to her and said, «God is very kind to you, Mary, for he has
chosen you to be the mother of the Christ-child. You must call
his name Jesus (which means Saviour), for he will save the
people from their sins. He shall be great, and be called the
Son of God, and shall rule the world for ever and ever.»
Mary believed what the angel told her, and gently answered,
«Let it be to me as you have said.» Then the angel left her.
In the early part of the winter the Emperor of Rome, Caesar
Augustus, commanded that all the people should be enrolled,
which means that they should have their names written down on
10
A CHILDS STORY OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST
a roll of paper. Every Jew of the same tribe must have his
name written on the same roll. The Jews were very much
scattered, and to do this
each had to go to the city
or town where the fathers
of his tribe had lived, be¬
cause the tribal roll was
there.
Mary and her hus¬
band were both of the
tribe of Judah, and Beth¬
lehem was the city of
that tribe. You remem¬
ber, do you not, that
David was of the tribe of
Judah, and lived in Beth¬
lehem when he was a
shepherd boy? Because
the Jews were so fond of
David they called Bethle¬
hem the City of David.
Bethlehem was eighty
miles away from Naza¬
reth, and the roads be¬
tween the two places were
very rough and stony, up hill and down hill. It was a hard
journey to take. Mary and Joseph could not travel very fast,
and when they reached the city the houses were all full, for
strangers from every part of the country had come to Bethlehem
on the same errand as theirs. They were very tired when their
journey was over, but they found no one there ready to welcome
them. There was no room for them anywhere, except in a stable.
Arrival at Bethlehem
THE BIRTH OF THE CHRIST
11
There they found a resting-place, and there that night God
gave to Mary the baby he had promised her, the baby that was
the long-expected King of the Jews.
The poor people in that country often wrapped a long band
around their little babies
to clothe them, and this
sort of dress was called
swaddling clothes. Mary
wrapped her baby in
swaddling clothes, and
since there was no other
crib for him she laid him
in a manger.
In the beautiful val¬
ley just outside the city,
where David had taken
care of his fathers
sheep so many years
before, some shepherds
were watching their
flocks that night. They
watched them day and
night, for it was not
safe to leave them alone. Angels and Shepherds
Robbers and wild beasts
were about, and the sheep might come to harm if left without
care.
The shepherds knew that it was time for the Christ to come,
and this night they were probably thinking of him and talking
one to another, when all at once a bright light shone around
them, and the angel of the Lord came before them. They were
very much afraid, but the angel said: 44 Fear not, for, behold, I
12
A CHILDS STORY OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST
bring you good tidings of great joy that shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour
which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign to you:
you will find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a
manger.»
And suddenly there w^ere with this angel a great many more
who sang, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace,
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
babys 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 CHILDS 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
kings house, so they went to Herods 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 where they expected the Christ to be born. They told him
that the prophets had said that he should be born in the little
town of Bethlehem.
After Herod had found out all he could about the child, he
called the wise men and asked them how long it had been since
TIIE BIRTH OF THE CHRIST
15
they first saw the star. He wanted to know bow old the child
was. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying to them, u Go
and look carefully for the child, and when you have found him
bring me back word where he is, that I may go and worship
him also.»
The wise men then left Herod and went to Bethlehem, follow¬
ing the star until they came
to the house where Jesus
was. And when they had
come into the house they
saw the child with Mary
his mother, and they fell
down and worshipped him.
And when they had opened
their treasures they gave
him their gifts: gold,
frankincense, and myrrh.
Frankincense and myrrh
are costly perfumes.
This is the first time
that any child ever had a
Christmas present. And
when Christmas conies
round year after year bring¬
ing with it gifts from those
who love us, we will re¬
member this story, will we
not? And we will think
with love of the little child whose birth we celebrate on Christ¬
mas Day.
After giving Jesus their presents, the wise men started home
again. But they did not go back to tell Herod where they had
The Three Wise Men
16
A CHILDS STORY OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST
found the child, for God had told them in a dream that Herod
did not mean what he said, that he did not want to worship
Jesus, but to kill him. So they went home another way.
When Herod had heard the strangers asking him where the; y
could find the King of the Jews he had been greatly interested,
and a good deal worried. He was afraid that he would have more
trouble than ever with the Jews if they had a king of their own
So he, too, wanted to find the child. He had expected the wise
men to tell him when they went back to Jerusalem just where
he could be found, and there would be no more trouble after that,
But the wise men did not come back to tell him. He waited
and waited, till at last he found that they had gone to theit
homes without seeing him again. Herod was very angry wheri
he heard this. I must find the child,» he said; it will not do
to let him live to be king.» One of his plans had failed, but h. <t
thought of another.
He did not know how old the child king was, but he watf
sure that he could not be more than two years old. So, as ho
did not know where to find him, he sent his soldiers to kill eveiy
boy in Bethlehem that was two years old, or younger. (The
word child in our Bibles really means boys; Herod did not
need to kill girls in order to be sure of killing Jesus.) The
soldiers did as they were told, and there were many sad home /
in Bethlehem that day. This sounds even more cruel than it
really was, for Bethlehem was a very small town, and there were
probably not more than twenty or thirty boys there.
But even this plan of Herods failed to harm the child Jesus.
For on the night after the wise men had started for their homes,
an angel of the Lord said to Joseph in a dream, Take the child
and his mother and flee into Egypt, and stay there until I bring
you word; for Herod will look for the young child to destroy
him.»
THE BIRTH OF THE CHRIST
17
So Joseph took the child and his mother that very night,
and left Bethlehem to do as the angel had told him. In
Egypt they were safe, for
Herod had no power there,
and could not touch them,
even if he had been able to
find out that they had gone
there. Probably he never
knew that he had not killed
the boy king when he sent
his soldiers to the city where
he had been born.
They lived in Egypt till
the wicked king Herod died.
We do not know what they
did there, or where they
stayed, although many sto¬
ries are told about them.
They probably lived very
quietly.
After the death of Herod
Joseph dreamed again, and
again the angel came to him,
saying, Rise, take the child
and his mother, and go back
to your own land; for they are dead who sought to kill the child.»
Joseph obeyed this dream as he had the other.
But they did not go to Bethlehem to live; for they heard that,
although the king Herod was dead, yet his son Archelaus, who was
ruler there now, was a very wicked man. They went to Nazareth,
the early home of Joseph and Mary. There Jesus lived all the
years of his childhood, and all but three years of his whole life.
Flight into Egypt
THE BOYHOOD OF THE CHRIST
We do not know much about him when he was a boy. The
Bible says that he was filled with wisdom/ and that he was in
favor with God and man.» We know by this that he was a good
boy, and was loved by every one who knew him.
The people in Nazareth were not thought to be very good,
and sometimes, when Jesus was older, he was looked down
upon because he had once lived in Nazareth. But if the people
were not good the country
was beautiful. Jesus proba¬
bly went to school with
the other Jewish boys, and
studied Jewish history and
law, from the books of the
Bible. We can also think
of him as playing and work¬
ing in his fathers carpen¬
ters shop, and with his
mother in the house.
He learned, too, from
other teachers than books.
The mountains and lakes,
the birds and flowers, the
storms, the sunshine, and
indeed everything he saw
or heard, had lessons for
him which he was happy in
learning.
This was how he became
filled with wisdom; because he saw something to learn in every¬
thing about him, and was willing to try to learn the lesson.
18
Infancy of Christ