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JESUS
" maton&l Sunday School Lesson
For December 28, 1952.
. ' ii ' , : ' , ''..7' ' ;V': ? KV.'-
l-amory Selections "Ye shall seek
e, anj find mefwhen y shall search
.jr "me 'with all your heart."-IJereT
miah 20: 13.
Lesson Text : Matthew 2 : 1-12.
rv :y, i; rco, it. c, it-say, anccra 2 lssz.
Continuing Matthew's account of the
birth and early childhood of Jesus,
.s we have the story of the visit of the
three Wise. Men, who were the first
Gentiles to visit Jesus. Their search
for and their worship of the Christ,
therefore, may have been prophetic of
the time the Gentile world wouia ac
cent Christ aa Lord and Saviour.
' As pointed out several times in our
resent rtudy. the purpose and aim
of Matthew's Gospel was largely- to
convince the Jews that Jesus fulfilled
the Messianic hone and prophecy.
Therefore, all through his Gospel,
Matthew links Jesus' with the earlier
nrouhecies.
Jesus was born in the year B. C.
5 four veara and one week before
A. B.' 1 -an error made by Dionysius
in the calculation of dime caused the
. beginning of the Christian era- to
be counted wrong. Pompey had cap
tured Jerusalem in 63 B. C. and
. Palestine was under the Romans at the
time of the birth of Jesus. Augustus
Caesar was the Emperor of Some.
The gospel references to the time is
"in the days of Herod the king," re
ferring to Herod the Great.
pathelAOD ' .
Matthew .tells us that, "Behold,
there came wise men from the east
to .Jerusalem, saying, Where is he
that is born King of the Jews ? for we
have seen his artar in the east, and are
come to worship him." Tradition
numbers these "wise men," probably
astrologers and philosophers of their
day, as being' three, some adding that
they were from India, (Persia and
Arabia, respectively.
Having seen a strange star in the
sky, they were led to seek the new;
Saviour. - The star was v of such un
usual splendor that they believed it
foretold the birth of royalty. ' Then,
in their oriental minds, there flashed
a thought: The Jewish exiles in Baby
lon had said that a King would be
born amomr them who would once
more restore the' glory of Israel. ' And
this particular star was in the di-
rection of Jerusalem, the .homeland of
the Jews. ' '
In 1604, the great astronomer Kep
ler saw the planets Jipiter and Sat-
: urn in conjunction and, shortly after
ward, a bright star burst forth in the
constellation 'of the Serpent. Calcu
lations show that just bef ore the birth
of Jesus, these same two planets were
.-, in conjunction,
'After traveling for miles across the
desert, the Whse Men arrived in Jeru
salem. They must have been sur
prised to find the city quieti-unex-cited
by the event' proclaimed by the
Star. After making inquiry around
the city, they explained their pres
ence. Word of their visit and their
search for a new "king" reached Her
od, who, when he "had heard these
things, he was troubled, end all Jeru
salem with him." ISo he called all the
i leaders of the Jews the chief priests
: , and scribes to him and asked what
they knew of this Christ, who should
" be bom. 1
They told him that the prophecies
had declared that the Messiah would
be born in Bethlehem of Judea, and
then they quoted the prophecy of
Micah (Mic. 5: 2). They knew the
:.. text, but they did not recognize the
fulfillment of it. .
Apparently, Herod took the Wise
Men's report more seriously than did
the -chief priests. - iHerod wanted to
know just when the star had appear
ed, so that he might calculate just
when the birth had taken place, Jesus
is tnought to have beeji around two
years old at this time not the tiny
baby in the manger as usually, de
picted. 'With every pretense of sin
cerlty. Herod asked the Wise Men
to report back to .him after they had
lound wevnud, atfthat he, toq, might
go to cethlehem to worship (himi
Again, the Wise Men set out on
f their quest and this time they were
successful. Following the tar, they
came, to the house where Mary ' and
the, young' chi4 lived. When, tihey.
saw : the 'child they fell down and
worshipped him, , and when they had
c-vned their . treasures, ithey pre-.
sented unto him gifts: gold,' and
frankincense, and-myrrh.' And, be
ing warned of- God in a vision that
they should not return to Herod, they
departed into their own country anoth
er wav. -.'.)'?
. It is interesting to thinir hat our
lasaon, title for this week has a double
r eaning. It suggests that the Wise
m xrom line iast came to iBethle
ti, seeking the Christ. It also sug
- ls that men who are wise will
k Jesus... ;
'H ase commentaries are based on
'hted outlines produced by the
n of 'Cl.riotmn EJ .cation, Nt
1 Council - fit the Churches of
V t, U, S. A., and used by perm'is.
M
MW.-A-.'.-WM...
There's plenty of room for improvement in this old
world of ours.
Of course, it is just about perfect from a structural
standpoint. It spins -through space with such mathe
matical precision that man can count days and months
and years and even print them oh calendars without
fear of error.
But where life and people are 'concerned . . . even a
child can see that things are pretty badly muddled.
What of 1953? Will it bring a better world? Will
there be more happiness and less sorrow . . . more love
and less hatred . . . more good, less evil?
;, Onr w,orld will always be what we are. Only the
lives of men change,.caa the life of the world improve.
The Church is dedicated to building better lives. By
religious education, by worship, by preaching the high
est moral and spiritual standards, the Church can make
a bitter you and a better mm. There is no other way
to a better world. The Church is the salvation of man
11 it. ..i
AU. FOR mr JZZJ
ehoracter oSod !,,1bulldto9 ol
.tor.h9?l-i"liP. It
"""out itron-- S"'" lu.
reaion. wi2 four Mouns
in Church Tt ' UP-
For th. aniBertl0. M)
h." rffi.3 te .W to
dailr. your
hwmjt .
nil
uniuy. ; , if-rr '" I-U
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Everyone
Wishing .you joy ond
happiness not only
on Christmas but
very day of tho
coming year.
ELLIOTT LAYDEN
HERTFORD, N. C.
tar
May the Christmas
Season bring
you much
'happiness -
FENTON HURDLE
' Distributor
. HERTFORD, N. C.
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