The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-01-04
LESSON STORY.

If direct light on the formative
period of Jesus life is not abundant,
side-light, gained by modern research
clothes with visibility much OF bis early
experience.
The house he lived in was such as car
penters of Nazareth have lived in ever
since; for fashions are etaid IN the East
A stone house, thirty feet long. nearly as
wide; with a fiat roof to which stairs as
cend on the outside; with no windows
in the walls. the door serving alike for
ventilation and for light. The one room
of the house was carpenters shop,
parlor, kitchen, bedroom. The
furnishings, aside from the carpenters
tools. were a stool or two, with which
to occasionally vary the custom OF sitting
upon the earth floor; some mats or mat
resses which served for beds; some
sacred leaves of the Law were the sole
ornament of the walls.
In such place, surely in place no
more luxurious than this, Jesus passed
his early years.
But some modifying facts are to be
remembered. Life in Nazareth was an
open air life. There we're no hard win
ters with their indoor confinement.
Home-love and home associations sane
titled the humble dwelling. BE it ever
so humble, there is no place like home"
Jesus lived with brothersand sisters;
and while they may not have fully shared
his deeper life, he doubtless found Joy
in their companionship, and entered
heartily into their innocent sports and
daily employments.
The scenery surrounding the village
of Nazareth must have been an import
ant factor in Jesus education. Naza-
reth was village, then as now, con-
tanning about three thousand inhabit-
ants. Flowing through one of the
streets from the westward hills, was
stream of pure water; in the market or
green, this stream fell into a reservoir.
Here was the center of the village
social life. The outlook from various
openings in the craggy borders of the
village, has awakened many beholder
to an inexpressible sense of the beauti
full and sublime. Robinson, in his
Researches" describes the view from
the plateau above the town, and the
suggestions OF the scene: Seating my
self in the shade of the rock, remained
for some hours upon the spot, lost in the
contemplation of the wide prospect, and
of the events connected with the scenes
around. In the village below the Saw
Jour of the world had passed his child
hood: and although we have few partic-
nlars Of bile life during those early years,
yet there are certain features OF nature
which meet our eyes now, just as they
once met his. He must often have Wis
tied the fountain near which we had
pitched our tent; his feet must have
wandered frequently over the adjacent
hills, and his eyes doubtless gazed upon
the splendid prospect from this very
spot. Here the Prince of Peace looked
down upon the great plain, where the
din Of battles had often rolled, and the
garments of the warrior been dyed in
blood; and he looked out, teo, upon the
sea over which the swift ships were to
bear the tidings OF his salvation to ma
tions and continents then unknown.
How has the nhoral aspect of things been
changed. Battles and bloodshed have
indeed not ceased to desolate this un-
happy Country, and gross darkness now
covers the people; but from this region
light went forth which has enlightened
the world and unveiled new chimes; and
now the rays OF that light begin to be
reflected back from distant isles and con-
tinents. to illumine anew the darkened
land where it first sprang up.
While Jesus was not Learned, that
is. he was not graduate of one of the
great schools in Jerusalem where the