From His condescension let us learn humility; from His mercy, love towards each other. Let us resolve, after this pattern of His love, to decline neither toil, nor pain, nor shame, in doing good unto mankind; even as He freely came down from heaven and took on Him the seed of sinners like ourselves, that we might be made the children of grace, and inheritors of everlasting life.

NOW

MATT. i. 18-25.

OW the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as His mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou Son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: and knew her not till she had brought forth her first-born son: and he called His name Jesus.

IT will be observed that, according to the chronological notice given in the margin, the birth of our Saviour

is stated to have taken place in the fifth year' before the era which is vulgarly assigned for that event, and from which the dates of our years are usually reckoned. The fact is, that the practice of dating from the birth of Christ did not begin in the early times of Christianity, and was not generally adopted among Christians till about A.D. 730; and it is now the universal opinion of learned men that, at its first adoption, an error of about four years was made in fixing the era from which the dates are computed. The miraculous conception of our Lord, here announced, is the foundation of the whole distinction between the character of Christ in the condition of a man, and that of any other prophet. Had it been according to the natural course of things, His intercourse with the Deity would have been of no other kind than the nature of any other man might equally have admitted; and of no higher kind than the prophets enjoyed when their minds were enlightened by the extraordinary influence of the Holy Spirit. But this miraculous conception confirms the assertion of the Apostle, that God, who at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by the Son.' And thus much is plainly signified

by His very name, which, according to the prophecy was to be Emmanuel, or God with us; whereas, the angel bade them call Him Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.' Hence we learn that a Saviour,' and 'God with us,' mean nearly the same thing; and that the Son of Mary was both at once. For no one less than God was capable of making atonement for the sins of us all. To be a Saviour, therefore, it was necessary to be God with us to be Jesus, He must needs be at the same time Emmanuel. And the angel and the prophet, though using different words, imply both of them the same thing, to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself' (2 Cor. v. 19).

Now

MATT. ii. 1-10.

OW when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is He that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judea: for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found Him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship Him also. When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over the place where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

THAT which is here related did not take place immediately after the birth of Jesus, but some little time afterwards. The town of Bethlehem lay to the south of Jerusalem, about six miles off. As it has been all along honoured by Christians of all nations on account of its being our Saviour's birth-place, so at this very day it is generally visited by pilgrims, to whom they pretend to show the very spot where He was born, and the manger in which He was laid. The name of the wise men' is in Latin

magi, from whence is derived our English word 'magician.' The Magi were a sect of ancient philosophers living in the East, addicted to the study of astronomy and other parts of natural philosophy; they were highly esteemed, having more just sentiments of God and His worship than any of the heathens, for they abhorred the adoration of images, and worshipped one only God: they were therefore evidently the fittest of all the ancient heathens to have the first knowledge of the Son of God, and of the salvation imparted by Him. Probably the star or the light they saw, was of the nature of what the Jews called the Shechinah, or Divine glory. It was perhaps the same 'glory of the Lord,' or miraculous light which shone round about the shepherds,' which may have appeared to the Magi, on the same night, at a great distance, diminished to the size of a star. It was plainly some new appearance, which they, whose profession led them peculiarly to the study of astronomy, had never before observed in the heavens. Thus shall the star which troubled all Jerusalem fill us, as it did these Gentiles, with exceeding great joy. As children of the faith of Abraham let us acknowledge His sovereign right to the best we have to offer. The star which guides us is His word. This let us follow, whithersoever it leads us. Whether to the courts of princes or to the cottage of the poor, whether to abundance or to want, to labour or to rest, to whatever duties or difficulties it points, only let us obey its heavenly direction, and in the end it will bring us to the presence of our Lord.

A

MATT. ii. 11-23.

ND when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshipped Him: and when they had opened their

treasures, they presented unto Him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and His mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy Him. When he arose, he took the young child and His mother by night, and departed into Egypt: and was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my Son. Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not. But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, Arise, and take the young child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life. And he arose, and took the young child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee: and he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.