M. 1 THE book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 2 Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his breth- 3 ren; and Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom 4 begat Aram; and Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson 5 begat Salmon; and Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and 6 Obed begat Jesse; and Jesse begat David the king; 7 And David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias; and Solo- 8 mon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa; and Asa begat 9 Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias; and Ozias begat Joa- 10 tham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias; and Ezekias begat Ma- 11 nasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias; and Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon. 12 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel 13 begat Zorobabel; and Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim 14 begat Azor; and Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud; 15, 16 and Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. 17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.

L. 23 And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the 24 son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli, which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi, which was the son of Melchi, which was the son of Janna, which was the son 25 of Joseph, which was the son of Mattathias, which was the son of Amos, which was the 26 son of Naum, which was the son of Esli, which was the son of Nagge, which was the son of Maath, which was the son of Mattathias, which was the son of Semei, which was the 27 son of Joseph, which was the son of Juda, which was the son of Joanna, which was the son of Rhesa, which was the son of Zerobabel, which was the son of Salathiel, which was 28 the son of Neri, which was the son of Melchi, which was the son of Addi, which was the 29 son of Cosam, which was the son of Elmodam, which was the son of Er, which was the son of Jose, which was the son of Eliezer, which was the son of Jorim, which was the son 30 of Matthat, which was the son of Levi, which was the son of Simeon, which was the son of Juda, which was the son of Joseph, which was the son of Jonan, which was the son of 31 Eliakim, which was the son of Melea, which was the son of Menan, which was the son of

32. Mattatha, which was the son of Nathan, which was the son of David, which was the son of Jesse, which was the son of Obed, which was the son of Booz, which was the son of 33 Salmon, which was the son of Naasson, which was the son of Aminadab, which was the son of Aram, which was the son of Esrom, which was the son of Pharez, which was the 34 son of Juda, which was the son of Jacob, which was the son of Isaac, which was the son 35 of Abraham, which was the son of Thara, which was the son of Nachor, which was the son of Saruch, which was the son of Ragau, which was the son of Phalec, which was the 36 son of Heber, which was the son of Sala, which was the son of Cainan, which was the son of Arphaxad, which was the son of Sem, which was the son of Noe, which was the son 37 of Lamech, which was the son of Mathusala, which was the son of Enoch, which was the 38 son of Jared, which was the son of Maleleel, which was the son of Cainan, which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.

Ur to the giving of the Law no personal trait of the promised Redeemer is found. Hope was centred in a narrower circle at each great crisis in the spiritual history of mankind—in a race, in a nation, in a tribe. For the first time, the work of Moses furnished occasion to a special portraiture of Messiah’s office. He was to be the mediator of a new Law. To establish an abiding covenant between God and man was declared to be the substance of his work. The Law alone was unable to train the Jews to their appointed work. A kingdom was established, and with it a new conception of Messiah was added. The king, who gave unity and security to the nation, was but a type of the Son of David, whose kingdom should extend in eternal blessings over all the world. The earthly sovereignty of the line of David fell. The chosen people passed into captivity, and under the pressure of national disaster learnt from the teaching of prophets to see in their promised Messiah “the Son of Man,” who should sympathize with the sufferings of those whom he came to save as well as to govern. Thus the central belief, in virtue of which Judaism lived, was providentially shaped in the progress of the history of the chosen people. Nothing was lost as the conception of the Redeemer was gradually completed. Each period added something which belongs essentially to the fulness of the conception. And so at last the Lawgiver, the King, the Prophet, the Priest, the Man, are all included in the Christ whom the gospels present to us. B. F. W.

THE object of both genealogies of Jesus in the gospels is to show that, according to the flesh, the holy child was lineally descended from King David. This fact was often asserted in our Lord’s lifetime, and never denied by the Jews, as they would have been glad to have done had it been in their power. The fact that the descent of Jesus from David could be established by registers, and the presence of two such minute pedigrees as those of Matthew and Luke, evince that the Jews were, up to this time, still careful in the registration of family descents. The division of the whole Hebrew nation into tribes, and the allotment to each tribe, and to every family in each tribe, of its distinct portion of territory, as an inalienable possession, rendered it indispensable that genealogical tables should be preserved. That such registers existed to even a later date is shown by Josephus, who declared that he traced his own descent in the tribe of Levi by public registers; and he expressly informs that, however dispersed and dispossessed his nation were, they never failed to have exact genealogical tables prepared from the authentic documents which were kept at Jerusalem; and that, in all their sufferings, they were particularly careful to preserve these tables, which were renewed from time to time. Since, however, the period of their destruction as a nation by the Romans, all their tables of descent seem to be lost, and now they are utterly unable to trace the pedigree of any one Israelite who might lay claim to be their promised and still expected Messiah. K.

The genealogies coincide until David, when Matthew takes the reigning line, whereas Luke takes the younger and inferior line by David’s son Nathan. They concur, indeed, in Salathiel and Zorobabel, at the time of the captivity, but then diverge again, and even at the close the difference is maintained; for Matthew makes Joseph the son of Jacob, whereas Luke represents him as the son of Heli, or Eli. He could not have been naturally the son of both these persons; and the essential difference in the two lines of descent allows no satisfactory solution in the idea that Jacob and Heli are different names for the same person. They are obviously two different genealogies from the common ancestor, David. This being the case, there can be little doubt that the genealogy of Matthew is that of Joseph, and the one of Luke that of Mary—the former being the legal and the latter the real genealogy of Jesus. L.—Matthew was writing for the Jews, and tracing his legal descent from David, which legal descent was always reckoned in the male line, and was, therefore, properly traced through the husband of his mother. Luke, composing his gospel for the use of the Gentiles, and intending to prove that Christ was the seed of the woman, necessarily reckons by the line of his mother, Mary, the daughter of Heli. But it was never usual with the Jews to mention the names of females in their genealogies; on this account, Mary is not mentioned here by Luke, but is only intimated or included, when the line is commenced from her father, Heli. J. L.—Indeed, Luke seems to have indicated his meaning as clearly as could be, consistently with the absence of a woman’s name in a pedigree, by distinguishing the real from the legal genealogy in a parenthetical remark,

“Jesus being (as was reputed) the son of Joseph (but in reality) the son of Heli,” or his grandson by the mother’s side; for so the ellipsis should be supplied. Furthermore, Mary is always called by the Jews “the daughter of Heli.” The conclusion, then, is, that Jesus was, in the most perfect sense, a descendant of David, not only by law in the royal line of kings through his reputed father, but by direct personal descent through his mother. L.

L. 38. Which was the son of Adam. Matthew had contented himself with showing Jesus to be the son of Abraham, from whom the Scriptures had taught the Jews to expect that the Messiah would spring. Luke, on the contrary, traces this lineage up to Adam; and thus signifies, among other important truths, that he is the seed of the woman promised to our first parents as the common Saviour of them and of all their posterity, without distinction of Greek or Jew, bond or free. Townson.

Chronological Outline from B. C. 4 to A. D. 30, including the Leading Events of our Saviour’s Life.

| B. C. | Judea. | Galilee. | N. E. Palestine. | Rome. | | — | — | — | — | — | | 4 A. D. | Nativity. Death of HEROD. ARCHELAUS, Ethnarch of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea. | HEROD ANTIPAS, Tetrarch of Perea and Galilee. | HEROD PHILIP, Tetrarch of Batavia, Iturea, Trachonitis, etc. | AUGUSTUS CÆSAR. | | 6 8 April 9 | Archelaus banished, and Judea annexed to the province of Syria. First Roman Procurator. Jesus at the Passover (12 years). | | | | | 14 26 | PONTIUS PILATE, sixth Procurator. | | | Augustus dies. TIBERIUS, emperor. | | 27 April 9 | Baptism, Temptation. First Passover. | | | | | 28 March 29 | Second Passover at Jerusalem. | First circuit in Galilee. Apostles chosen. Second circuit. | | | | 29 April 16 Oct. 11 Dec. 12 | Third Passover—not at Jerusalem. Feast of Tabernacles. Feast of Dedication. | Third circuit. Circuit in Perea. | Transfiguration. | | | 30 April 5 April 6 April 8 May 17 May 27 | Passover. Crucifixion. Resurrection. Ascension. Pentecost. | | | |

Section 6—The Birth at Bethlehem.

M. 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. 24 Then Joseph, being raised from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: and knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

L. 1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, (because he was of the house and lineage of David,) to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. 6 And so it was, that while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

THE birth of Christ most aptly introduces the whole subsequent history of his life, and both his birth and life as aptly represent the spiritual fortunes of his gospel as a great salvation for the world. And the reason why Jesus cannot find room for his gospel is closely analogous to that which he encountered in his birth, viz., that men’s hearts are preoccupied; they are filled to the full with their own objects already. It is now as then and then as now; the selfishness and self-accommodation, the want of right sensibility, the crowding, eager state of men, in a world too small for their ambition—all these preoccupy the inn of their affections, leaving only the stable or some by-place in their hearts, as little worthy of his occupancy and the glorious errand on which he comes.

And a main part of the difficulty is, that Christ is a grace too great for men’s thoughts, and of course too great for their faith—the Eternal Word of God robed in flesh, the humanly manifested love and feeling of God, a free justification for the greatest of sinners and for all sin, a power of victory in the soul that raises it above temptation, supports it in peace, and makes obedience itself its liberty. Such a Christ of salvation fully received, embraced in the plenitude of his gifts—what fires would he kindle, what tongues of eloquence loosen, what heroic witnessings inspire!

Is it not true that Christ our Master should begin to be fitly represented by his people—received in his true grandeur and fulness as the Lord of Life, and Saviour of mankind; able to save to the uttermost; a grace all victorious; light, peace, liberty, and power; wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption? Be it ours then so to make room for him, even according to the greatness of his power. H. B.

18. Before they came together.** Though betrothal was virtually marriage, and could only be broken off by a formal “bill of divorcement,” the betrothed did not at once go to her husband’s house. To give her time for preparation, and to soften the pain of parting from her friends, an interval elapsed before the final ceremony; it might be so many weeks, or months, or even a whole year. G.—

19. Her husband.** Between the betrothal, or formal agreement to marry, and the actual marriage, the parties became, in the eye of the law, man and wife, and were so spoken of. K.—20. Son of David. These words would recall Joseph’s mind to the promised seed, the expectation of the families of the lineage of David, and at once stamp the message as the announcement of the birth of the Messiah.

21. From their sins.** It is remarkable that in this early part of the evangelic history, in the midst of prodigies, and the disturbance of thrones by the supposed temporal King of the Jews, we have so clear an indication of the spiritual nature of the office of Christ. One circumstance of this kind outweighs a thousand cavils against the historic reality of the narrative. It bears the internal impress of a message from God, treasured up and related in its original formal terms. A.—The three names of our Saviour—Christ, “the anointed high priest;” Immanuel, “God with us;” and Jesus, “he that saves”—embody the great doctrines of the gospel, that he makes atonement for the past, is our companion in the present, and so delivers us from the power of sin now, and its penalty hereafter. L. A.—This is the name which we engrave in our hearts, and write upon our foreheads, and pronounce with our most harmonious accents, and rest our faith upon, and place our hopes in, and love with the overflowings of charity, joy, and adoration. J. T.

24. If his own dream was to be believed (of which he was able to judge), still more was Mary’s vision credible. The one confirmed and authenticated the other. The usual time for taking her home had already come; and he delayed not to afford her the protection which the formal completion of his marriage with her would supply. Hence, Jesus came to be formally recognized as the son of Joseph; and his early years rested under the shield of a poor man’s honor, until the time came for him to assert the claims of his heavenly parentage. K.

L. 1. Taxed. This taxing was an enrolment, or account of the inhabitants and their estates, and was ordered by Providence to verify the truth of ancient prophecies. D.—The taxing is mentioned by Luke, not only to mark the time of Christ’s birth, but to prove that he was born in Bethlehem, and that his parents were at that time known to be branches of the royal family of David. M.—Perhaps the best explanation is, that the design of Augustus was first fully executed when Cyrenius was governor, though the decree went forth and the enrolment commenced ten years earlier. There is abundant reason to believe that an enrolment was actually set on foot shortly before the death of Herod. G. R.

2. Though the home of Joseph and Mary was at Nazareth, the sure word of prophecy had declared that the Christ should be born at Bethlehem, the native place of his royal father David; and this was accomplished by the agency of the Roman emperor. S.—Augustus had ordered a general census of the Roman Empire, partly to obtain correct statistics of its resources, and partly for purposes of taxation. As Judea was then a dependency of the empire, and Augustus probably intended to reduce it entirely to the state of a Roman province, he wished to secure similar statistics of that country, and ordered King Herod to take the census. In performing this duty, Herod followed the Jewish usage, viz., a division by tribes. Joseph and Mary belonged to the tribe of David, and therefore had to repair to Bethlehem, the seat of that tribe. N.

4. The town of Bethlehem is six miles to the south of Jerusalem, a little to the east of the main road to Hebron. A thousand years before it gave the world the thorn-crowned King—the King of the realm of truth, it bestowed upon the house of Israel its royal psalmist and divine hero. Both David and Christ sprung from Bethlehem. Tisch.—It was the scene of the events so touchingly related in the book of Ruth. It was here that the good Boaz abode; and here the foreign damsel—destined to become the foremother of David and of Jesus—gleaned his field. Still earlier, it was here that the beloved wife for whom Jacob had served fourteen years was taken away from him. Rachel, Naomi, Ruth, Mary: a cluster of lovely names connected with Bethlehem, in incidents on which the heart loves to dwell. K.—The little town has an imposing aspect and a commanding site. It stands on the summit of a narrow ridge, which projects eastward from the central mountain-chain of Judah, and breaks down abruptly into deep valleys on the north, east, and south. The steep slopes beneath the village are carefully terraced; and the terraces—clothed with olives, vines, and fig-trees—sweep in graceful curves round the ridge, regular as stairs. Below these slopes, in the bottom of the valleys, are fields whose fertility gave the place its name, “House of Bread.” J. L. P.—Bethlehem stands nearly three hundred feet higher than Jerusalem. It is only a short distance from the edge of the great wilderness of Judah (or Judea), which lies (ten miles in breadth) along the west flank of the Dead Sea. In

Bethlehem this direction fertile valleys are seen for only a few miles, after which is a billowy waste of rocky ridges, their general level declining rapidly toward the deep, steaming chasm of the Dead Sea. Beyond the sea the blue masses of Moab appear. . . . It is worthy of mention that, attractive as Bethlehem is to us—mainly as the Saviour’s birthplace—it appears never to have had any special attraction for the Saviour himself. We never find him visiting it from Jerusalem. N. C. B.

It is remarkable that the scenes of the most wondrous events in gospel history were never even incidentally alluded to by the sacred writers after the events themselves had transpired. The reason is obvious, and its lesson most instructive. It was not until the first deep and holy impressions of heavenly doctrines began to be obliterated, until sense began to usurp its former ascendancy over spirit, that holy places were diligently sought out, and fitted up as shrines for a mistaken devotion. J. L. P.—Alike in sacred topography and in sacred history, there is a wide, free atmosphere of truth above, a firm ground of reality beneath, which no doubts or controversies concerning this or that particular spot, this or that particular opinion or sect, can affect or disturb. We have still [Bethlehem and Nazareth, Jerusalem,] the Mount of Olives, and the Sea of Galilee; the sky, the flowers, the trees, the fields, which suggested the Parables—the holy hills, which cannot be moved, but stand fast forever. A. P. S.—Great natural objects in Palestine—the knowledge of which helps to confirm our faith, and to illustrate the Scriptures—are capable of being identified; but minute objects which would be almost certain, if known, to be abused to purposes of superstition, are left undiscoverable. God would cut us off from temptations to superstition. Moreover, he would prevent us from localizing a religion which was designed to be universal, from attaching that kind and measure of interest to places which can only properly belong to the facts of which those places were the scene. A. Thomson.

7. In the rude limestone grotto attached to the inn as a stable, among the hay and straw spread for the food and rest of the cattle, weary with their day’s journey, far from home, in the midst of strangers—in circumstances so devoid of all earthly comfort or splendor that it is impossible to imagine a humbler nativity—Christ was born. And the gospels, always truthful and bearing on every page that simplicity which is the stamp of honest narrative, indicate this fact without comment. There is in them nothing of the exuberance of marvel, and mystery, and miracle, which appears alike in the Jewish imaginations about their coming Messiah, and in the apocryphal narratives about the infant Christ. There is no more decisive criterion of their absolute credibility as simple histories, than the marked and violent contrast which they offer to all the spurious gospels of the early centuries, and all the imaginative legends which have clustered about them. F.—By the manner of his entrance into this world, Christ hath dignified the estate of infancy, and hallowed the bond which binds the mother to her new-born child. The grave, we say, has been hallowed—has not the cradle also—by Christ’s having lain in it? H.

Our common era begins in any case more than four years too late; that is, from four to five years, at the least, after the actual birth of Christ. This era was first used in historical works by the Venerable Bede, early in the eighth century, and was not long after introduced in public transactions by the Frank kings Pepin and Charlemagne. R.

The throne of the Cæsars, the throne of mere human authority and power, has perished. That name, at which nations trembled, carries no power over the spirits of men. But the empire of Jesus, the empire of pure, undying, self-sacrificing love, will never perish; its sway over the conscience and hearts of men, as the world grows older, becomes ever wider and stronger. He has exalted the spiritual above the material; the empire of love above the empire of power. H.—That Child of Bethlehem, becoming the carpenter of Nazareth, and the companion of fishermen, having in his poverty “not where to lay his head,” and publishing his gospel of self-denial to illiterate men, and feeble women and children, proves himself mightier than all empires and all philosophers, and, by a society whose character and weapons are not carnal but spiritual, overturns the defences of human depravity, pulls down the strongholds of Satan, and marches irresistibly to universal and blessed conquest. N. C. B.

The Progress of the World—the secular, scientific, and governmental development which mankind has realized since his era—bears witness to the celestial origin, the divine character, power, and mission, of the Lord whom the Gospels present to us. The courses of human history have been changed; the level of moral and spiritual life throughout Christendom has been lifted; society has had more of courtesy, chivalry, liberty in it, in the last eighteen centuries, than had ever been seen or dreamed of before. It goes forward now, with measurable and irresistible motion, instead of whirling round and round, as before Christ it did, in a grand but dreary Sahara dance. It is hopeful, as it was not. Its expectation surpasses now its recollection. Its golden age is not chronicled in the Past, but prophesied, in the Future. Philanthropies are now organized, and enlist wide enthusiasm, of which Athens, with all her intellectual vivacity and her æsthetic training, never thought. Popular education, the sacredness of the family, the social and civil obligations of men, the elevation of woman, the enfranchisement of the poor, all useful and elevating knowledges, inventions, and moral ideas—in all, the race has made such progress in the course of these centuries as never was imagined or foreshadowed until Christ. Justly does Christendom reckon from his birth its years and centuries; for from him, and him alone, has proceeded that new and superior influence which Christendom exhibits. R. S. S.

Section 7.—The Watching Shepherds.