THE K I N G ’ S BUS I NESS
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mother and Child by prompt obedience. Thus the union of the natural and su pernatural has more than once out witted, the conspiracies of Herod to de stroy Christ and His cause. Those to whom God has committed the sacred charge of His Son have only to keep in communication with Heaven and re spond obediently to every Divine call, in order to thwart the wiles of the wicked. The social setting of the birth of Christ should not be overlooked. Jos eph and Mary, with royal blood in their veins, belonging to the Jewish aristo cracy as they did, are now in humble circumstances. He has no power to levy taxes which aré his due, but must support his family at the carpenter’s bench. He is known as “the carpenter,” and doubtless the best houses in Beth lehem were the result of his artistic taste, intelligent skill and honest toil. Jesus, the only Child who ever had the choice of His parentage, chose to be born into this royal family who had identified themselves with the common people. As Son of man, He had the royal blood of Judah’s kings in His veins, while He made common cause with thé weary toilers of earth. In His birth He honors both kingly dignity and lowly labor, an uncrowned King by right of royal lineage as well as royal character. Joseph in his carpenter’s frock was every, inch a king, and Mary is a queen in every feature of her character. Real kings are not made by crowns, sceptres and thrones. Many a human beast has worn a crown, held a sceptre and sat upon a throne; but a' man who has in his veins the blood of kings and shows in his life the kingly character, has a two-fold right to crown, sceptre and throne. It is fitting that kingly char acter should be crowned, sceptred and enthroned, and it will be, whether amid the rich upholstery, the gorgeous robes, the flashing lights and martial music of
heights of literature and art, with their depths of moral degradation. Even Ju daism had failed to redeem the people, for the Jews had been dragged down with the other nations. The birth of Christ had a striking po litical setting. It makes Herod, a self ish, sensual, cruel and degraded prince, tremble on his throne. To be sure, the birth of a Child whose parents, on ac count of their poverty, were crowded out of an inn and thrust into a stable, where He was born among the cattle and laid in one of their troughs for a cradle, will not even excite the inter est of a wicked king; but the claim that He is of royal descent, and the fact that eminent men have come from a distance to do Him homage, set the diseased imagination of the dissolute Herod afire with strange forebodings; and he sees ,at a glance that the wisest political course will be to destroy this Infant. To do so is bad morals, but good politics. It will violate every prin ciple of justice and humanity, but it will further the interests of the Herodian political party. Morals, humanity and justice must give way to politics. So the command goes forth that the Child must be slain, though it carries with it the murder of every baby in Bethle hem. Such politics and such politicians are not yet dead. There are Herods to day, at the head of great political or ganizations, who would plunge the world into war that their schemes of aggrandisement may be carried for ward. They destroy lives and wreck homes, giving occasion to many Rachels to weep for their children, because they are not. The birth of Christ into the world of these political Herods, with a spirit of peace and good will among men, troubles the politicians and all the people who are under their spell. It is interesting, however, to note how the angel and Joseph are too much for Herod. The angel reveals the danger to Joseph, who saves the
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