THE HISTORY

OF THE

LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST.

CHAPTER I.

PRESAGE OF The Birth of CHRIST - PREDICTION OF THE BIRTH Of John THE BAPTIST- SALUTATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN BY THE ÅNGELVISITATION OF THE VIRGIN MARY TO ELIZABETH - BIRTH OF THE BAPTIST.

No

O event that ever did, or perhaps will happen, can more remarkably display the wisdom and power of the great Jehovah, than the glorious manner in which he brought life and immortality to light, by the gospel of his only Son, manifested in the flesh.

History, as it refers merely to human events, is a pleasing and instructing subject; but that which relates to our immortal interests, certainly claims our most serious regard.

If we survey the stupendous works of the creation, we shall find that few arrived at perfection at once. This observation is amply confirmed by the various productions in the 'natural, and changes in the moral world. The Supreme Being, who conducts all his operations according to infinite wisdom, appears to

have retained the same maxim in regulating his kind. est dispensations to the sons of men. The divine will was not revealed, at first, in its clearest evidence, and fullest splendor. The dawn, in a spiritual as well as in a natural sense, preceded the meridian glory; the former revelation was but a type, or earnest of the latter, and, in comparison with it, intricate and mysterious.

The all-gracious God, as it seemed best to his unerring wisdom, was pleased, by degrees, to open and unfold his glorious councils; and man, by degrees attained to the knowledge of the great plan of salvation, and the means used by its great Author to promote and establish it.

Some time before the incarnation of the blessed Jesus, an opinion prevailed among the pious part of the Jews, that the great Jehovah would condescend to favor them with a clear revelation of his divine will, by the mission of some eminent person, qualified from above to instruct them in the same. This opinion was founded on the predictions of the ancient prophets, who had described, with the utmost beauty and clearness, the person, character, and glory of the Messiah, appointed, by God, in his own time, to declare his eternal counsels to mankind.

Relying on the fulfillment of these prophecies, the devout persons among the Jews imagined the time appointed by God was near at hand, and that the appointed Messiah would shortly make his appearance, and therefore are said to "have awaited night and day for the consolation of Israel." The people, at that time grievously oppressed by the Roman power, and consequently anxious of regaining their liberty, as well as revenging themselves on their tyrannical oppressors,

wanted the accomplishment of the prophecies with the most solicitous desire. But this opinion of the approach of a general deliverer extended much farther than the country of the Jews; for, through their connection with so many countries, their disputes with the learned men among the heathen, and the translation of the Old Testament into a language now almost general, their religion greatly prevailed in the east, and consequently their opinion, that a prince would appear in the kingdom of Judea, who would dispel the mists of ignorance, deliver the Jews from the Roman yoke, and spread his dominion from one end of the world to the other.

While the eastern world was fraught with these sanguine hopes, the angel Gabriel, who had appeared to Daniel the prophet, with a certain information as to the period of the Messiah's coming, as well as his transactions in this lower world, was sent to Zacharias, a pious priest, while he was executing his office before God, in the order of his course, (which was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord,) to foretell that a child would spring from him and his wife Elizabeth, though they were stricken in years, who should be endowed with extraordinary gifts from heaven, and honored with being the forerunner of the Saviour of the world.

Zacharias, when he saw the angel, though he probably knew him to be of heavenly extraction, could not judge the subject of his mission, and therefore discovered a mixture of fear and surprise, but the heavenly ambassador cheered his desponding soul with this kind address: "Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou

shalt call his name John." That he waited, day and night, for the consolation of Israel, he well knew; which is all we can understand by his prayer being heard; for it was unnatural in him to think, that he and his wife Elizabeth, who were advanced in years, should have a son; nay, he intimates his doubts concerning it in these words: "Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years." Besides, he was a priest of the course of Abia, whose particular office was to pray on behalf of the people, for public and national blessings; so that it is very reasonable to think that on all occasions of public worship he prayed most earnestly for the accomplishment of the prophecies relative to the appearance of the long-expected Messiah, who was promised as a general blessing to all the nations of the earth.

That this was the great subject of his prayer, appears from the declaration of Gabriel: The prayer thou hast directed with sincerity to an Almighty ear, concerning the coming of the Messiah, "is heard; and, behold, thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son," who shall prepare the way for the mighty Redeemer of Israel. The good old priest was as much astonished at the subject of his mission as he was at the appearance of the messenger; and esteeming it impossible that his wife, thus advanced in years, should conceive a son, weakly demanded a sign, to confirm his belief in the fulfillment of the promise, though he knew the authority of the angel was derived from the God of truth. But as it is the lot of humanity to err, Zacharias had, for that time, forgot that nothing was impossible to Omnipotence, as well as that it were not the first time the aged were caused to conceive, and bear children.