The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1906-01-09
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COMMENTS
FOR JANUARY IA.

suhjsc,: The wise Men rIna Jesus Matt.
IL. 1-f2-GoIden Text, Prov. xiii, 70
-Menory Verse. 1l-Topic: Man Seek
ing the avior--Coinsnentnrz.
]. The coming OF the wise men Tvs.
!. ~ J. When Jesus was born. r
While the exact date Of Chrlsts birtM
is uncertain there is no reason why ~
may not have been Oh December 20,
i. c. 5, But whx do We say that
Jesus was born before Christy SIM
ply because our calendar is incorrectg
For some centuries after Chrisrs time
there was no calendar ia general uses
b4lt ca ch nation dated from some event
in its history Finally, in the sixth
century, learned monk, DionysiuS
Fxiguus was appointed to ascertain
the time Of Christ birth. and it was
ordered that history should be dated
from that time But Diony sius, who
FIRST nuhlished his calculations in Al.
ID. 52G. put the birth Of Jesus about
four years too late In Bethlehem
..House of bread a name property
applied to a place where the true
bread was manifested for the life %
the world. "Of Judea" To distin7
guish ii from Bethlehem in Galilee5
mentioned in Joshua 1915. "Herod. Z
Herod the Great. He was an Edom7
tie. and. although a proselyte to the
Jewish religion. was notorious Tor MS
wickedness and cruelty. Wise men.
Augustine and Chrysestom say there
were twelve magi, but the common be-
lief is that there we're but three4
From the East" Perhaps from Me-
dia or Persia, or possibly, from AraI
bia ITO Jerusalem They seemed
to suppose that when they reached the
capital of the Jewish nation they
would have no trouble in finding the
object Of their search
2. King Of the jews" This was ~
title unknown to the earlier history Of
Israel and applied to no one except the
Messiah 1t reappears in the inscrip-;
ton over the cross Ills star The,
star which attracted the attention of the
magi was provided for the OCCASION.
To worship Him" TO do Him hom-t
age. They were bold to confess the
object Of their coming
H. Light from the Scriptures Cys.i
3-6). 3. Had heard The magl had
created no small stir by their inquiries
which Immediately attracted the at1
tention of the king Troubled
Herod, now sunk into the jealous der
creptitude Of his savage old age, was
residing in his new palace on Zion,
when, half maddened as he was all
ready by the crimes of his past career,
he was thrown into fresh parOxysm
OF alarm and anxiety by the visit OF
these magi, bearing the strange inteliij
gence that they had come to Worship
q newborn king Herod feared a riI
val. "All Jerusalem with him" Fear
ing that he would make this an occa-
sion of renewing his acts Of bloodg
shed. 4. "Had gathered" He ass
sembled the Sanhedrin "ChieG
priests This expression probably
comprehends the acting high priest
and his deputy, those who had BEEN
high priests. "Scribes" The learned
interpreters of the Mosaic law, and.
the collectors OF the traditions of the
elders. Many of them were Pharisees.E
Demanded of them Because they
would be most likely to know Where,
the Christ should be born" OR. VI The
wise men had said nothing about thei
Christ, or the Messiah, but only about
the King of the Jews. But Herod saw
that this king must be the expected
Messiah.
5. by the prophet" Micah 81.
g. art In no wise least" tR w All
though Bethlehem was little, yet it was
exalted above all the other cities Of
Israel. The prince 1.-The thou
sands" (Aiieah 5:2) The tribe had
been subdivided into Thousands, and
over each subdivision there was al
chieftain or prince. "A Governor
To control and rule. Which shall be,
shepherd tR. W To feed and care,
for, as a shepherd his flock This g0v-i
ernor who controls is also a tender
shepherd. Christ is both Shepherd
and King. My people Israel" IsraeE
was Gods people in peculiar sense 4
III The intrigue Of Herod Tvs. Z, 81
T. "Privily called" Herod desired tor
keep the time Of Christs birth as SCI
cret as possible lest the Jews who
hated him should take occasion to rel
bel. inquired of them diligently a
Learned Of them carefully r. vi
He incurred OF them the exact time
and received positive information AS
to the time the star appeared Assun-l
ing that the star appeared when the
child was born he1 would thus have
some idea of the age of the child s..
'sHe sent them. He assumed cOntrOld
but they followed the directions of the
Lord Search diligently" Herod was
honest il making this charge to them;
he greatly desired to receive definite
word concerning the new King And
worship Him also" What hypocrisyA
He only wished to find the child in or
der to murder Him Tvs l3, l6).
Nv. Guided by the star Tvs ., 10lJ
3, The star went before them" The
same star which they had seen in thefrl
own country now again appears
Stood over The star pointed out
the very mousse. TO- They rejolced.'
The Greek is very emphatic. They re-
joiced exceedingly
Y. The child Jesus found Tvs. iii
12). II. "Fell down. They pross|
trated themselves before Him Accord
ing to the Eastern custom. Gifts. u
The people Of the East did not ap-l
proach into the presence Of kings with-l
out bringing them presents. sGold.y!
etc. Gold would always be useful
while frankincense and myrrh wereI
priced fortheir fragrance r. Warned.
OF God in dream God communi-l
Gated His purpose to them in d manner
that they understood. "Anather way n
They could easily go East Eyom Beth-i
lehem and thus leave Jerusalem on the
north.
spanks octogensrIan Bay
Friends and nelghbors for miles
around acca4,1f1aT o4 +4,o 1899 u -,..l...l = n