I.
"WHO ART THOU, LORD?"[1]
Nineteen hundred years ago there came into this
world a Man whose Life of thirty-three years is the
chief event in the world's history, and—whether we
think of it or not—the chief event in the history here
and hereafter of every one of us.
He was promised four thousand years before He came. The race, the tribe, the family, the time of His coming, the chief events of His Life were known. So that in the reign of the Roman Emperor, Augustus Cæsar, when the time foretold by the prophets had come, there was a widespread expectation of a great Deliverer, and many eyes were turned to the little country of Palestine where He was to appear. And there, in Bethlehem, in a stable, on a winter's night, He came. Angels sang in the heavens and sent shepherds to His crib. A star shining out in the eastern sky brought wise men to His feet. Then the marvels around Him ceased, and whilst men were still expecting, and wondering why the promised One delayed so long, He was growing up from youth to manhood, and working at a carpenter's trade in the despised village of Nazareth.
At the age of thirty He left His cottage home and began to show Himself to men. The majesty and grace of His Person, His winning ways, the power and the sweetness of His words, and His marvellous works,
- ↑ Acts ix. 5.
