peace, since he had seen God's salvation. "One Anna, a prophetess," who was eighty-four years of age, also entered the temple, and "gave thanks unto the Lord, and spake of" Jesus "unto all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem."

After these things Joseph and Mary, with the infant Saviour, "returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth."

And the child Jesus was brought up at Nazareth, under the care of his parents, and he waxed, or grew, "strong in spirit," giving signs of a wonderful mind, and of great piety, for "the grace of God was upon him."

When Jesus was twelve years old, his parents went up to the temple, to the feast of the passover, in remembrance of the deliverance from Egypt, and he went with them. Probably this was his first Passover, and something now occurred which made the Evangelist Luke take notice of him at this age. For when the feast was over, and they returned with a number of other families that had gone for the same purpose, Jesus remained behind. His parents did not miss him till the end of the day; for as he was amiable, and beloved by all who knew him, they supposed that he was among some of their friends and acquaintances on the road; but not hearing anything of him, they became uneasy, and went back the next day to Jerusalem, and it was not till the third day that they found him. But where was he? Not in bad company, for he never stood in the way of sinners; nor was he at play, for he was of an age to learn, and he was improving his time, and getting knowledge from

the doctors of the temple. The teachers of the law were used to instruct the young there, and they were allowed to ask any questions they pleased, for the purpose of learning. Jesus had, therefore, placed himself at their feet, and was "both hearing them and asking

them questions." "And

all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers." His parents wondered to find what he was about, and to see how much he was approved. And his mother gently chided him for having given them

so much alarm for his safety; but he replied, "Wist ye not," or, know ye not, "that I was about my Father's business," or, "in my Father's house?" His mother remembered this and other sayings, and waited to see what more wonderful would happen as he should grow up to become a man.

So they returned to Nazareth, and there he lived obedient to his parents, and growing in favor "both with God and men;" his behavior, says the pious Dr. Doddridge, "being not only remarkably religious, but so benevolent and obliging as to gain the favor and affection of all that were about him."

You will observe that most of these interesting facts about the birth and early days of Jesus Christ are not mentioned by the Evangelists Matthew and Mark, and are only given us by Luke.

WE

Christ persecuted at Nazareth.

LUKE III., IV.

E shall now glance at some other matters mentioned by this Evangelist which have not been before noticed, and run through many

chapters.

Luke tells us the exact time when John the Baptist made his first public appearance. It was in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Cæsar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea; and, as the dominions of Herod the Great had been divided after his death, Herod Antipas, one of his sons, was tetrarch of Galilee and Perea; or ruler of one-fourth of Herod's kingdom; and his brother Philip tetrarch of another fourth part, which was the region of Ituraa and Trachonitis,-the name which was now given to the tract of land on the other side of Jordan, which had formerly belonged to the tribe of Manasseh.; and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, a province of Syria, whose territories extended to Lebanon and Damascus, and had many Jewish inhabitants. At that time, also, Annas and Caiaphas were highpriests; not that there were two high-priests at one time, but Annas, who had been high-priest several times, had so managed as to have five of his sons and one son-in-law (Caiaphas) appointed high-priests when he was not in office himself; and he generally ruled, when they were high-priests in name.

The third chapter contains a long list of names, like the first chapter of St. Matthew. They are, however, reversed in their order, and somewhat different, but both are designed to trace up the genealogy of Jesus Christ

through its proper line-that is, to show who were his forefathers after the flesh. Matthew traces it forward from Abraham down to Joseph; and Luke traces it backwards from Joseph, the son, by adoption, of Heli, who was the brother of Jacob, the real father of Joseph, to Adam. It is supposed that Heli was the elder brother, but had no sons, and so Jacob's son was called his, according to the Jewish law. There is a tradition that Mary was the daughter of Heli, which may be true, but this genealogy does not state it. John the Baptist having been thrown into prison by the wicked Herod. Jesus left Perea and went into Galilee.

There his fame had already spread, and he went from place to place, teaching in the synagogues, while every one admired him, and declared "they never heard such preaching in all their lives." "And he came to Nazareth," where he had been brought up, and, as his custom was, "he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up for to read," for this was a constant part of the Jewish worship. "And there was delivered unto

him the book of the prophet Esaias," or Isaiah-the former being the Greek, and the latter the Hebrew for the prophet's name-just, for instance, as Louis Philippe was the French name for the king of the French, and Lewis Philip the English name for the same king. "And when he had opened the book," or unrolled the volume-for the Hebrew Scriptures were written on long pieces of parchment, fastened at each end on sticks, and so

rolled up he found the place where it was written as in the forty-first chapter of Isaiah, and the first, second, and third verses. Having read the passage, "closed the book," and rolled it up, he "sat down," as the Jews used to do, to preach, while "the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him," being very curious to know what he was going to say about a text which they knew described the Messiah. And he then discoursed upon the passage, and told them that the Scripture was that day fulfilled in their hearing.

His words were so full of grace, both in the precious truths which he uttered, and in the way in which he uttered them, that all his hearers were exceedingly surprised; but yet they could not forget that he was the son of the humble Joseph, and had been brought up at Nazareth under his care, "and they said, Is not this Joseph's son?"

Jesus knew what they thought. And he said, "Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself." You have worked miracles abroad, now do so at home. "Whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also in thy country." And he said, "Verily, I say unto you, no prophet is accepted in his own country," which was another proverb, or common saying. By this he meant, that his miracles would be thrown away upon them; for they would still think from whom he was descended, and wonder at what he did as they now wondered at what he said-but they would not believe in him as the true Messiah. In the days of Elias, or Elijah, though there were many widows living in Israel, he performed the miracle of multiplying the cruse of oil for a widow of Sarepta, a city of the Gentiles; and in the time of Eliseus, or Elisha, the prophet, though there were many lepers in Israel, he cured none but Naaman, who also was a Syrian, and a heathen. So our blessed Saviour intimated, he would do miracles for and in the presence of heathen rather than before them, for he knew they were so hardened that they would not believe in him.

This faithful address turned their admiration into rage, and, rising up in a tumultuous manner, without any reverence to the place or day, they violently cast him out of the synagogue, and out of the city too, and brought him to the very brow of the mountain on which their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong, and dash him to pieces. But Jesus, when he had permitted their madness to go thus far, confounded their sight in such a miraculous manner, that he passed through the midst of them unknown, and went away to the neighboring city of Capernaum, where he abode for some time.

We have given you the latter part of this account in the words of Dr. Doddridge, because we think we cannot possibly make it more plain.

Christ's Miracle of the Draught of Fishes.-Christ Raises the Widow's Son.-The Penitent Woman.

WHIL

LUKE V.-IX.

our Lord was at Capernaum, we find him continually engaged

in doing good, teaching in the synagogue, and instructing the people at all other opportunities. Where he went he was attended by crowds, and on one occasion they were so great that they "pressed upon him to hear the word of God, as he stood by the lake of Gennesareth." Seeing two fishing vessels near the shore he went into one of them, and, pushing off a little way from the shore, he there "sat down and taught the people out of the ship."

The fishermen who owned the vessels had been very unsuccessful in their last night's labors, for they had toiled all the night, and taken nothing. When Christ had done preaching, and feeding them with food for their souls, he now thought of their bodies also, and he desired them to launch out into the deep, and let down their nets for a draught of fishes. They had little hope of success, but, in obedience to Christ's word, they were disposed to try. The nets were let down, and they drew them up so full of fishes that one of them brake, and the fishes taken so overloaded both the vessels that they began to sink. All were astonished; and Simon Peter, who was one of the party, with his partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, fell down on his knees, and cried out, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord; "-meaning that he was not worthy of the high honor of having Jesus on board his vessel, and of continuing in his presence. Jesus encouraged the timid man, and told him that he would employ him in a far nobler work, and that henceforth he should catch men. And so it came to pass when-if we compare the gospel to a net-he caught three thousand souls at once by his preaching, as we shall read in the Acts of the Apostles. Matthew and Mark have given no more of what happened at this time than merely that Christ sat down in the ship and taught; so Luke has supplied what they omitted.

In the sixth chapter of Luke we find a beautiful discourse of our Lord's, something like that which we call the Beatitudes, in the beginning of