THE

LIFE OF THE SAVIOUR.

CHAPTER I.

THE PARENTAGE AND DESCENT OF JESUS.

It is usual to begin the life of a distinguished person with an account of his family and parents. Sometimes the line of descent is traced back generation after generation, and it is boasted from what celebrated ancestors he sprung. Sometimes

it is acknowledged that he was of obscure origin, and has been the founder of his own fame and family. In either case it is thought that the circumstance is honorable to him. In the first, he derives splendor and dignity from the great men from whom he descended. In the second, what can be more creditable than to have risen from nothing, by his own industry and talents, to an equality with those whose natural advantages were superior?

Two of the Evangelists who have written the history of our Saviour begin their account of him in this way. They give the genealogy of his

family, and show his descent from the kings of Judah. His immediate parentage was obscure. Joseph and Mary were persons of no note, and he was born to the condition of humble life. But his remote ancestors were of the royal family, and through them his lineage went back to the distinguished fathers and founders of the nation ; through David, the great king, to Abraham, the chief progenitor, and to Seth, the son of Adam, the first man, who was the son of God. Thus, regarded only in a human point of view, this wonderful person united in himself the two circumstances mentioned above, to which biographers draw attention, that they may exalt the persons they celebrate. He was of poor and humble parents, yet rose to eminence above all persons of his age and country. He was also of honorable ancestors, belonging to the chief family of the nation, ennobled by descent from the greatest names in human history, and able to trace his lineage up to the first man, who was the immediate creation of God.

The Evangelists point out another remarkable distinction of our Lord's descent. It is capable of being traced to its original stock through both parents. The family of Joseph and the family of Mary both run back till they meet in David, and thence proceed in a common line to Abraham.

Matthew i. 1.

Luke iii. 13.

This renders his descent doubly illustrious. The genealogy of Joseph is given by Matthew, and that of Mary by Luke.

Besides the circumstances already mentioned, which give an interest to this subject, it is to be considered, that this was amongst the Jews a matter of extreme importance. Every family kept its genealogical register, and knew the list of its ancestry from the earliest day. This was necessary on account of some peculiar requisitions in their law respecting property and inheritance; which required evidence of the tribe and family to which every individual belonged. There was a

further reason which made it a matter of interest. The promised and expected Messiah — that great prince and deliverer, of whom the prophets had so rapturously spoken, and on whose coming the hopes and glory of the nation were suspended was to be of the tribe of Judah and the family of David. It was important therefore to be able to trace the descent of every individual who should claim to be this person. Hence the records of that family, and of every branch of that family, would be kept with the most jealous care, in order that it might be proved, when the Messiah came, that he was in truth of the right stock. There can be no doubt that the descent of Jesus was carefully searched into by those who questioned or opposed his claims; and as they do not appear

to have objected to him on this ground, there can be no doubt that the tables of his genealogy, published by his disciples, were faithful copies from the family and public registers; though we know too little of the Jewish method of keeping those tables to be able to clear away all difficulty from the subject.

We must not be surprised, then, that the Evangelists have given so much room to this subject. It was necessary to prove that their Master was the son of David; for otherwise he could not be the Messiah. And it is curious to observe how, even on a point in which worldly ambition so often boasts of superiority, our blessed Lord is placed far above the illustrious names of human history. Where are the potentates, lords, and princes, in all their pride of birth, who can look back on so honorable and ancient a line of progenitors;passing on, through nobles and kings, lawgivers and prophets, beyond the date of all other records, till it ends in the name of the first man, and God the Universal Parent?

Of Joseph, the husband of our Lord's mother, and his reputed father, we know very little. He is said to have been an upright and just man; and the little which is told of him in the New Testament proves him to have been such. There is a tradition that he was married to Mary when quite advanced in life, while she was but fourteen

years of age. Hence it is, that in all the pictures of the holy family he is painted as an aged man, while the Virgin is represented as young enough to be his granddaughter. But there is no good reason for supposing the tradition to be true. We can only say, that we know nothing of his age, and that it is a matter of no consequence. It is more important to remember, that he exercised a mechanical trade, and depended on the work of his hands for a livelihood. He was a carpenter; and it is extremely probable, as the Jews called Jesus also a carpenter, that he, together with the sons of Joseph, learned that trade and worked at it. This will explain how it happened that his brothers did not believe on him. They had always seen him living amongst them like one of themselves, and they could not readily understand how their companion and equal in sports and labors should be the Son of God.

Of Mary, our Lord's mother, we know something more, though much less than we should be glad to know of so interesting a being. It is not strange that men have been eager to learn all that concerned her; that in superstitious ages they have listened to any tales invented to her honor, and have contrived how they might show her the greatest respect. This has been carried so far that multitudes of Christians have made her an object of worship; and by images and pictures,