It is not quite certain that all these customs were observed after the birth of Jesus. Israelites who lived far from Jerusa lem generally waited to make their offerings until one of the great feasts furnished a suitable occasion for visiting the temple, or even got a friend to make the offerings on their behalf. In the same way, the distance from Galilee to the capital often prevented the presentation of first-born sons in the temple; and, what is more, we have no sufficient grounds for supposing that Jesus was the eldest son of Joseph and Mary. But even supposing that all these regulations were strictly observed, and that Luke had the means of knowing it, he certainly would not have told us all the details unless he had had a special reason for doing so. That reason may be found in the following story.

On the fortieth day, says Luke, the parents of Jesus went to Jerusalem to offer in the temple their two doves (the poor man's sacrifice), to present their son before the Lord, and to pay the price of redemption for him. Here a joyful surprise awaited them, similar to the one they had already experienced on the night of their baby's birth. In the Holy City dwelt a certain Simeon, a venerable old man (later traditions state that he was far more than a hundred years old), of perfect piety. He fervently longed for the coming of the Messianic Kingdom, for the deliverance of Israel from sufferings and oppression; and God had revealed to him that he should see the Anointed of the Lord before he died. And now the Holy Spirit led him to the temple at the very moment that Joseph and Mary were entering the forecourt. In the lowly child of a few weeks old he at once discovered the future Messiah. His eyes gleamed with transport at the fulfilment of the fervent hope he had cherished so long, and, taking the little Jesus in his arms, he gave utterance to the thoughts that rushed upon him in the song of praise : —

Lord! now lettest thou thy servant depart,
According to thy word, in peace.

For mine eyes have seen thy salvation
Which thou hast prepared before all peoples,
A light of revelation to the heathen,
A glory for thy people Israel!

The father and mother listened in amazement to this inspired song in praise of their child; and the old man turned to them and blessed them. Then he spoke to Mary alone, and said, “Behold, this child is appointed in the counsel of God for the fall and the rise of many in Israel: to some he

shall be the cause of destruction, to others of salvation. Opposition and enmity will surround him, and, alas! the sword will pierce through your heart too. .. Why must all this be? That the hearts of men may be laid bare as they arc, and not as they seem."

Hardly had Simeon ended, when there came another to greet the child. It was the ancient prophetess Anna, a woman of wondrous piety, who had never consented to a second marriage though early left a widow, but was always in the temple, and was never weary of fasting and praying. She, too, praised God for this future deliverer of Israel, and spoke of him to all who hoped for the Messiah in Jerusalem.

Joseph and Mary now fulfilled the religious duties they had come to perform for their infant, and then left the temple with their hearts full of the two glorious and unexpected testimonies they had received. They were naturally anxious to go home again; so they did not return to Bethlehem, where there was nothing now to keep them, but started at once on their journey to Galilee, and arrived without further adventures at their home in Nazareth.

It is a beautiful picture of the aged Simeon and Anna with the tender little baby and the astonished and delighted parents all gathered in the house of God! But it is out of the question to regard it as genuine history. We need not say much on this point. The supernatural revelation said to have been vouchsafed to Simeon, his miraculous guidance to the temple at the right moment, his recognition of the child, and foreknowledge of what was in store for him, are of course incredible. Many years afterwards, when contrary to all expectations, including those of Jesus himself, his lot had proved so bitter; when opposition to him had caused the fall of Scribes and Pharisees; when faith in him had been a resurrection to publicans and sinners; when his fearful death had sent a two-edged sword through his mother's heart (have you ever studied the Mater Dolorosa, or "Mary at the Cross," the companion picture of the Ecce Homo, or “Behold the man"); when this catastrophe had sifted the Israelites, and shown that many who were outwardly pious were inwardly proud and obstinate, while many seemingly abandoned outcasts were saved through penitence and faith, then this prophecy was put into the mouth of Simeon. To invent a prophecy when the event it predicts has already taken place is a common practice in the Old and New Testaments, and

is not even yet abandoned. Again, the Evangelist unconsciously contradicts himself. How can he say that the parents of Jesus were surprised at what they heard about their child? After the message of Gabriel, and the song of angels hard by Bethlehem, nothing ought to have astonished them. Indeed, Simeon and Anna might very well have learned about the birth of the Messiah from rumors of the vision to the shepherds. It is evident, then, that this story is not drawn from the same source that supplied the legends of the birth, and this is made still clearer by the fact that Joseph is here called the father of Jesus. Lastly, the difficulty urged against the story of the birth holds good here also. It is impossible to reconcile this double salutation with what we know of the after life of Jesus. If he had been greeted as the Messiah when a baby he could not have remained in obscurity, and his family, especially his mother, would have been prepared for all that happened, and could not have refused to believe in him.

How did the legend rise, then? it may naturally be asked. Well, it was a poetical creation of the faith of the primitive Christians. In the first place, we recognize in these lines the joyful cry of a heart overwhelmed with gratitude to God for the birth of Jesus. The comforter" a name which the Rabbis, too, sometimes apply to the Messiah — had come at last, after all their misery! Their eyes had seen him, their hands had touched him, their ears had heard his heavenly words. That for which the fervent longing of devout Israelites in every age had yearned, the hope which even as a distant prospect had made the ancient seers burst into sacred joy, and had supported many a generation through the bitterness of disappointment and humiliation, — all this was now realized, imperfectly as yet, but no less certainly, in their very midst ! Blessed were the eyes that might see what they saw ! For, verily, many prophets and righteous men had longed for it in vain, with a life-long yearning. For this blessing the Christians thanked God in transports of holy joy. Salvation had come, the light had risen, a guiding star to the heathen,2 and an immortal glory to Israel! Now they could die in peace!

1

This triumphant gratitude is expressed under the characters of Simeon and Anna, the noblest representatives of Israel, a man and a woman led and inspired by the Holy Spirit; and it is a finely conceived and profoundly significant trait in the 1 Luke x. 23, 24 (Matthew xiii. 16, 17). 2 Isaiah xlii. 6, xlix. 6.

legend, which makes these aged representatives of the depart ing generation raise the song of praise over the infant. It was but a small beginning (hardly even a beginning yet) of the fulfilment of the promises and expectations. So, too, the Christians, in the midst of whom the legend rose, had not yet seen the kingdom of God. It would only come when Jesus returned from heaven. But what of that? Had they not already received a pledge of it that left no room for doubt? Nay, he whose person was far more than a mere pledge had already come, and in him they had seen the great salvation, as it were, already with them. No wonder, then, that they sang songs of praise.

But this joyous exultation did not prevent their bowing their heads in pensive thought. What had not Jesus experienced at the hands of his people! How was it possible? Why was it needful? We trace the hand of a master in the picture of the hoary Simeon bending over the child as he lay in the unconscious slumber of infancy, and uttering the prophecy of the fierce opposition he was to encounter, and his mother's bitter grief at the cruel fate that would overtake him. Even in sin, the Israelite recognized the commandment or the work of God, the execution of his counsel,1 - and even the rejection of Jesus must have been decreed by him.2 It was a sad necessity, without which the varnish could not be wiped from hypocrisy, and without which sin that took the guise of piety could not be compelled to expose itself. By its hatred of the holy servant of God, it passed sentence on itself.3

And here we may remark that this judgment, this sifting of the good from the bad in accordance with the attitude they assume towards Jesus, is still going on, and Jesus is still the cause of this man's fall and that man's resurrection, although in our time, when his name has been universally adopted, we cannot trace the process so distinctly. For Jesus brought a new principle of moral and religious life into the world, and no one can remain indifferent to him, or to the new and holy spirit which went out from him. Consciously or unconsciously we must all take sides. If we love not God or our neighbor, if we choose to live for ourselves alone, - for our own enjoyment, glory, and interest, then we fight against Jesus, and are so much the worse and more wretched because he came. If we have depth of soul enough to understand, to love, to follow him, then we are guided by his principles, are helped

1 Eg. Exodus ix. 12, x. 1, 20, 27; 2 Samuel xxiv. 7; Isaiah xlv. 7
2 Acts ii. 23, iv. 27, 28.
3 John iii, 19-21.

and hallowed by his spirit, and have him to thank for what we have becoine and what we are as moral beings.

God grant that our hearts may all of them be touched by Jesus more and more; that we, too, may be able to thank God for giving us some knowledge of him, that we may share those emotions of the early Christians which gave rise to this legend, and that the birth of Jesus may wake a song of joy in our hearts!

There is one more point to consider. Why do we celebrate the birth of Jesus on the 25th of December? What is the origin of our Christmas day?

You must know, in the first place, that it was not introduced at all till a comparatively late period. Days for the commemoration of the martyrdom of Stephen (26th December), and the Massacre of the Innocents (28th December), were fixed before that for the birth of Jesus. It is about the middle of the fourth century when we first come upon the celebration of Christmas at Rome. It may seem strange that the feast of Christmas was introduced into the Church so late, while those of Easter and Whitsuntide were observed from the very first; but, if we remember that Christianity sprang out of Judaism, we shall find the explanation we seek in the fact that there was no Jewish feast which could be Christianized into a celebration of the birth of Jesus. Moreover, the Church had a somewhat similar feast, that of Epiphany, of which we shall speak presently, at a much earlier period; and it was, therefore, a long time before any one thought of instituting a festival for the birth of Jesus. Ever since the end of the second century, however, people had been trying to discover upon what particular day Jesus had possibly or probably come into the world; and conjectures or traditions that rested upon absolutely no foundation led one to the 20th of May, another to the 19th or 20th of April, and a third to the 5th of January. At last, the opinion of the community at Rome gained the upper hand, and the 25th of December was fixed upon.

There was a double reason for selecting this day. In the first place, it had been observed from a hoary antiquity as a heathen festival, following the longest night of the winter solstice, and was called "the Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun." It was a fine thought to celebrate on that day the birth of him whom the Gospel1 called "the light of the world;" 1 John viii. 12, ix. 5.