The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1894-06-29
The SUNDAY SCHOOL
International Lesson for July L. 1900
The birth al jesus Luke :;l-IO.

GOLDEN ILxT-Unto YOU ~ born TINS day.
IN the city ~ David. u Saviour. which r. Christ
the Lord Luke 2;il
TIME The last Of December, II & -Four
years before the commencement Of our common
era A. ID. tAnno Domin. year Of our Lord.
no that h. was born ,sss not i.sva years ago
II was the year Of the world t0J0
DATE or THE BIRTH or cuRsr lit Is very
pcrpicxlng To many 10 find that Jesus was
actually born four years be fore tho time from
which We count his birth The simple reason
IL that no ono calculated dates from Tho birth
of Christ I'LL centuries after lie was born, and
then Dionysius Exsguus tho monk who pub
lishcd the calculations IN A. II. b2i made mis-
take OF four years lie placed the birth 81
Christ 4. ID. ia the year OF Rome ~. c. s5l
G asi i Il A S 4 iiH III WA ss
80. SO that Christ must have been born several
months before. or not later than the last Of 7s9
Jesus was probably born a. the very close OF
u c. 0. which would be only four years before
our era. for Ia week after the e5th OF Deem
ber Is G. D. IL was January Is G.
Since II is impossible 10 rcctify the dates IN
oil books and records over the world, we sim
ply apply the true dates 10 the life Of Christ
lie was five years old at the close Of A ID l.
PLAcE-Iseihehcm OF Judca a village five
or six miles south OF Jerusalem. Its name
Bethlehem t''housc Of hreadD, was duo TO
the fertility Of the adjacent cornhelds II was
~
city OF David because IL was his birthplace and
contained the records OF his family. Here Je-
rome made the Latin translation OF the Bible
called the Nuratc A. ID. 350-iO0 IL now CON
tains about Ave thousand inhabitants. The
field Of the shepherds was about mile from
the village.
Rulers Augustus cmsar was emperor OF
Rome Herod the Great lthe lrst OF the seven
Herods mentioned ia the New TcstarneEU
king OF Judca but Palestine and mos OF the
known world were subject 10 Angus tus
The ROMAN EMPIRE. In order 10 understand
the material on which christianity hai -
work. We give the best statistics available.
Lyman's tables give the popalat.on 81 the
Roman empire az the time OF Christ as ico Co.,
011 OF which C100l0.0 were slaves 4tOJt.OeJ
were tributaries and freedmen, ana Only - 100.
COO were full citizens, or onc-sixta q the popu-
latlon The army ncmhcrcl 1900 and the
navy $500 men MInan gives the population
OF Rome. hy the census Of a ID. - a. ySi DO
PALESTINE Hon Sclah Merrill. ia his Cal
lee Ina the Time Of Christ" thinks THAI the pop.
uation 81 Palestine was about 6OJo0JJ ana of
Ga.t.cr a0tU,oJo
JERUSALEM According - Mlman, Jerusa-
lem had at this time . population OF . s5G,CO)
II was city Of great magninccnce and was
the me tropolis OF the jewish world
THE COMING OF THE DIVINE SAVIOUR.
Who Jesus Was Before lie Came
John ll-4: Heb. lie. 3. The Word.
who became Jesus on earth was the
eternal Son Of God. by Him the
worlds were created. He was with
God. and was God. From His glorious
home lie came 70 this world. as the
highest expression of Gods love, To
take upon Himself our human nature
for the salvation of the world from sin
10 holiness and Heaven.
Prophecies Of His Coming.-Onc of the
strongest assurances that Jesus is the
true Saviour from Heaven is the fact
that lie comes as part of a great Divine
plan lie was forctold, promised.
typified from the very beginning
There was promise TO Adam Gen.
3:l5l: to Abraham Gen. 22:isl: to
Jacob Gen. 1910: to David G. Sam.
7:ls-lC) by Isaiah (o:6. I; ll:l-9); by
Daniel (9:24) The sacrifices typifed
Him. More frequently still were fore
told the blessed times lie would bring
The Announcement of His Coming.
To Zacharias. the sanity father OF
John the forcrunner. to the Virgin
Mary, to Joseph. the coming was
announced IN words full of promise
that inspired them to songs which
have been sung with joy and gratitude
all through the ages Luke II.
The Preparation Of the World for
Ills Coming There has been no ether
time in the history Of the world ~ per-
fcctly adapted for the beginning ofthc
kingdom. and the spreading Of the
news Of salvation throughout the
earth. as that in which Christ was born.
1t was after the Jews had received all
that they would about Gods kingdom.
but before the breaking up and seat
tcring of the nation by the fall of their
capital and the temple. There were
many lands. but nearly al the world
was subject 10 the one government at
Rome. SO that the preachers of the
Gospel could travel i'm safety. and he
protected in their work. Roman roads
made for their lcgions were a highway
for the Gospel. and the Roman soldiers
We're guard for its preachers. The
world was at peace. for almost the only
time. SO that the gospel could have
free course. The Greek language, the
most perfect medium of human speech.
was spoken everywhere with the ma
WV lang udkSSs 81 NAV ttt \soNDtA
could be heard and read by all. The
conqucsts of Alexander which diffuscd
the Greek language. the Greek civiliza-
ton and Greek learning throughout
the east, were q marvellous providcr-
tial preparation for the Gospel The
Bible of the Jews had been translated
into the Greek language in the third
century before Christ This version is
called the Septuagint. Thus for some
centuries the Greek language was be-
ing prepared TO express the Divine mes
sage to man. The Jews had been dis
perscd through all lands carrying the
Old Testament. which bore witness to
one God. and held the prophecies of
the Messiah.
The Divine and Human Parcntagc
Of Jcsus.-Vs. Is. The mother of
Jesus was the Virgin Mary. but Ills ia
Their was God himself. through the
Holy Ghost. His reputcd father was
Joseph, who became the husband Of
Mary. Both Joseph and Mary were
direct descendants of David. OF whose
line the Messiah yyas IN he The ron