The Story of Jesus The Christ - Helen Braun Hojt

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

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

      TIIE BIRTH OF THE CHRIST

      15

      they first saw the star. He wanted to know bow old the child

      was. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying to them, u Go

      and look carefully for the child, and when you have found him

      bring me back word where he is, that I may go and worship

      him also.»

      The wise men then left Herod and went to Bethlehem, follow¬

      ing the star until they came

      to the house where Jesus

      was. And when they had

      come into the house they

      saw the child with Mary

      his mother, and they fell

      down and worshipped him.

      And when they had opened

      their treasures they gave

      him their gifts: gold,

      frankincense, and myrrh.

      Frankincense and myrrh

      are costly perfumes.

      This is the first time

      that any child ever had a

      Christmas present. And

      when Christmas conies

      round year after year bring¬

      ing with it gifts from those

      who love us, we will re¬

      member this story, will we

      not? And we will think

      with love of the little child whose birth we celebrate on Christ¬

      mas Day.

      After giving Jesus their presents, the wise men started home

      again. But they did not go back to tell Herod where they had

      The Three Wise Men

      16

      A CHILD’S STORY OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST

      found the child, for God had told them in a dream that Herod

      did not mean what he said, that he did not want to worship

      Jesus, but to kill him. So they went home another way.

      When Herod had heard the strangers asking him where the; y

      could find the King of the Jews he had been greatly interested,

      and a good deal worried. He was afraid that he would have more

      trouble than ever with the Jews if they had a king of their own

      So he, too, wanted to find the child. He had expected the wise

      men to tell him when they went back to Jerusalem just where

      he could be found, and there would be no more trouble after that,

      But the wise men did not come back to tell him. He waited

      and waited, till at last he found that they had gone to theit

      homes without seeing him again. Herod was very angry wheri

      he heard this. “ I must find the child,» he said; “ it will not do

      to let him live to be king.» One of his plans had failed, but h. <t

      thought of another.

      He did not know how old the child king was, but he watf

      sure that he could not be more than two years old. So, as ho

      did not know where to find him, he sent his soldiers to kill eveiy

      boy in Bethlehem that was two years old, or younger. (The

      word “ child ” in our Bibles really means boys; Herod did not

      need to kill girls in order to be sure of killing Jesus.) The

      soldiers did as they were told, and there were many sad home /

      in Bethlehem that day. This sounds even more cruel than it

      really was, for Bethlehem was a very small town, and there were

      probably not more than twenty or thirty boys there.

      But even this plan of Herod’s failed to harm the child Jesus.

      For on the night after the wise men had started for their homes,

      an angel of the Lord said to Joseph in a dream, “ Take the child

      and his mother and flee into Egypt, and stay there until I bring

      you word; for Herod will look for the young child to destroy

      him.»

      THE BIRTH OF THE CHRIST

      17

      So Joseph took the child and his mother that very night,

      and left Bethlehem to do as the angel had told him. In

      Egypt they were safe, for

      Herod had no power there,

      and could not touch them,

      even if he had been able to

      find out that they had gone

      there. Probably he never

      knew that he had not killed

      the boy king when he sent

      his soldiers to the city where

      he had been born.

      They lived in Egypt till

      the wicked king Herod died.

      We do not know what they

      did there, or where they

      stayed, although many sto¬

      ries are told about them.

      They probably lived very

      quietly.

      After the death of Herod

      Joseph dreamed again, and

      again the angel came to him,

      saying, “ Rise, take the child

      and his mother, and go back

      to your own land; for they are dead who sought to kill the child.»

      Joseph obeyed this dream as he had the other.

      But they did not go to Bethlehem to live; for they heard that,

      although the king Herod was dead, yet his son Archelaus, who was

      ruler there now, was a very wicked man. They went to Nazareth,

      the early home of Joseph and Mary. There Jesus lived all the

      years of his childhood, and all but three years of his whole life.

      Flight into Egypt

      THE BOYHOOD OF THE CHRIST

      We do not know much about him when he was a boy. The

      Bible says that he was “ filled with wisdom/’ and that he was in

      favor with God and man.» We know by this that he was a good

      boy, and was loved by every one who knew him.

      The

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