The Brookhaven leader., 1889-06-20


mountains and seas could not have
touched His eye without irradiating His
entire nature with their magnificence, j
warrant that He had mounted and eks
plored ell the fifteen hills around Naza.
reth, among them Hermon with Its crys.
tai coronet Of perpetual snow, and Car.
mel and Tabor and Gilboa, and they all
had their sublime echo In after time from
the Olivetic pulpit.
Yes, from the naturalness, the SIM
plicity, the freshness of His parallels,
and SMILES, and metaphors in manhood
discourse, I know that He had been boy
OF the fields, and had bathed in the
streams, and heard the nightingale's
call, and broken through the howsry
hedge, and looked out of the embrasures
Of the fortress, and drank from the wells,
and chased the butterflies which travel.
ers say have always been one OF the Fit.
ting beauties Of that landscape. and
talked with the strange people from
Damascus, and Egypt and sapphoris,
and Syria, who in caravans or
on foot passed through Ills neigh
borhood, the dogs barking at their APP
proach at shutdown. As afterward He was
a perfect man, in the time Of which
speak He was a perfect Dos, with the
spring of boys foot the sparkle OF a
boys eye, the rebound or a boys life and
just the opposite of those Juveniles who
sit around morbid and unelastic, old men
at ten. 1 warrant Ha was able to take His
own part and to take the part of others.
In that village Of Nazareth am certain
there was what is found in oil the neigh.
borhoods Of tho earth, that terror OF chill
dren, the bully, who seems born to strike,
to punch, to bruise, to oyerpower the less
muscular and robust.
But having shown you the Divine lad
In the folds, must show you Him in the
mechanics shop. Joseph, His father,
died very early, Immediately after the
famous trip to the Temple, and this lad
had not only TO support Himself, but sup
port His mother, and what that is some
of you know. There is a royal race OF
boys on earth now doing the same thing.
They wear no crown. They have no pur-
pie robe adroop from their shoulders.
The plain chair on which they sit is as
much unlike throne as any thing you
can imagine. But Sod knows what they
are doing and through what sacrifices
they go, and through all eternity
God will keep paying them
for their filial behavior. They
shall get full measure of reward,
the measure pressed down, shaken to-
gether and running over. They have
their example in this boy Christ taking
care of His mother. He had been taught
the carpenters trade by His father. The
boy had done the palmer work at the
shop, while His father had put ON the
finishing touches of the work. The boy
also cleaned away the chips and blocks
and shavings. He helped hold the differ
emit pieces of work while the father
Joined them. In our day we have all
kinds of mechanics, and the work is di-
vided up among them. But to be car
penter in Christ's boyhood days meant to
make plows, Jokes, shovels, wagons, ia
bles, chairs, sofas, houses and almost
every thing that was made.
Fortunate was it that the boy had
learned the trade, for, when the head Of
the family dies, 1t is q grand thing to have
the child able to take care of himself and
help take care of others. Now that
Joseph, His father, is dead and the re-
sponsibility of family support comes
down on this boy, hear from morning
till night His hammer pounding, His saw
vacillating, His axe descending, His GIN
lets boring, and standing amid the dust
and debris of the shop 1 find the perspira-
ton gathering on His temples and notice
the fatigue of His arm, and as He stops
moment to rest I see Him painting, His
hand on His side, from the exhaustion.
Now He goes forth in the morning loaded
with implements of work heavier than
any modern kit of tools. Under
the tropical sun He swelters. Lift
ing, pulling adjusting, cleaving,
splitting all day long. At nightfall
He goes home to the plain supper
provided by His mother, and sits down
too tired to talk. Work. work. work
You can not tell Christ any thing now
about blistered hands, or aching ankles,
or bruised fingers, or stiff joints, or rising
in the morning as tired as when you laid
down. While yet boy He knew it all,
He felt it all, He suffered it all. The boy
carpenter! The boy wagon maker! The
boy house builder! o, Christ! we have
seen Thee when full grown in Pilates
police court room; we have seen Thee
when full grown Thou were essassinated
on Golgotha, but Q, Christ, let all the
weary artisans and mechanics of the
earth see Thee while yet understood and
arms not yet muscularized, and with the
undeveloped strength of juvenescence.
trying 20 take Thy fathers place in gain
ing the livelihood for the family.
But, having seen Christ the boy Of the
fields and the boy in the mechanics shop,
l show yen q more marvellous scene,
Christ the smooth browed lad among the
long bearded, white haired, high fore:
headed ecclesiastics of the Temple. Hun
dreds of thousands of strangers had come
to Jerusalem to keep a great religious
festival. After the hospitable homes
were crowded with visitors, the tents
were spread all around the city to shelter
immense throngs OF strangers. 1t was
very easy among the vast throngs COM
ing and going to lose a child: More than
two hundred thousand people have been
known to gather at Jerusalem for that
national feast. You must not think of
those regions as sparsely settled. The
ancient historian Josephus says there
were in Galilee two hundred cities, the
smallest Of them containing fifteen
thousand people. No wonder that
amid the crowds at the time
spoken of Jesus the boy of
was lost. His parents, knowing that He
was mature enough and agile enough to
take care of Himself, are on their way
home without anxiety, supposing that
their boy is coming with some of the
groups. But after awhile they suspect He
is lost and with flushed cheek and ter
rorized look they rush this way and that
saying,~ "Have you seen any thing Of my
boys He is twelve years OF age, of fair
complexion and has blue eyes and au.
burn hair. Have you seen Him since we
left the city," Back they go in hot haste,
L.. nd. Al