GOLDEN TEXT. people from their sins. Thou shalt call his name Jesus; for it is he that shall save his - MATT. 1: 21. Devotional Reading: Isaiah 9: 1-7. Additional Material for Teachers: Isa. 7: 14-16; 60: 1-22; Luke 1 and 2 Primary Topic: THE WISE MEN VISIT THE CHILD JESUS. Lesson Material: Matt. 2:1-12. Memory Verse: We saw his star in the east, and are come to worship him. Junior Topic: THE CHILD JESUS ESCAPES FROM A WICKED King. Memory Verse: Psalm 91: II. Intermediate and Senior Topic: THE COMING OF THE KING. Topic for Young People and Adults: THE KING COMES AS A LITTLE CHILD. THE TEACHER AND HIS CLASS. Introduce the class to the Quest of the Wise Men, the main subject of the lesson to-day, by referring to some of the famous quests of literature and history, ancient and modern, such as Jason's search for the Golden Fleece (see Hawthorne's Tanglewood Tales); or Ponce de Leon's quest for the Fountain of Youth; or the various expeditions to find the North and South Poles. Greater and wiser was the search for Christ than were any of these quests, which cost so much of time, strength, and danger. In the Primary and Junior classes the time will be well and interestingly taken up in the story of the childhood of Jesus, with especial emphasis upon the story of the wise men, and Jesus' escape from Herod. The Intermediate and Senior classes will find it interesting and profitable to study the Old Testament during the week previous, and to bring into the class those prophecies which show that Jesus was to be a King, and what sort of King these prophecies showed him to be. The Young People and Adults will study the value to us of the fact that this King came as a little child and grew to manhood as did other children of his land and time. Why was this better than the sudden coming of a heavenly being, full-grown and powerful, to lead the Jews to victory? THE LESSON IN ITS SETTING. Time. Jesus was born probably in December, B.C. 5, four years before our Christian era; for December 25, B.C. 5, is only one week short of January, B.C. 4. It was centuries after Jesus was born that men began to date history from his birth; and the monk Dionys'ius Exig'uus who first published the calculations in A.D. 526 made a mistake of about four years. Place. Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, the ancestral home of King David. His home was in Nazareth after the return from Egypt till he was about 30 years old. THE TEACHER'S LIBRARY. Commentaries on the Gospel of Matthew, and also on Luke. For example: The International Critical Commentary; the Expositor's Greek Testament; the New Century Bible; the Cambridge Bible; An Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to St. Matthew, by Plummer; A Devotional Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew, by Horton. Mastering the Gospel of Matthew, by Prof. R. G. Moulton, Ph.D. (S. S. Times C. 4; 25¢ per dozen.) Devotional Hours with the Bible, by Dr. J. R. Miller. Preparation of the World for Christ, by Breed. History of New Testament Times in Palestine, by Prof. Shailer Mathews, D.D. The Background of the Gospel, by Rev. Wm. Fairweather, M.A. All lives of Christ, of which there are so many that it is hard to choose I. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW which we are to study for the next six months was probably written by the Apostle of that name. "He was familiar with Jewish modes of thinking, and habits of life, steeped in Old Testament phraseology, responsive to the Jewish point of view regarding Jesus, hence he was thoroughly alive to the difficulty of making Jesus understood and accepted by men of Jewish training in the first and second centuries. "The Gospel . . . aims very obviously to show that Jesus was the Messiah, at once the normal and the unusual fulfiller of Jewish expectation, the outcome of a long historic process of Divine self-revelation, and the true answer to the prophetic anticipations of the completing of God's gracious purposes for the world.' Pres. Frank K. Sanders, D.D. II. THE BIRTH OF THE KING, Matt. 1; Luke 2: 1-7. Both Mary and Joseph her husband were lineal descendants of King David. Their home was in Nazareth of Galilee. On account of a decree of the Roman Government that a census of all the in 66 habitants of Palestine should be taken, Joseph and Mary were obliged to come from Nazareth to Bethlehem, their ancestral city, to be enrolled. This is called a taxing" in the Authorized Version, but "an enrolment " in the Revisions. It was most probably an enrolment for the purpose of determining the amount of taxation. From a photograph by A. Forder. Mangers in the Interior of a House in Nazareth. "The raised part of the room is called the 'Mustabeh,' where the family live; in the lower part are stabled the horse, cow, and goats, the bins in the background are used for the stowing of family supplies."-Fulleylove. Here at Bethlehem Jesus was born, as it had been foretold (Mic. 4 : 2); and this was the only fitting place, for he was the heir of David's kingdom, in whom should be fulfilled the promises to him that his house and his throne should be established forever (2 Sam. 7:16). The Babe was "wrapped in swaddling clothes," not clothes regularly made, but strips of cloth three or four inches wide and several feet long wound round the child. And he was "laid in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn," so many others had come for the same purpose as they, as well as those there on other business. "The animals were out at the time, and the manger was not being used." Int. Crit. Com. If Jesus was born in December, as is probable, the time was symbolical, since the Suddenly a shining angel blazed before the shepherds, saying to them, "Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people [all ages, all nations], for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." THE GLORIOUS CHOIR OF ANGELS. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, - the highest heaven, the highest degree, the highest strains. On earth peace, men, peace with God. Good will toward men, toward all men, to such as keep his Bambino. Child in Swaddling Clothes. "And this is the marvel to mortals revealed, Florence. |