Hurlbut's Life of Christ For Young and Old: A Complete Life of Christ Written in Simple Language, Based on the Gospel NarrativeHurlbut, Jesse Lyman
Religion
Hurlbut's Life of Christ For Young and Old: A Complete Life of Christ Written in Simple Language, Based on the Gospel Narrative
Hurlbut, Jesse Lyman
Jesus Christ -- Biography
But Mary, happy with her little one, clasped him to her heart and said
nothing to anyone of the angel that had come to her in Nazareth, and of
the promises given her about this child. When the day came to name the
child, she simply said, "His name shall be Jesus," but she told no one
why the name was given. It was a common name among the Jews, so no one
was surprised at the name. But no word could tell better than his name
"Jesus" what this child should become, for the word Jesus means
"Saviour."
[Illustration: Simeon came forward and took the infant Jesus into his
arms, and lifting up his eyes to heaven gave thanks that he had seen the
Saviour.]
The Baby Brought to the Temple
CHAPTER 8
ALTHOUGH JESUS was born in a stable and slept in a manger, he did not
stay in that place long. After a few days Joseph was able to find a more
comfortable home, where the young mother and her baby were taken. The
Jews were very kind to strangers of their own people, and welcomed them
to their houses when passing through their towns.
Joseph and his family were in Bethlehem for some weeks, perhaps for some
months. It may have been their purpose to make Bethlehem their home, and
to bring up this child, the Son of David, in David's own city, where he
could have a better training for his coming life, whatever that life
might be, than in the country village of Nazareth.
On the day when Jesus was forty days old, he was brought with his mother
to Jerusalem, which was only six miles from Bethlehem. There he was
taken to the Temple for a service which showed that he was given to God
and to be brought up as God's child. It was the rule of the Jews that
after the first child had come to a family, an offering should be made
on the altar in the Temple for him and prayers should be said. A family
that was rich would offer for their first child a sheep, which was
killed and burned on the altar as a gift to God in place of the child.
If the family was poor, or of the working class of people, the parents
offered a pair of doves or pigeons. Joseph and Mary brought a pair of
doves, and stood by while these were burned on the altar, Mary holding
her baby in her arms.
At that moment there was in the Temple an old man named Simeon. He was a
good man and very earnest in his prayers to God that he might live to
see the Messiah-King of Israel, the Christ of God, who had been promised
through the prophets of old. And God had said to Simeon that he should
not die until he had seen Christ. On that morning a voice had seemed to
say to him, "Go to the Temple." He obeyed it, not knowing why he had
been sent to that place on that day.
As Joseph and Mary brought the baby Jesus into the Temple, the voice of
the Lord spoke again to Simeon, saying:
"This child is David's Son, the King of Israel."
[Illustration: Mary and the doves]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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