before them. And their deep faith was too high to be daunted by the poor surroundings of the wonderful Babe-probably not now in the stable, but in some house where His mother and Joseph would have settled on finding what wonders and blessings were attached to the cradle of the House of Jesse.

Their gifts were very costly, and gifts of faith, whether they understood the import or not. Gold owned the King, the Sceptre of Israel; frankincense, as the special accompaniment of a sacrifice, was appropriate to the Godhead; myrrh, the material for embalming, pointed to the coming death of the Christ; while again they pointed to the fit gifts for all who should follow them. "Love is a

present for a mighty king :" so our gold is our love, our frankincense is our prayer, and our bitter myrrh is self-denial and patience.

Thus so soon as far apart

From the proud world, in our heart
As in stable dark defiled,

There is born the Eternal Child.

May to Him the spirit's kings

Yield their choicest offerings;

May the affections, reason, will,

Wait upon Him to fulfil

His behests, and early pay

Homage to His natal day.—Archbp. TRENCH.

LESSON VII.

THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT.

B.C. 3.-MATT. ii. 12-23.

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 Ramah 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 Judæa 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.

SO

COMMENT.—The jealousy of Herod the Great had always been something frightful. He had, as we have seen, slain Hyrcanus, the old deposed Asmonean king, and his daughter, his son Aristobulus, and afterwards Queen Mariamne, though she was passionately beloved that remorse for a time took away his reason. Her two sons had likewise been put to death as soon as the people showed their love for their Maccabean blood, and the arrival of these visitors from a far country to do homage to the new-born King of the Jews maddened him. When he was disappointed of their return with any information, he was determined to make sure of the death of the royal Babe, and therefore caused every child under two years old in Bethlehem to be slain-since the infant was apparently about nine months old. Eastern tradition makes these slaughtered babes amount to 14,000, but another report, making the number 33, is far more probable. One historian says an infant of Herod's own was included in the massacre, and that Augustus observed thereupon that he had rather be Herod's hog than his son; but this is unlikely, as his children had long been all grown up, though indeed one of them at this very time had plotted against his father, and on being discovered poisoned himself.

The notable point is the fulfilment of Jeremiah's prophecy (Jer. xxxi.) uttered when beside the tomb of Rachel, "a little way

from Ephrath," where the Babylonians collected their droves of Jews to be slaves in a far country, like Rachel's own son, Joseph :

Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah
Lamentation, and bitter weeping:

Rahel weeping for her children,

Refused to be comforted for her children,

Because they were not.

Thus saith the LORD;

Refrain thy voice from weeping,

And thine eyes from tears:

For thy work shall be rewarded,

Saith the LORD;

And they shall come again from the land of the enemy.

And there is hope in thine end, saith the LORD;

That thy children shall come again to their own border.

The mothers of those captives were assured that they shall come again, and they did; the 153 of Bethlehem, carefully numbered by Ezra, and the mothers of the holy Innocents," the first-fruits sweet, borne by the suffering Church her Lord to greet," might reap assurance from the same prophecy that their babes should be the foremost in the borders of the land of perfect rest, “the flowers of martyrdom " :—

O weep not o'er thy children's tomb ;

O Rachel, weep not so.

The bud is cropt by martyrdom,

The flower in heaven shall grow."-HEBER.

The types of Moses saved among the babes of Egypt, and of Joash among the seed royal slain by Athaliah, were here fulfilled; also the actual history of Christ resembled that vision in which St. John beheld how His members, the children of the Church, are even in danger of being devoured by the dragon so soon as Christ is formed in them. The Innocents have been the comfort of bereaved parents ever since. It must be remembered that their day and that of the Epiphany are not supposed to be anniversaries, only commemorations.

The Holy Child was safe in Egypt, whither God had warned Joseph to carry Him. The spot where the Holy Family dwelt at Heliopolis is still pointed out, and one palm-tree is still standing.

e body of Israelites, whom God had called His firstborn, were a e of the Saviour, therefore the prophecy of Hosea is applied by

St. Matthew to this residence in Egypt as another of the notes of true Messiahship, "When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt."

Herod died a very short time after the murder of the Innocents. It was the last crime he carried out, though he intended a horrible one, for in his illness, suspecting that there would be great joy at his death, he summoned all the chief Jews to Jericho, where he lay, and shutting them up in the Circus, commanded his sister and her husband to send in soldiers to slay them all at the instant of his death, that there might be some grief in Judæa. However, when he actually died, this order was withdrawn, and the Jews released.

Joseph was warned of Herod's death in a dream, and returned, some say in our Lord's third year, some in His seventh; but finding that Herod Archelaus, the eldest son of Herod, a man as cruel, but far less able, was reigning at Jerusalem, he thought it safer not to live at Bethlehem, whence David's lineage would be naturally sought for, but to return to his former home at Nazareth.

The prophecy here adduced, “He shall be called a Nazarene," is not to be found in so many words in any translation; but Nazarene in Hebrew means a green bough, and is the same word as is used by Isaiah in the eleventh chapter, "There shall come a Rod out of the Stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall arise out of his roots," and Zechariah repeats, "Behold my Servant the Branch." The Nazarene, or Branch, was one of the acknowledged Messianic epithets, though no one thought of connecting it with the ill-famed city of Nazareth.

LESSON VIII.

THE DOCTORS IN THE TEMPLE.

LUKE ii. 39-52.

A.D. 16.-The Emperor Augustus confirmed Herod's will, and his eldest son Archelaus became what was called " Tetrarch," or Governor of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea; the second, Herod

Antipas, had Galilee and Penca, beyond Jordan to the north; and the third, Herod-Philip, Iturea, a tract beyond the Fordan to the south. The title of king was promised to Archelaus if he deserved it; but he proved himself so savage and cruel that complaints were made of him at Rome, and he was banished to Gaul, A.D. 9. The brothers were not disturbed in their governments, but Judæa and Samaria were kept in the hands of the Romans. There was a prefect, or principal governor, at Antioch, of all Syria, namely, Quirinus; but under him a pro-prætor was appointed for Judæa. He took up his abode at Cæsarea, a city recently built by Herod upon the coast. It was more convenient for intercourse with Rome, and besides, the Roman idolatries and other customs did not offend the Jews, as they did at Ferusalem. So the yoke of iron was riveted on the necks of the Jews, and the sceptre departed from Judah (Gen. xl. 9), as Jacob had foretold, just as Shiloh came unknown to his temple. Meantime the actual government of Jerusalem, except in matters of life and death, was carried on by the Sanhedrim, a council representing Moses' seventy elders, together with the high priest, and the heads of the courses of the priests. They met in a chamber built for the purpose, partly on Temple ground, partly

outside.

They returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth.

And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.

Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the pass

over.

And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem, after the custom of the feast.

And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it.

But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him.

And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.

And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and

answers.

And when they saw him they were amazed and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.

And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me ? wist ye not that I must be about my father's business?

And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.