style="font-size:15px;"> good will to men.»
When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the
shepherds said to one
another, “ Now let us
go to Bethlehem right
away, and see this baby,
of whom the angels
have been telling us.»
They started at once
and soon came to the
city, for it was not
more than a mile away.
And there they found
Joseph and Mary and
the baby.
The shepherds were
very happy. They had
so longed to have the
Christ come; now he
had come, and they
were looking at him.
Do you not think that
Mary was happy, too,
when she learned from the shepherds how they knew of her
baby’s birth? She did not talk much about it, but the thought
Adoration of Shepherds
THE BIRTH OF THE CHRIST
13
was a comfort to her for the rest of her life. The shepherds
went out and talked with every one whom they met about the
wonderful child, and what the angels had said of him; and
thanked God for what they
had seen and heard, as
they went back to their
sheep.
When the child was
eight days old Mary named
him Jesus, as the angel
had told her. When he
was forty days old he was
taken to the temple at Je¬
rusalem. This was done
in order to obey a Jewish
law that said that a mother
must take her child to the
temple and offer sacrifices
for him. If she could af¬
ford it she must take a
lamb and a turtle dove for
the sacrifice; if she were
poor she could take two
turtle doves or two young
pigeons. As Joseph and Mary were poor, they took two turtle
doves.
There was an old man in Jerusalem, named Simeon, who
loved God, and who had so longed to see the Christ that God
had promised him that he should not die until he had seen the
child. Simeon was in the temple when Joseph and Mary brought
in the child Jesus. He looked at the baby, and knew at once
that this was the Christ he had so longed to see.
Presentation in the Temple
14
A CHILD’S STORY OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST
He took Jesus in liis arms, and thanked God that he had
been allowed to see his Christ. 44 Lord, now I am willing and
glad to go,» he said, 44 for I have seen thy Christ; the Saviour
who has come to make the world brighter and better.» Then
he said, as he gave the child back to his mother: 44 This child is
born to be a great help to many people, but others will not
believe him. They will speak against him, and will bring much
sorrow to him, and his trouble will cause you sorrow too.»
While these things were happening in Palestine, there were
in another country in the East some wise men who saw a bright
new star in the sky. These men studied the stars so much that
they knew those that generally shone as they did old friends,
and they knew that they had not seen this before. It seemed to
tell them that some great thing had happened. They knew that
the Jews were expecting a king, and they decided that this star
was sent to tell them that he was born; and they thought they
should go to honor him.
So, although they lived a long way from Palestine, they took
splendid gifts in their hands and went to find the king. They
followed the star until they came to Jerusalem, where Herod
the king lived. They were sure that a king would be found in a
king’s house, so they went to Herod’s palace and asked him :
44 Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen
his star in the East, and have come to worship him.»
Herod could not answer them. If he had ever heard of the
birth of Jesus, it had not interested him enough to make him
remember it. But he called together the learned Jews, and asked
them
