T HE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S ness of tim e (Gal. 4 :4 ) God sent forth His Son.— Evans. v. 2, W here is H e? Compare the first Old T estam ent question, “Where a rt th o u ?”— Garry. Our wise men m ust find th e ke'y of wisdom in the Lord. To seek m ental satisfaction and leave out Jesu s is like trying to make a garden and leaving out th e sun.— Jow ett. Born king. L iterally “ the born king.” There had not been a born king in Israel for a long time.— Ottman. H is sta r. How did these" wise men come to know so much about "Christ as an adorable King and Saviour? How came they to such full conviction th a t His b irth had occurred in Judea? The answer is, by the signs and constellations of the primeval as- » tronomy and th e legends conn'ected w ith them , in terp reted according to th e ir knowledge of th e Old Testament. It is an astronom ic fact, independent of all hypotheses, th a t a t th e precise hour of m idnight, a t th e w inter solstice, in th e period in which Christ was born, th e sign of Virgo, everywhere and al ways regarded as the sign of th e virgin mother from whom th e Redeemer- King was to be born, was ju st rising on th e eastern horizon. A t th e spring equinox of the same period, nine months earlier, th is sign of th e virgin a t mid n igh t was on th e m eridian w ith a line running .precisely across h er bosom. At the same date, a t m idnight, th e stars of the little constellation of Coma, the special sign of th e in fan t Seed of the woman, the Desire of nations, was like wise, along w ith th e virgin, directly on th e meridian. F u rth erm o re it is a m a tte r of record th a t a new and pecu liar sta r did make its appearance in the first Decan of Virgo in th e period im mediately preceding Christ’s b irth .—- Seiss. v. 3. Herod was troubled, This b irth caused more excitement in the world th a n any other b irth (v. 8, 17), and not only on earth bu t -in heaven (Lk. 2 :9 -14 ).— Sel. When we remem ber th e recent ag itation s a t Jerusalem , through the refusal of th e Pharisees to th e number of six thousand, to tak e th e oath of allegiance to him, w ith th eir prophecy of th e divinely intended tran s ference of th e kingdom from him and his race to a favorite of th e ir own, we can easily understand how much less a th ing would have been sufficient to te r rify him th a n th is announcem ent of the sta r and th e King.— Trench. All Jeru -
1239 salem. Jerusalem knew by experience w hat it was to have Herod disturbed. It m eant double oppression for them .— Lewis. _v. 4. P rie sts and scribes. In the historic facts of th is chapter we have types of four classes of men which have ever existed: (1) Those who earnestly seek the' tru th ; (2) those who re st in th e le tte r of th e tru th ; (3) those who are fearfully alarm ed a t th e tru th ; (4) those who are affectionate guardians of th e tru th . The magi rep resen t th e first, th e scribes and Pharisees, th e sec ond, Herod, th e th ird , and Joseph and Mary, th e fourth.— Thomas. v. 5. Thus it is w ritten . The scribes were well in stru cted from th e Scrip tu res, and perfectly orthodox. They knew ju st where the Christ should be born, bu t they had no in te rest in His coming. There is much of th a t sort of orthodoxy still. It did the scribes no good.— Torrey. v. 6. Thou, Bethlehem . Men would have naturally .'th o u g h t th a t Christ would be born in th e g reatest city of the world, bu t Bethlehem was the least among the thousands of Judah . A boy or girl is not to be despised on account of his or her birth-place.—McAuslane. v. 7. Inqu ired diligently. L iterally “ ascertained exactly.”-—Speaker’s Com. W hat tim e. This was th e second of th e two im portant questions, th e o ther being where (v. 4 ).— Comp. Bible.- v. 8. I may come. This was some th ing like th e kiss of Judas.— Gualther. Sent th em to Bethlehem . H erod’s, crafty counsel is absurd. If the child were not Messiah, he need not have been alarmed. If it were, his 'efforts were fruitless. B u t he does not see th is and so plots and works under ground in th e approved fashion of king craft.— Maclaren. • v. 10. G reat Joy. Those who fol low th e ir light to Christ will find in Him joy unspeakable. Those who spurn th e ir ligh t will have in th is life only dread of Him and hereafter, n augh t bu t m isery.— Sum. Bible. v. 11. In to th e house. It is no t reasonable to suppose th a t th e Holy Fam ily would require to stay long in the public khan where th e in fan t Saviour was born.— Critical Com. Child w ith H is mother. The child always oc cupies the first and prom inent place. I t is never “Mary and th e child,” but the “ child and His m other.” The child is before th e mother. W hat a rebuke
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