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.

Chapter 3: The Fullness of the Time

Chapter 3: The Fullness of the Time

"When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, . . . to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." Galatians 4:4, 5.
--The Savior's coming was foretold in Eden. When Adam and Eve first heard the promise, they looked for its speedy fulfillment. They joyfully welcomed their first-born son, hoping that he might be the Deliverer. But the fulfillment of the promise tarried. Those who first received it died without the sight.
*But like the stars in the vast circuit of their appointed path, God's purposes know no haste and no delay.
--As the Jews had departed from God, faith had grown dim, and hope had well-nigh ceased to illuminate the future.

Through nature, 

through types and symbols,

 through patriarchs and prophets, 

God had spoken to the world. 

Lessons must be given to humanity in the language of humanity.

--The fullness of the time had come. Humanity, becoming more degraded through ages of transgression, called for the coming of the Redeemer.
--Through heathenism, Satan had for ages turned men away from God; but he won his great triumph in perverting the faith of Israel. By contemplating and worshiping their own conceptions, the heathen

had lost a knowledge of God, and had become more and more corrupt. So it was with Israel. The principle that man can save himself by his own works lay at the foundation of every heathen religion; it had now become the principle of the Jewish religion.
--Sin had become a science, and vice was consecrated as a part of religion. Rebellion had struck its roots deep into the heart, and the hostility of man was most violent against heaven.
--With intense interest the unfallen worlds had watched to see Jehovah arise, and sweep away the inhabitants of the earth. And if God should do this, Satan was ready to carry out his plan for securing to himself the allegiance of heavenly beings. He had declared that the principles of God's government make forgiveness impossible. Had the world been destroyed, he would have claimed that his accusations were proved true.
--At the very crisis, when Satan seemed about to triumph, the Son of God came with the embassage of divine grace. Through every age, through every hour, the love of God had been exercised toward the fallen race. Notwithstanding the perversity of men, the signals of mercy had been continually exhibited..... the fullness of the time had come.

Chapter 2: The Chosen People

Chapter 2:  The Chosen People

For more than a thousand years the Jewish people had awaited the Savior's coming. Upon this event they had rested their brightest hopes. In song and prophecy, in temple rite and household prayer, they had enshrined His name. 

--And yet at His coming they knew Him not. The Beloved of heaven was to them "as a root out of a dry ground; He had "no form nor comeliness;" and they saw in Him no beauty that they should desire Him. "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not." Isaiah 53:2; John 1:11.
--Yet God had chosen Israel. He had called them to preserve among

men the knowledge of His law, and of the symbols and prophecies that pointed to the Savior.
--But the Israelites fixed their hopes upon worldly greatness. From the time of their entrance to the land of Canaan, they departed from the commandments of God, and followed the ways of the heathen.
--After the return from Babylon, much attention was given to religious instruction. All over the country, synagogues were erected. But these agencies became corrupted. During the captivity, many of the people had received heathen ideas and customs, and these were brought into their religious service. 

They trusted to the sacrifices and ordinances themselves, instead of resting upon Him to whom they pointed.
--While the Jews desired the advent of the Messiah, they had no true conception of His mission.

They did not seek redemption from sin, 

but deliverance from the Romans.

--Hatred of the Romans, and national and spiritual pride, led the Jews still to adhere rigorously to their forms of worship.

*The people, 

--in their darkness, 

*and the rulers, 

--thirsting for power, 

longed for the coming of One who would vanquish their enemies and restore the kingdom to Israel. 

-*-They had studied the prophecies, but without spiritual insight. 

Thus they overlooked those scriptures that point to the humiliation of Christ's first advent, and misapplied those that speak of the glory of His second coming. 

--Pride obscured their vision. 

They interpreted prophecy in accordance 

with their selfish desires.