Our Master | Page 8

His
mother, was of the lineage of King David, but her relationship with the
royal house was a very distant one, and the family had fallen upon sad
times. The Romans were masters in the land, and a stranger sat upon
the throne of Israel. Mary, therefore, was but a poor village maiden;
Joseph, her betrothed husband, was a carpenter--an ordinary working
man. Bethlehem, the place of the Saviour's birth, was a tiny straggling
village, which, though not the least, was certainly one of the least of the
villages of Judea. And Nazareth, where He grew from infancy to
childhood, and from youth to manhood, was another little hamlet
among the hilly country to the north of Jerusalem, and was held in low

repute by the people of those days.
The occupation chosen for the early life of Jesus was a humble one. He
learned the trade of a joiner, and worked with Joseph at the carpenter's
bench. His associates and friends were of the village community, and
He "whose Name is above every name" passed to and fro and in and
out among the cottage homes of the poor--as one of themselves.
Probably none but His mother had, in these early years, any true idea of
the mysterious promise which had been given concerning Him.
What a contrast it all presents to the years of stress and storm and of
victory which were to follow, and to the supreme influence His
teaching and example were to exert in the world!
Is there not something here for us? Do not the lowly origin and simple
country habits and humble tastes of some of our comrades make them
hesitate on the threshold of great efforts, when they ought to leap
forward in the strength of their God? Let them remember their Master,
and take courage. Let them call to mind the unfashionable, uneducated,
uncultivated surroundings of Nazareth. Let them bear in mind the
carpenter's shed, the rough country work, the bare equipment of the
village home, the humble service of the family life. Let them, above all,
remember the plain and gentle mother, and the meek and lowly One
Himself, and in this remembrance let them go forward.
To be of lowly origin, or of a mean occupation; to come out of poverty
and want; to be looked down upon by the rich or the powerful ones of
earth; to be treated as of no consequence by governments and rulers,
and yet to go on doing and daring, suffering and conquering for God
and right; what is all this but the fulfilment of Paul's words, "And base
things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen,
yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no
flesh should glory in His presence"? Nay, what is it all but to tread in
the very steps that the Master trod?

III.

His High Nature.
But if, on the human side, our Redeemer's origin and circumstances
were of the humblest, and we are thus enabled to see His humanity, as
it were face to face, there was united with it the Divine nature; so that
as our Doctrines say, "He is truly and properly God, and He is truly and
properly man." Many mysteries meet by the side of that manger, some
of them to remain mysteries, so far as human understanding can
grapple with things, till God Himself reveals them to our stronger
vision in the world to come. But, blessed be God, some, things that we
cannot compass with our mental powers are very grateful to our hearts.
How Thou canst love me as I am, Yet be the God Thou art, Is darkness
to my intellect, But sunshine to my heart.
And we to whom the Living Christ has spoken the word of life and
liberty, although we may not now fully comprehend this great wonder
of all wonders --God manifest in the flesh--and may not be able
effectively to make it plain to others, we cannot for ourselves doubt its
central truth-- that GOD dwelt with man.
Here was, indeed, a perfect union of two spirits. There was the
suffering and obedient spirit of the true _man_; there was the
unchanging and Holy Spirit of the true God. It was a union--it was a
unity. It was God in man--it was man in God. A being of infinite might
and perfect moral beauty, sent forth from the bosom of the Father; and
yet a being of lowly and sensitive tenderness, having roots in our poor
human nature, tempted in all points like as we are, and touched with the
feeling of all our infirmities.
Is it not to something of the same kind we are called? Is not every true
Salvation Army Officer