The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1916-12-27

reverence and awe by his absorption
of the things of his heavenly Father.
and yet was subject TO them and
obedient in all things. Here. too. Is
a clear line of distinction between
l the supernatural miracle OF history
and the unnatural prodigy OF fiction.
which represents Jesus as returning
most learned answers to perplexing
questions of the doctors about as
tronomy, medicine. physics. meta
physics and other sciences.
The eternal conditions and sur
roundings of his youth are in sharp
contrast with the amazing results of
his public life.
He grew up quiet and unnoticed
in a retired Gallilean mountain viii
lage of proverbial insignificance. and
in lowly carpenter shop far away
from the city of Jerusalem. from
schools and libraries, with no means
OF instruction save those that were
open to the humblest Jew---the care
of godly parents. the beauties of ma
ture, the service of the synagogue,
the secret communion of the soul
with God, and the scriptures of the
Old Testament which recorded in
type and prophecy his own character
and mission. All attempts to derive
his doctrines from any OF the exist
ing schools and sects have failed. He
never referred to the traditions of
the elders except to oppose them.
From Pharisees and Saducees he
differed alike and provoked their
deadly hostility. He was independ-
ent of human learning and literature,
of schools and parties. He taught
the world as one who owed nothing
to the world; yet he gave 1t his life.
spoke of the fullness of his personal
intercourse with Jehovah. He was
no scholar, no artist, no orator; yet
he was wiser than all the sages. He
spake as never man spake, and made
an impression on his age and all
ages after him such as no man ever
made or can make; hence. the nat
ural superstition of the countrymen
as expressed in the question: From
whence has this man these things?"
How knoweth this man letters, hav-
ing never learned?"
But back for the moment to the
birth of our Lord; But thou Beth
lehem Eph-ra-tah, though thou be
little among the thousands of Ju-
dab, yet out of thee shall he come
forth unto me that is to be ruler in
Israel; whose goings forth has been
from of old, from everlasting"
Seven hundred years before his birth
the prophets had uttered this proph-
ecy as to where the Saviour should
be born. The divine will thus ex-
pressed by Micah was that Jesus
should be born in Bethlehem. But
until a short time before his birth
appearances seem to show that he
would be born in Nazareth: when,
10. Augustus, the heather emperor
demands census. The Jewish
families must enroll themselves at
their tribal cities. This simple cir
cumstance whose purpose was the
levy of men or the levy OF money
brought Mary to Bethlehem In time
to become. In the appointed place.
the mother of our Lord. Thus gov
ernments are made to carry out the
purposes OF God. though at the time
they may be entirely ignorant of his
will or their services.
This birth in Bethlehem was the
most important which ever took
place on our planet. Had the world
appreciated the advent IL would have
been heralded on every shore: but
so little wisdom was there In the
world that the precious child had. SO
to speak, to steal into the world in
stable among the cattle.
How humiliating 1t was to be