Читать книгу The Story of Jesus The Christ - Helen Braun Hojt - Страница 11

13

was a comfort to her for the rest of her life. The shepherds

went out and talked with every one whom they met about the

wonderful child, and what the angels had said of him; and

thanked God for what they

had seen and heard, as

they went back to their

sheep.

When the child was

eight days old Mary named

him Jesus, as the angel

had told her. When he

was forty days old he was

taken to the temple at Je¬

rusalem. This was done

in order to obey a Jewish

law that said that a mother

must take her child to the

temple and offer sacrifices

for him. If she could af¬

ford it she must take a

lamb and a turtle dove for

the sacrifice; if she were

poor she could take two

turtle doves or two young

pigeons. As Joseph and Mary were poor, they took two turtle

doves.

There was an old man in Jerusalem, named Simeon, who

loved God, and who had so longed to see the Christ that God

had promised him that he should not die until he had seen the

child. Simeon was in the temple when Joseph and Mary brought

in the child Jesus. He looked at the baby, and knew at once

that this was the Christ he had so longed to see.

Presentation in the Temple

14

A CHILD’S STORY OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST

He took Jesus in liis arms, and thanked God that he had

been allowed to see his Christ. 44 Lord, now I am willing and

glad to go,» he said, 44 for I have seen thy Christ; the Saviour

who has come to make the world brighter and better.» Then

he said, as he gave the child back to his mother: 44 This child is

born to be a great help to many people, but others will not

believe him. They will speak against him, and will bring much

sorrow to him, and his trouble will cause you sorrow too.»

While these things were happening in Palestine, there were

in another country in the East some wise men who saw a bright

new star in the sky. These men studied the stars so much that

they knew those that generally shone as they did old friends,

and they knew that they had not seen this before. It seemed to

tell them that some great thing had happened. They knew that

the Jews were expecting a king, and they decided that this star

was sent to tell them that he was born; and they thought they

should go to honor him.

So, although they lived a long way from Palestine, they took

splendid gifts in their hands and went to find the king. They

followed the star until they came to Jerusalem, where Herod

the king lived. They were sure that a king would be found in a

king’s house, so they went to Herod’s palace and asked him :

44 Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen

his star in the East, and have come to worship him.»

Herod could not answer them. If he had ever heard of the

birth of Jesus, it had not interested him enough to make him

remember it. But he called together the learned Jews, and asked

them where they expected the Christ to be born. They told him

that the prophets had said that he should be born in the little

town of Bethlehem.

After Herod had found out all he could about the child, he

called the wise men and asked them how long it had been since