passed dry-footed through the Jordan, whose waters parted for him, and did many other wonders. But this is quite enough! No one will deny that these stories are absurd and often repulsive. But we have thought it worth while to notice them for several reasons. In the first place there is a painful interest, from a historical point of view, in seeing how Christian faith degenerated in the ancient Church, and in what kind of literature thousands of Christians, especially in the East, found delight and edification for centuries. Again, these stories show us the lengths to which invention could go, and the wild vagaries to which an unbridled imagination might lead; how little the true greatness of Jesus was kept in view, and how unnaturally the love of the marvellous distorted his image. And when once we have observed what such weaknesses may lead to in their exaggerated developments, we shall be very cautious and circumspect wherever the books of the New Testament itself betray the first beginnings of the same distortions and onesidedness; such as love of the marvellous, superstitious misapprehension of Jesus disguised under the form of increased reverence for him, and the tendency to call in the help of the imagination to fill up the gaps of history. We shall, therefore, unconditionally reject every thing, even in our canonical Gospels, which contradicts Nature, or is inconsistent with the human ity of Jesus. There is yet another point of view from which these stories are not wholly without value. They give us a picture of Jesus playing with other children, going about with his brothers, helping in the house by fetching water, for instance, joining his father at his work, and so on. Thus they place him in real life and amid the surroundings of ordinary mortals. So. too, the healthy intellectual and emotional development of Jesus, his "increase in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and men," his obedience to his parents, and his early piety are the main points enforced by Luke in his two notices of the child Jesus and his story of the visit to the temple; and these must lie at the foundation of every attempt to form a true idea of his early life. But what right have we to begin by laying down these two general facts, that the early life of Jesus was in every other respect of a very ordinary kind, but that he kept his soul wonderfully pure and his intellect wonderfully bright? Our knowledge of his future life gives us a perfect right to make both these assertions; for, in the first place, his own family and his fellow-townsmen were utterly amazed at his appearance in public, and showed clearly enough that they had never seen any thing very remarkable in him, and had never expected any thing particular from him; and, in the next place, Jesus afterwards displayed not only such judgment and knowledge as he could only have attained by profound reflection and strict self-discipline, but also an entire absence of that sense of guilt which, considering his keen moral perceptions, he could not have failed to experience had he ever soiled his character or his imagination by any serious trespasses. But we need not rest in such general assertions. The accounts we have of his public life, and both the form and matter of his teaching, warrant us in drawing further conclusions as to what took place before he began his ministry. For when we listen to Jesus, the illustrations and parables which he uses serve, as it were, to lead us round through the scenes of his former life. Nothing escaped his observant eye, not even the most commonplace occurrences and occupations. Again, we are not without knowledge of the condition of his people and his country and the history of his times, and possess detailed descriptions of the natural scenery by which his home was surrounded. From all these materials we may, without quitting the ground of history, restore to some extent the surroundings among which he lived and the circumstances under which he grew up. Galilee, in the southern portion of which Nazareth was situated, was a densely populated district of extraordinary fertility. Not a particle of ground was left idle. Pasturage, corn-land, and fruit trees were all excellent, and the produce in wheat and olives was perfectly amazing. The population is described by Josephas as so dense that (to take an example from our own country) on an area about equal to that of Northumberland there were ten times as many inhabitants and more than two hundred cities and villages, the least of which had a population of more than fifteen thousand! Of course these figures must be exaggerated; but when we remember that the Jewish historian was writing of his own times and of the district of which he had himself been governor, and that there must have been many persons living who could, at least to some extent, have checked his statements, we shall feel that, though he may have exaggerated, he can hardly have invented his facts, and that the population of Galilee must really have been very great. This fertile and popuious district, then, was marked by the constant stir of prosperous industry; life and animation pervaded it from end to end, and the interchange and conflict of ideas formed a part of its general activity. The Galilæans are described as industrious, animated, and open-hearted in character, faithful and stead. fast, warlike from their very infancy, easily excited, courageous and patriotic, and strict in their observance of the precepts of morality. Of course all these circumstances must have exercised a marked influence upon the development of the character of Jesus, but we shall not attempt to trace out and identify the several features of this Galilæan type of character in him. We must not forget, however, that he was the witness, in his youth, of events which must have contributed in no small degree on the one hand to quicken his enthusiasm for his people and his religion, and on the other to make him careful in his selection of means and averse to violence. While he was still a boy, when a census of Judæa and Samaria was taken by the governor of Syria, Judas the Galilæan' unfurled the banner of revolt, with the cry: "No master for Israel but the Lord! Tribute to Rome, or submission to the stranger, is treason to Him!" Would not the youthful Jesus burn with zeal for the sacred cause? Would he not long that he were old enough to bear arms himself? Would he not pray that the Lord might send his blessing upon this hero of the faith as he had done on that other Judas called the Maccabee? But in spite of his certain hope and his ardent prayers the legions of Rome annihilated the rebels after a hopeless struggle, and it may have been his bitter disappointment in the failure of Judas that first led Jesus, reading the will of God recorded in the event, to break with the material expectations of his people, and to look upon the kingdom of the Messiah chiefly as a spiritual deliverance which God would bring about in answer to the faith and prayers of his servants. 2 The whole district of Galilee was a glorious region, in which the beauties of Nature displayed themselves in the richest alternations of hill, valley, and table-land; and, since Nazareth enjoyed its full share of beauty, it would not be easy to over-estimate the effect of its magnificent natural scenery upon the heart of Jesus. The name of the city never once occurs in the Old Testament or the writings of Josephus, and it owes its fame entirely to Jesus. It still exists, with its three thousand inhabitants. It is built in terraces at the 1 Acts v. 37. 2 See pp. 4-7. 8 Compare Matthew xxii. 17 (Mark xii. 14; Luke xx. 22). foot and on the slope of one of the hills, among which it nestles, and is shut in by limestone rocks. The climate is very healthy; the houses, hidden behind rows of vines, cypresses, and fig-trees, interspersed with gardens and richly-cultivated fields, or palm and olive gardens, present a most attractive appearance. The neighborhood is lovely, and a short ascent leads up to a table-land, from which the prospect on all sides is indescribably beautiful. How often must Jesus have sat there in early life thinking of his people, of the times in which he lived, and of the kingdom of God! Travellers of different countries, who have visited these delightful valleys and fertile slopes, unite in describing the region as a perfect paradise. The well is still shown, which eighteen centuries ago was the life and joy of the little city, where every evening the women came, Mary, of course, being one of them, with their pitchers on their heads, to draw water and talk together. A narrow valley a few miles in length leads down from the city to the plain of Jezreel. 2 Amidst scenes so lovely and so sublime did Jesus spend his youth. His parents had to support themselves by the labor of their hands; but the wants were so few, and the mode of life so simple in those regions, that poverty was not a burden. The family was rather a large one. There were five sons and several daughters, though we do not know how many. So, of course, they had all to work for their bread; and we find it mentioned that Jesus himself worked as a carpenter. A tradition, preserved by an old ecclesiastical Father, says that he used to make plows and ox-yokes. We know from other sources that it was not considered any disgrace to be a workman. On the contrary, the most celebrated of the Rabbis all learned some handicraft by which to support themselves, for even those who held the position of teachers were not accustomed to receive money for their lessons. Thus we find different Rabbis mentioned as shoemakers, tailors, bakers, incense-makers, builders, grave-diggers, land-surveyors, joiners, tanners, smiths, and what-not. One of them said: "It is good to combine the study of the Law with some handicraft; for the exercise of both together preserves a man from sin. But any study which is pursued without a handicraft ministers to vanity and draws sin behind it." But to return to Jesus. Since his early years were not spent in ease and luxury, his circumstances early developed 1 Matthew xiii. 55. 8 Mark vi. 3. 2 Matthew xiii. 55, 56 (Mark vi. 3). 4 Compare Acts xviii. 3. his character, strengthened his will, and increased his knowledge of life. And his childhood was certainly a bright one; for when he was a man he looked back with pleasure upon his childhood, spoke of the natural simplicity, the openness to good impressions, and the innocence of that time of life,1 and recalled his childish games, and all that he had seen within and without the house. 2 Of Joseph we know nothing directly; but since Jesus speaks of a father's love as a reflection of the love of God," since he could find no higher or more glorious name for God himself than that of Father, we may safely conclude that Joseph was a faithful, careful, affectionate parent; in a word, all that a father ought to be. Of the brothers of Jesus, we afterwards meet with James as a man of extraordinary strictness of principle, immovable determination, and great influence. Judas, too, seems to have distinguished himself, for it was certainly not from their relationship to Jesus only, but also from their personal qualities, that the "brothers of the Lord" were regarded among the earliest communities as equal to the Apostles. We may, therefore, safely assume that the family circle in which Jesus grew up was far from au ordinary one, and that no moral stain ever cleaved to it. It is impossible to believe that there was ever any lack of religion, any of that meanness which often springs from stress of material circumstances, or that cringing which a hard and embittering discipline may produce, in the home at Nazareth. It deserves notice, too, that when the members of the family had gone upon their several ways in the world, the old bond of union still remained, and, in spite of their differences of opinion, they retained the same warm interest and care for one another's welfare." But Jesus differed greatly from the rest of the family in his disposition and his views of life, and he must often have sadly felt the want at home of that sympathetic and intelligent appreciation of his ideals for which his heart longed. And, in saying this, we refer more particularly to Mary. From the fact that most great men have owed a great deal to their mothers, it has been supposed that Jesus must have done so too; and several hints contained in the legendary 1 Matthew xviii. 3, 10 xix. 14 (Mark ix. 36, x. 13–16; Luke xviii. 15-17). 2 Matthew xi. 16, 17 (Luke vii. 32). 4 Matthew xiii. 3-8, xx. 1-15, &c. 6 Matthew vi. 9, &c. 3 Matthew xiii. 33; Luke xv. 8, 9, &c. 5 Matthew vii. 9-11; Luke xi. 11-13. 7 Galatians ii. 9-12; Acts xxi. 18, &c Galatians i. 19. 81 Corinthians ix. 5; Acts i. 13, 14; |