and heard for themselves, went away, and made known these singular and mysterious events. All who heard these things wondered at them; but as the shepherds were men of no account, and Joseph and Mary were poor strangers in the place, we may be sure there would be few to care about such a babe, in those days of vexation and tumult Had the Messiah been born in a palace, and the vision of the heavenly host been witnessed by a company of the priests, the whole nation would have centred their hopes and expectations upon the child; and unless a whole series of miracles had been worked for his preservation the Roman conquerors would have destroyed both Him and them. No miracle was wrought for the infant Christ, save that constant ministry of angels, sent forth to minister unto Him who was the Captain of salvation, even as they are sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation.
CHAPTER III.
IN THE TEMPLE.
Joseph and Mary did not remain in the cave longer than could be helped. As soon as the unusual crowd of strangers was gone, they found some other dwelling-place, though not in the inn, which was intended for no more than a shelter for passing travellers. They had forty days to wait before Mary could go up to the Temple to offer her sacrifice after the birth of her child, when also Joseph would present him to the Lord, according to the ancient law that every first-born child, which was a son, belonged especially to God. Joseph could not afford to live in idleness for six weeks; and as he had known beforehand that they must be detained in Bethlehem so long, he probably had carried with him his carpenter’s tools, and now set about looking for work. It is likely that both he and Mary thought it best to bring up Jesus in Bethlehem, where He was born; for they must have known the prophecy that out of Bethlehem should come the Messiah. It was near to Jerusalem, and from His earliest years the child would become familiar with the Temple, and its services and priests. It was not far from the hill country, where Zacharias and Elizabeth were living, whose son, born in their old age, was still only an infant of six months, but whose future mission was to be the forerunner of the Messiah. For every reason it would seem best to return no more to Nazareth, the obscure village in Galilee, but to settle in Bethlehem itself.
At the end of forty days, Mary went up to Jerusalem to offer her sacrifice, and Joseph to present the child, and pay the ransom of five shekels for Him, without which the priests might claim Him as a servant to do the menial work of the Temple. They must have passed by the tomb of Rachel, who so many centuries before had died in giving birth to her son; and Mary, whose heart pondered over such things, may have whispered to herself, as she clasped her child closer to her, ‘In Rams, was a voice heard; lamentation and weeping, and great mourning; Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not’ She did not know the full meaning of those words yet; but, amid her own wonderful happiness, she would sigh over Rachel’s sorrow, little thinking that the prophecy linked it with the baby she was carrying in her arms.
At this time the Temple was being rebuilt by Herod, in the most costly and magnificent manner, but we will keep the description of it until twelve years later, when Jesus came to His first passover. Mary’s offering of two turtle-doves, instead of a lamb and a turtle-dove, proves the poverty of Joseph, for only poor persons were allowed to substitute another turtle-dove or young pigeon for a lamb. These birds abound in the Holy Land, and were consequently of very small value. After she had made her offering, and before Joseph presented the child to the Lord, an old man, dwelling in Jerusalem, came into the Temple. It had been revealed to him that he should not see death before his eyes had beheld the blessed vision of the Lord’s Christ, for whom he had waited through many long years. Now, seeing this little child, he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, saying, ‘Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation.’ Whilst Joseph and Mary wondered at these words, Simeon blessed them, and speaking to Mary alone, he continued: ‘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.’
This was the first word of sorrow that had fallen upon Mary’s ears since the angel had appeared to her, more than ten months before, in her lowly home in Nazareth. Hitherto, the great mystery that set her apart from all other women had been full of rapture only. Her song had been one of triumphant gladness, with not a single note of sorrow mingling with it. Her soul had magnified the Lord, because He had regarded her low estate; she was hungry, and He had filled her with good things. She had heard through the countless ages of the future all generations calling her blessed. A new, mysterious tender life had been breathed through her, and she had been overshadowed by the Highest, whose shadow is brighter than all earthly joys and glories. Now, for forty days she had nursed the Holy Child, and no dimness had come across her rapture. Yet, when she brings the child to His Father’s house, the first word of sorrow is spoken, and the first faint thrill of a mother’s ready fears crept coldly into her heart.
So as they walked home in the cool of the day to Bethlehem, and passed again the tomb of Rachel, Mary would probably be pondering over the words of Simeon, and wondering what the sword was that would pierce her own soul. The first prick of that sharp anguish was soon to make itself felt.
Besides Simeon, Anna, a very aged prophetess, had seen the child, and both spoke of Him to them that looked for redemption or deliverance in Jerusalem. Quietly, and in trusted circles, would this event be spoken of; for all knew the extreme danger of calling the attention of Herod to such a matter. They were too familiar with the cowardice and cruelty of their king to let any rumour reach him of the birth of the Messiah. It does not appear, moreover, that either Simeon or Anna knew where He was to be found. But a remarkable circumstance, which came to pass soon after, exposed the child of Bethlehem to the very peril they prudently sought to shield Him from, and destroyed the hopes of those who did not know that He escaped the danger.
CHAPTER IV.
THE WISE MEN.
Among the many travellers who visited Jerusalem, which was the most magnificent city of the East, there came at this time a party of distinguished strangers who had journeyed from the far East. They were soon known to be both wise and wealthy; men who had given up their lives to learned and scientific studies, especially that of astronomy. They said they had seen, in their close and ceaseless scrutiny of the sky, a new star, which, for some reason not known to us, they connected with the distant land of Judea, and called it the star of the King of the Jews.
There was an idea spread throughout all countries at that time, that a personage of vast wisdom and power, a Deliverer, was about to be born among the Jews. These wise men at once set off for the capital of Judea; for where else could the King of the Jews be born? Possibly they may have expected to find all the city astir with rejoicings; but they could not even get an answer to their question, ‘Where is He?’ Those who had heard of Him had kept the secret faithfully. But before long Herod was told of these extraordinary strangers, and their search for a new-born King, who was no child of his. He was an old man, nearly seventy, and in a wretched state, both of body and mind; tormented by his conscience, yet not guided by it, and ready for any measure of cunning and cruelty. All Jerusalem was troubled with him, for not the shrewdest man in Jerusalem could guess what Herod would do, in any moment of rage.
Herod immediately sent for all the chief priests and scribes, who came together in much fear and consternation, and demanded of them where the Messiah should be born. They did not attempt to hesitate, or conceal the birth-place. If any of them had heard of the child of Bethlehem, and Simeon’s and Anna’s statement concerning Him, their dread of Herod was too powerful for them
