to her and said, «God is very kind to you, Mary, for he has
chosen you to be the mother of the Christ-child. You must call
his name Jesus (which means Saviour), for he will save the
people from their sins. He shall be great, and be called the
Son of God, and shall rule the world for ever and ever.»
Mary believed what the angel told her, and gently answered,
«Let it be to me as you have said.» Then the angel left her.
In the early part of the winter the Emperor of Rome, Caesar
Augustus, commanded that all the people should be enrolled,
which means that they should have their names written down on
10
A CHILDS STORY OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST
a roll of paper. Every Jew of the same tribe must have his
name written on the same roll. The Jews were very much
scattered, and to do this
each had to go to the city
or town where the fathers
of his tribe had lived, be¬
cause the tribal roll was
there.
Mary and her hus¬
band were both of the
tribe of Judah, and Beth¬
lehem was the city of
that tribe. You remem¬
ber, do you not, that
David was of the tribe of
Judah, and lived in Beth¬
lehem when he was a
shepherd boy? Because
the Jews were so fond of
David they called Bethle¬
hem the City of David.
Bethlehem was eighty
miles away from Naza¬
reth, and the roads be¬
tween the two places were
very rough and stony, up hill and down hill. It was a hard
journey to take. Mary and Joseph could not travel very fast,
and when they reached the city the houses were all full, for
strangers from every part of the country had come to Bethlehem
on the same errand as theirs. They were very tired when their
journey was over, but they found no one there ready to welcome
them. There was no room for them anywhere, except in a stable.
Arrival at Bethlehem
THE BIRTH OF THE CHRIST
11
There they found a resting-place, and there that night God
gave to Mary the baby he had promised her, the baby that was
the long-expected King of the Jews.
The poor people in that country often wrapped a long band
around their little babies
to clothe them, and this
sort of dress was called
swaddling clothes. Mary
wrapped her baby in
swaddling clothes, and
since there was no other
crib for him she laid him
in a manger.
In the beautiful val¬
ley just outside the city,
where David had taken
care of his fathers
sheep so many years
before, some shepherds
were watching their
flocks that night. They
watched them day and
night, for it was not
safe to leave them alone. Angels and Shepherds
Robbers and wild beasts
were about, and the sheep might come to harm if left without
care.
The shepherds knew that it was time for the Christ to come,
and this night they were probably thinking of him and talking
one to another, when all at once a bright light shone around
them, and the angel of the Lord came before them. They were
very much afraid, but the angel said: 44 Fear not, for, behold, I
12
A CHILDS STORY OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST
bring you good tidings of great joy that shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour
which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign to you:
you will find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a
manger.»
And suddenly there w^ere with this angel a great many more
who sang, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace,
good will to men.»
When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the
shepherds said to one
another, Now let us
go to Bethlehem right
away, and see this baby,
of whom the angels
have been telling us.»
They started at once
and soon came to the
city, for it was not
more than a mile away.
And there they found
Joseph and Mary and
the baby.
The shepherds were
very happy. They had
so longed to have the
Christ come; now he
had come, and they
were looking at him.
Do you not think that
Mary was happy, too,
when she learned from the shepherds how they knew of her
babys birth? She did not talk much about it, but the thought
Adoration of Shepherds
THE BIRTH OF THE CHRIST
13
was a comfort to her for the rest of her life. The shepherds
went out and talked with every one whom they met about the
wonderful child, and what the angels had said of him; and
thanked God for what they
had seen and heard, as
they went back to their
sheep.
When the child was
eight days old Mary named
him Jesus, as the angel
had told her. When he
was forty days old he was
taken to the temple at Je¬
rusalem. This was done
in order to obey a Jewish
law that said that a mother
must take her child to the
temple and offer sacrifices
for him. If she could af¬
ford it she must take a
lamb and a turtle dove for
the sacrifice; if she were
poor she could take two
turtle doves or two young
pigeons. As Joseph and Mary were poor, they took two turtle
doves.
There was an old man in Jerusalem, named Simeon, who
loved God, and who had so longed to see the Christ that God
had promised him that he should not die until he had seen the
child. Simeon was in the temple when Joseph and Mary brought
in the child Jesus. He looked at the baby, and knew at once
that this was the Christ he had so longed to see.
Presentation in the Temple
14
A CHILDS STORY OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST
He took Jesus in liis arms, and thanked God that he had
been allowed to see his Christ. 44 Lord, now I am willing and
glad to go,» he said, 44 for I have seen thy Christ; the Saviour
who has come to make the world brighter and better.» Then
he said, as he gave the child back to his mother: 44 This child is
born to be a great help to many people, but others will not
believe him. They will speak against him, and will bring much
sorrow to him, and his trouble will cause you sorrow too.»
While these things were happening in Palestine, there were
in another country in the East some wise men who saw a bright
new star in the sky. These men studied the stars so much that
they knew those that generally shone as they did old friends,
and they knew that they had not seen this before. It seemed to
tell them that some great thing had happened. They knew that
the Jews were expecting a king, and they decided that this star
was sent to tell them that he was born; and they thought they