Part 3

It was John the Baptist who, you remember, had the great honour of baptizing the Lord Jesus; and it was he who uttered one of the most wonderful sentences in the Bible: "Behold the Lamb of God, Which taketh away the sin of the world."

PROPHECY OF CHRIST'S BIRTH.

Isa. ix. 6.—Matt. ii. 11.

"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judæa, in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came Wise Men from the east to Jerusalem"; and as they entered the city, their first question astonished everyone.

"Where is He that is born King of the Jews?" they asked. "For we have seen His star in the east, and we are come to worship Him."

Herod was the king then, placed there by the Romans, and he did not like to hear that there could be another king! He sent at once for the scribes, and demanded of them where Christ should be born. So they told him that Micah had prophesied in their Scriptures that Christ should be born in Bethlehem. And Herod was so anxious to make sure of this, that he sent the Wise Men to inquire in Bethlehem, and said he would come to worship Him.

And the Star moved before the Wise Men till it came and stood over where the young Child was.

Then the Wise Men saw the Holy Babe, with Mary, His mother; and they fell down and worshipped Him, and opened their treasures, and gave Him the precious gifts they had brought from the east.

In Isaiah vii. 14 the Jews were told that the mother of the Lord should be a virgin; and in Jeremiah xxiii. 5 that He should be of the royal house of David.

And now comes the fulfilment of all these prophecies off seven hundred years before.

He was born of a virgin, in Bethlehem, David's city.

Also God said by Micah He was "to be Ruler in Israel"; and in Isaiah xlix. 6 we have this great and further prophecy which embraces the whole world: "I will also give Thee for a light to the Gentiles, that Thou mayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth."

So we think of our Lord Jesus Christ as the great Gift which God the Father gave to the world.

No wonder that the angel announced to the shepherds that it was tidings of great joy, which should be to all people! No wonder that the multitude of the Heavenly Host came down and joined in the Song of Praise, on that night when the glory from Heaven shone round about them all, and the earth received the Gift of the only begotten Son of the Father.

PROPHECY OF CHRIST'S MINISTRY.

Isa. lxi. 1.—Luke iv. 21.

When the Lord Jesus began His ministry on earth He went into the synagogue at Nazareth, and stood up to read. The attendant handed Him the Roll containing the Prophecies of Isaiah; and the Lord found the place, and this is what He read:—

"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."

And Jesus closed the book, and He gave it again to the attendant, and sat down. And the eyes of all that were in the synagogue were fastened on Him.

And He began to say unto them "This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears."

The Prophecy in Isaiah was written more than seven hundred years before! That day it was fulfilled!

The King of Glory had taken our human nature upon Him, that He might taste death for every man; and His first words as to His mission were, that He would preach the Gospel to the poor, and heal the brokenhearted!

Think how full of mercy His days were! How He gave the widow's only son, who was dead, back to her alive; how He healed the Roman soldier's servant, who was dear to him; how He touched the lepers and made them well; how He forgave the sins of the palsied man, and healed him; how He forgave Peter and restored him.

No wonder St. John in his Gospel says: "If all the things which Jesus did should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written!"

X. The Prophecy of a Suffering Messiah

Isa. liii. 3-5.—John xix. 5.

There is a great deal said in the Old Testament about the Reign of Christ as King; but though the Jews read these Scriptures every Sabbath day, they did not notice that it was written in a number of places that before He was crowned King He was to suffer and die.

Why did He die? The reference quoted at the head of this page, written by Isaiah so long before, tells us why it was.

"He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all."

Jesus Himself said: "I lay down My life for the sheep . . . No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This Commandment have I received of My Father."

Isaiah tells us "He was despised and rejected of men; a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." And when the council of the Jews had judged Him, and condemned Him to be worthy of death, they handed Him over to Pilate, the Roman governor, to execute the cruel death which they could not carry out themselves.

And so the soldiers mocked Him and platted that crown of thorns, and Pilate brought Him out wearing the royal robe that the soldiers had put upon Him in mockery. But not satisfied with the cruel death He was to die, Pilate ordered Him to be scourged, all the time protesting that he found no fault in Him.

Thus those words in Isaiah liii. 8 were fulfilled: "He was taken from prison and from judgment . . . for He was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of My people was He stricken."

And then He was taken to the Cross.

PROPHECIES OF THE DEATH OF THE MESSIAH.

Dan. ix. 26.—Acts ii. 23.

We read in Daniel that "The Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself." And Zechariah says: "And one shall say unto Him, What are these wounds in Thine hands? Then He shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of My friends."

[Illustration: THE THREE CROSSES.]

As our Blessed Lord hung on that Cross "He was numbered with the transgressors," for two thieves were crucified with Him.

In the twenty-second Psalm we learn to understand a little of the anguish which made Him cry on the Cross: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" It was because "He bore our sins in His own Body on the tree."

"He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."

But though all this came upon that beloved Son of God, in order that He might redeem the world, we have, in Isaiah liii. 10, a great and beautiful promise of the Resurrection, and of His afterwards reigning in glory as King:—

"When thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand."

"He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death." This was fulfilled when rich Joseph of Arimathæa buried Him in beautiful fine linen in his own new grave in that garden near Calvary.

PROPHECY OF THE RESURRECTION.

Psalm xvi. 9, 10. Mark xvi. 6.

Jesus rose from the dead. It was impossible that the Son of God should be holden of death.

[Illustration HE IS RISEN!]

The angel came down and rolled away the stone, and then told the frightened women that Jesus was not there, but was risen, "as He said."

All through the whole of the Bible it is "As He said." As God has said—so it will surely be.

Jesus told the disciples that He would ascend to His Father; and He led them out to Bethany and went up to Heaven in their sight.

He told them that the Father would send the Holy Spirit down, and that they were to wait for Him.

They did wait, and at the appointed time the Holy Spirit came, and is with us still, though we cannot see Him; He is our Comforter and Guide.

All these things are very solemn realities.

We have been dwelling on some of the Prophecies that have been fulfilled. There are numbers more yet to be fulfilled hereafter.

PROPHECIES WHICH ARE NOT YET FULFILLED.

2 Peter i. 19.—Matt. xxiv. 14.

The central one of all is, Jesus Christ is coming again to take His people to be for ever with Him. He says: "Behold, I come quickly, and My reward is with Me."

In the fiftieth Psalm we have a wonderful Prophecy and the promise: "The mighty God . . . hath spoken . . . Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence. Gather my saints together unto Me, those that have made a covenant with Me by Sacrifice."

And the last Prophecies in the Bible tell us about Heaven and the future life.

We read in Revelation xxi. 1-4 these words—

"I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.

"And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying—

"Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people.

"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."

XI. Sowing and Reaping

Our Lord Jesus Christ was sitting on Jacob's Well, waiting for the return of the disciples, who had gone to the nearest village to buy food.

It was mid-day, and the Syrian sun had been beating down on the wearied Lord of all the earth.

At the bottom of the steps, travellers tell us, leading down to "Jacob's Well," there is a small excavation or shelter between some overhanging stones, and here the dear Lord may have found a little shade while He waited.

A woman had come down these steps to draw water, and the Lord had spoken of the Living Water which He would give her if she asked Him; and then, after they had been talking a little while, she had left Jesus sitting there, and had hurried into the town to tell her neighbours that she had found the Messiah—the Christ.

While she was gone, the disciples returned and quickly offered food to their Lord.

But His reply astonished them. He said: "I have food to eat that you do not know of. My food is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work!"

While they had been away, wearied and hungry as He was, He had brought a sinful soul to realize her sin, and to find in Him her Saviour!

And then He said to them: "Are there not four months before the harvest? But lift up your eyes and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest.

"He that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit to life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together."

You may say: "What does He mean by sowing?" In the winter you see the fields, over which the plough has been pulled by the patient horses, and the patient farmer. Then comes the man with a basket of seed, and he puts the grains carefully into the furrows, and covers them over, and goes on his way. Have you seen that?

He is the sower.

Then comes the dew and the rain, the air and the sunshine, and the little seed grows and grows till, by and by, behold it is Harvest! And the golden grain is gathered into the safe garner!

This is the work God has given each one of us to do. To sow the Seed of the Word—to tell of the Love of Jesus!

Each one of us? Do you shrink, and say that you cannot—you so young and ignorant? Or you, perhaps, are too old and feeble to go into the world and spread His Word?

There are many ways of doing it. You can all pray, young or old, for the Seed to be blessed!

The children can work for the missionaries, and can save some of their pennies to put into the Missionary Box.

The old can spare some pennies, too—many or few, according to what they have—and can pray much, and encourage much, by showing ever a sure confidence that God will send the harvest by and by.

A few years ago, a sweet story was told me of this Seed-sowing. It was about a little Japanese boy; and he lived in Hakodate, and I have a photograph of him, taken when he was about eighteen.

When the Missionaries first heard of him he was a miserable little crippled invalid, for he had no legs, lying in the corner of a hut, neglected, dirty, hopeless. Nobody loved him, and he hated everybody. He spent his time in throwing stones at all who came near him, and saying wicked words, which were shocking to hear.

After a while these Missionaries, Mr. and Mrs. Nettleship, heard of this poor boy, and went to see him. They told him of Jesus our Saviour, and how He loved him, and had given His life for him.

By and by this living Seed sank into the heart of the poor child, and a change came over him. He ceased to throw stones, he ceased to swear; and when the dear Missionaries offered to take care of him, he gladly went to them, and was with them for years. They called him Samuel, and he learnt to read and write, then helped them afterwards in their work. He learnt to play the concertina, and used to lead the hymns in the Sunday School; and he was full of joy and brightness.

The kind Missionaries made a loose Japanese robe for him, in which he could move about, and which covered up his poor maimed body. He learned to move about, swinging himself on his hands and arms, so that he could cross a room quite quickly; and they told me that his face was full of Heaven's sunshine.

I used to send him a book every year till his death; and he painted several beautiful Japanese pictures for me, which I keep as great treasures.

On one of these, he outlined these words in Japanese: "When the Chief Shepherd shall appear ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away."

Just before his loving friends had to leave Hakodate for a time, dear Samuel was taken "Home!" after a short but painless illness, so that he never missed the loving care he had had!

It seems to me that this simple story helps us to understand what "sowing" and "reaping" mean.

The "Sowing" was done in that dark and dirty hovel in Japan.

The full of joy of the "Reaping" will come by and by in Heaven; but a foretaste of it was surely in the hearts of those dear Missionaries who carried that Living Seed to that poor neglected child, and who saw him grow up into an earnest, devoted Christian!

XII. "There was no Room for Them in the Inn"

Luke ii. 3-20.

On the last Sunday before Christmas, a little girl sat at the back of a Church, holding in her hand a card which had just been given her, on which was a beautiful picture of a sweet young mother and a tiny babe.

It was a Children's Service, and the Clergyman was telling them about that card, and describing to them the Christmas story which we all love.

Presently he said: "Do any of you remember what my sermon was about this time last year?"

There was dead silence in the Church, and then the Clergyman saw in the very back, underneath the gallery, a hand raised up suddenly, in token that some one could answer his question.

"Well, dear, what was it?" he asked.

[Illustration: THE INFANT JESUS AND HIS MOTHER.]

And in the surprised silence a little girl rose to her feet and said in a clear, distinct voice, which reached every part of the Church:

"You asked us to pray this little prayer—

"'O come to my heart, Lord Jesus, There is room in my heart for Thee!'"

"Yes!" said the Clergyman. "That was it! And you are a very good little girl to have told us so nicely, and to have remembered it all this time!"

So to-day, with this sweet thought in our minds, we can remember that there is a place in the heart of each one of us which we can keep for Jesus. We can think of His love to us, we can love Him in return, and worship Him every day we live.

And if we make room for Jesus in our hearts here, we shall find by and by He will give us "a crown of glory that fadeth not away."

Now let us think about the picture which all the Children at the Service are holding in their hands, and looking at so earnestly.

They could see the Holy Babe and His mother. They could see some men, shepherds, bending down and worshipping this Holy Babe; and they see that this is not a beautiful Castle where a King would be born, with curtains, and bright carpet and pretty cradle; but instead it seems to be a sort of Cave, cut out of the side of a hill—a stable, with a manger for the food of the cattle, while straw is scattered on the ground, and there is an Eastern donkey, raising his head in wonder to see a babe lying in his manger!

[Illustration: LYING IN A MANGER.]

How came those shepherds there? Do shepherds leave their sheep in the middle of the night to go to a stable more than a mile off to see a little new-born babe?

Ah! but it was something very wonderful that had happened in those dark fields at Bethlehem, which made the shepherds go.

They had been quietly watching their flocks, and perhaps looking out anxiously for the dawn, when suddenly, without any warning, an Angel came down to them from heaven, and the Glory of the Lord surrounded them with a great and wondrous light.

The shepherds were very frightened at first, but the Angel quickly reassured them by saying that he had brought very good news, which would be great joy to all people! For a Holy Babe was born in Bethlehem that night, Who had come to this earth to be the Saviour of the World!

Then the Angel told them that they would know his words were true, by finding the little Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.

And, suddenly, a multitude of the heavenly host were with the Angel who had been sent first; and they all praised God, and said, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

Then the angels all went back to heaven, and the shepherds turned to each other in solemn awe, and they said, "The Lord has made known to us a wonderful thing—let us go to Bethlehem and see for ourselves what has come to pass."

So they left their flocks and hurried to the town.

And there, in a lowly stable, they saw the Holy Babe who was sent to Mary on the morning of Christmas-day!

Months before this, the Angel Gabriel had been sent from heaven to tell Mary that she was to be the most blessed of all women, for the Holy Child who was to be given to her was to be called the Son of God.

Now He had come! And she laid Him—the Son of God—in the manger, because there was no room for Him in the Inn.

Why did Jesus come to earth? How could His Heavenly Father spare Him? He was very rich in heaven! But for our sakes He became poor, that we might be rich! That was why He came—for our sakes!

Many years ago, just after a very happy Christmas, one of my little girls came to me and said earnestly, "I love Jesus, Mother!"

I clasped her in my arms and said, "When did you find that out, darling?"

"I was looking over my Christmas cards this morning," she said, "and it was this one—and, as I read the words, all at once I knew that He had come to save me!"

And the words were—

"God so loved the World that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life."

XIII. After His Resurrection

For forty days after the Lord Jesus Christ had risen from the dead, He appeared to His disciples numbers of times.

St. Paul, in the fifteenth chapter of the First of Corinthians, gives us a list of the times that Jesus appeared. And the list is very wonderful. He says: "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures: and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures: and that He was seen of Cephas (Peter), then of the twelve: after that, He was seen of about five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, He was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all He was seen of me also."

St. Paul referred to the time when he had seen Jesus, and He had spoken to him on the way to Damascus.

The Lord did not live on this earth in those forty days as He had done before, but He was "the same Jesus" Who had been with them throughout His ministry. The same, and yet different. Now in His blessed hands and feet were the marks of the cruel nails of the cross. In His side was the wound which the soldier's wanton spear had made! And the Lord now came in and out among them with a Presence which was quite different from what they had known before, for He came to them when doors were shut and fastened, and He left them without passing through those doors; He simply vanished out of their sight.

The first evening of that Resurrection Day, when the disciples were assembled with closed doors for fear of the Jews, suddenly the Lord stood in their midst and said "Peace be unto you." And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side.