - "How is it that ye sought Me?" answered Jesus. "Wist ye not that I must be about My Father's business?" In the answer to His mother, Jesus showed for the first time that He understood His relation to God.
--And His question to them had a lesson. Jesus was engaged in the work that He had come into the world to do; but Joseph and Mary had neglected theirs. God had shown them high honor in committing to them His Son.
--Jesus did not ignore His relation to His earthly parents. From Jerusalem He returned home with them, and aided them in their life of toil.
* When we become absorbed in worldly things so that we have no thought for Him in whom our hope of eternal life is centered, we separate ourselves from Jesus and from the heavenly angels. These holy beings cannot remain where the Savior's presence is not desired, and His absence is not marked. This is why discouragement so often exists among the professed followers of Christ.
* Beholding the beauty of His character, we shall be "changed into the same image from glory to glory." 2 Corinthians 3:18.

It would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ. 

We should take it point by point, and let the imagination grasp each scene, especially the closing ones.

Chapter 7: As a Child

Chapter 7: As a Child

Wonderful in its significance is the brief record of His early life: "The child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon Him." In the sunlight of His Father's countenance, Jesus "increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man." Luke 2:52.
--Yet His character was beautiful in its symmetry.
--The powers of mind and body developed gradually, in keeping with the laws of childhood.
*True education would lead the youth to "seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him." Acts 17:27.
--The question asked during the Savior's ministry, "How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?" (John 7:15) does not indicate that Jesus was unable to read, but merely that He had not received a rabbinical education.
--From His earliest years He was possessed of one purpose; He lived to bless others.
--Continually He was seeking to draw from things seen illustrations by which to present the living oracles of God.

--Yet He was not exempt from temptation. The inhabitants of Nazareth were proverbial for their wickedness. The low estimate in which they were generally held is shown by Nathanael's question, "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" John 1:46.

 --Jesus was placed where His character would be tested.-- 

Christ was the only sinless one who ever dwelt on earth; yet for nearly thirty years He lived among the wicked inhabitants of Nazareth.
--He learned a trade, and with His own hands worked in the

carpenter's shop with Joseph. By His own example He taught that it is our duty to be industrious, that our work should be performed with exactness and thoroughness, and that such labor is honorable.
--Jesus is our example. During all the years of His stay in Nazareth, He made no exhibition of His miraculous power. He sought no high position and assumed no titles. His quiet and simple life, and even the silence of the Scriptures concerning His early years, teach an important lesson. The more quiet and simple the life of the child,—the more free from artificial excitement, and the more in harmony with nature,—the more favorable is it to physical and mental vigor and to spiritual strength.
--And every youth who follows Christ's example of faithfulness and obedience in His lowly home may claim those words spoken of Him by the Father through the Holy Spirit, 

"Behold My Servant, whom I uphold; 

Mine Elect, in whom My soul delighteth." 

Isaiah 42:1.

Chapter 6: We Have Seen His Star

Chapter 6: We Have Seen His Star

"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem, saying, 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." Matthew 2:1,2.
--The wise men from the East were philosophers.

The light of God is ever shining amid 

the darkness of heathenism.

--As these magi studied the starry heavens, and sought to fathom the mystery hidden in their bright paths, they beheld the glory of the Creator. Seeking clearer knowledge, they turned to the Hebrew Scriptures. In their own land were treasured prophetic writings that predicted the coming of a divine teacher.

*The wise men had seen a mysterious light in the heavens upon that night when the glory of God flooded the hills of Bethlehem. The prophecy of Balaam had declared, "There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel." Numbers 24:17.
--The arrival of the magi was quickly noised throughout Jerusalem. Their strange errand created an excitement among the people, which penetrated to the palace of King Herod. The wily Edomite was aroused at the intimation of a possible rival. Countless murders had stained his pathway to the throne.
--Herod now invited the magi to a private interview. A tempest of wrath and fear was raging in his heart, but he preserved a calm exterior, and received the strangers courteously. He inquired at what time the star had appeared, and professed to hail with joy the intimation of the birth of Christ. He bade his visitors, "Search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found Him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship Him also." Matthew 2:8.
--Through the wise men, God had called the attention of the Jewish nation to the birth of His Son.
--Satan was bent on shutting out the divine light from the world, and he used his utmost cunning to destroy the Savior. Herod in Jerusalem impatiently awaited the return of the wise men. As time passed, and they did not appear, his suspicions were roused. Soldiers were at once sent to Bethlehem, with orders to put to death all the children of two years and under.
"In Ramah was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not." Matthew 2:18.
--The magi...... Their gift was the first that was laid at His feet. And through that gift, what privilege of ministry was theirs!

Chapter 5: The Dedication

Chapter 5: The Dedication

About forty days after the birth of Christ, Joseph and Mary took Him to Jerusalem, to present Him to the Lord, and to offer sacrifice. This was according to the Jewish law, and as man's substitute Christ must conform to the law in every particular.
--As an offering for the mother, the law required a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. But the law provided that if the parents were too poor to bring a lamb, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering.
--The offerings presented to the Lord were to be without blemish. These offerings represented Christ, and from this it is evident that Jesus Himself was free from physical deformity. He was the "lamb without blemish and without spot." 1 Peter 1:19.
*The dedication of the first-born had its origin in the earliest times. God had promised to give the First-born of heaven to save the sinner. Thus the law for the presentation of the first-born was made

particularly significant. While it was a memorial of the Lord's wonderful deliverance of the children of Israel, it prefigured a greater deliverance, to be wrought out by the only-begotten Son of God.
--The child for whom the redemption money had been paid was He who was to pay the ransom for the sins of the whole world.

Spiritual things are spiritually discerned.

--This occasion did not pass without some recognition of Christ. "There was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ."
--The child has been returned to Mary, and he takes it in his arms and presents it to God, while a joy that he has never before felt enters his soul. As he lifts the infant Savior toward heaven, he says, "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."
The spirit of prophecy was upon this man of God, and while Joseph and Mary stood by, wondering at his words, he blessed them, and said unto 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."
Anna also, a prophetess, came in and confirmed Simeon's testimony concerning Christ.
--At the cross of Calvary, love and selfishness stood face to face. Here was their crowning manifestation. Christ had lived only to comfort and bless, and in putting Him to death, Satan manifested the malignity of his hatred against God.
--But the gift of Christ reveals the Father's heart. It testifies that the thoughts of God toward us are "thoughts of peace, and not of evil." Jeremiah 29:11.
*In the day of final judgment, every lost soul will understand the nature of his own rejection of truth.

From the manger to the cross, 

the life of Jesus was a call to self-surrender, 

and to fellowship in suffering.

Chapter 4: Unto You a Savior

Chapter 4: Unto You a Savior

The King of glory stooped low to take humanity. 

--Rude and forbidding were His earthly surroundings. 

--His glory was veiled, that the majesty of His outward form might not become an object of attraction.

*With amazement the heavenly messengers beheld the indifference of that people whom God had called to communicate to the world the light of sacred truth.
--"Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness." Psalm 112:4.  To those who are seeking for light, and who accept it with gladness, the bright rays from the throne of God will shine.

--In the fields....shepherds were still keeping watch by night. 

--Through the silent hours they talked together... "And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round

about them: and they were sore afraid. And 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 Savior, which is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:10,11.

--"Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, good will toward men." Luke 2:14.
Oh that today the human family could recognize that song! The declaration then made, the note then struck, will swell to the close of time, and resound to the ends of the earth.

--The story of Bethlehem is an exhaustless theme. 

In it is hidden "the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God." Romans 11:33.

Yet into the world where Satan claimed dominion 

God permitted His Son to come,

 a helpless babe, subject to the weakness of humanity.