Produced by Delphine Lettau, Jen Haines and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net Transcriber's Note: where [oe] appears it represents the ligature oe which cannot be represented in Latin-1 characters. [=a] represents the letter A with a macron (bar) above. "GRANNY'S CHAPTERS" (ON SCRIPTURAL SUBJECTS) BY LADY MARY ROSS. =THE NEW TESTAMENT=, WITH A SKETCH OF THE SUBSEQUENT HISTORY OF THE JEWS. _NEW EDITION._ LONDON: HATCHARDS, PICCADILLY. 1882. PREFACE TO VOLUME IV. The New Testament has been treated in a manner somewhat different to that adopted in regard to the Books of the Old Testament. The object has been, to sketch out the earthly Life of our Blessed Lord, and to draw attention to a few important points. It was obviously impossible to dwell particularly upon the details of every Miracle, Parable, and Conversation, recorded by the Evangelists. Nor was such a course necessary. The language of the Gospels is so simple and clear, that details are better read from Holy Writ itself. That this volume may lead the young to a reverent study of our Saviour's character, and an earnest endeavour to "follow the blessed steps of His most Holy Life," is the earnest prayer of the Author. MARY ROSS. _November, 1871._ PART I. Chapter I.--JOHN THE BAPTIST BORN. We have now seen that the Sceptre had departed from Judah. The whole country was subject to the Romans, who had appointed Herod to govern it for them; and the time was now come when the blessed promises, that "the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head," and that "in the seed of Abraham all nations of the earth should be blessed," were to be fulfilled by the coming of the Messiah, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Redeemer; born of a woman, that thus being as Man upon the earth, He might suffer for man, and make that atonement for man, which He could only make because He was the Son of God. Unless the Messiah had been at once God and Man, He could have been no Saviour for man; no mediator between a holy God and His sinful creatures. Very soon after the death of Herod's sons, Alexander and Aristobulus, the last princes of the Asmonean family, the wonderful events related in the New Testament began to take place. No doubt we are all well acquainted with the story of the priest Zacharias, a good and holy man, who, whilst performing his duty in the house of God, saw an Angel standing on the right side of the altar of incense. Zacharias was an old man, and his wife Elisabeth was also an old woman, and therefore when the Angel told him that the Lord would work as great a miracle as He had done in Abraham's case, and give a son to Elisabeth, as He had given Isaac to Sarah, Zacharias must indeed have been greatly astonished.