Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-11


/ other can ever surpsss her position of
eminence and honor. Her name has
| been Venerated by people of all faiths
Poets have sought to interpret her char
| acter in their poems. Painters have
| tried in their paintings of the Madonna
To perpetuate on canvas the beauty of
her face and the glory of her soul
Preachers have tried to honor her men,
DRY in their sermons. None have sue
eeeded, as they wished, in portraying
to the world the face that Jesus saw
when He opened His eyes in Bethle-
hen's manger and that throughout all
His life in the flesh brought to Him
glimpse of Heaven by its holy loneliness
and spiritual grace.
No greater event ever took place in
the history of all the ages than the
birth of Christ. We owe to Luke, who
traced with the skill of a scientist
events to their origin, the story of the
prenatal days of the Lord, so that we
might understand the beginning and
certainty of the fundamental fact that
was believed by the early church. The
choice Of Mary to be lifted up above all
other mortals until she reached the
highest honors open to woman came
TO the young Nazareth maiden because
of her piety, purity and personality. Her
ancestral lineage, which the Jews at
ing to Luke fulfilled the prophecies and
promises required to make Jesus, ac-
cording to the flesh, of the tribe OF
Judah and of the royal line Of David.
Divine Choice Confirmed.
While it was the ambition of prob
ably every patriotic and religious jew
ish woman TO become the mother OF the
Messiah, when the news was announced
to Mary by the angel Gabriel that she
had been chosen to be highly honored,
we are told that ''she was troubled at
his SAYING and she cast in her mind
what manner of Salutation this should
be-" Wonder and alarm filled the mind
of Mary. In her bewilderment ana dis
may her heavenly visitor did much TO
compose her troubled soul. He assured
her that she had found favor with God.
Her spiritual pleading for the coming
of the Messiah had been answered.
When she was assured of the Lords
program she submitted to the divine
will in a spirit of meekness. obedience
and love that established the greatness
of her faith.
The angels reference to her aged
cousin may have prompted the sudden
trip to the city in the hill country OF
maiden could not have taken without
proper escort. Arriving at the home OF
the aged priest Elizabeth confirmed the
faith of the trusting young woman VINO,
as the door of motherhood was opened
to her, had to bear such a tremendous
burden Possible fear of shame ano UNI
kindness may have fastened her night
to the one home where her experience
would be understood by the silent
Zacharias and his noble wife, who
greeted the arrival of Mary by recognlz-
ing her as 1.-The mother Of my LORD,
citing personal experiences that con-
firmed Mary's faith in Gabriels message
and assured her young relatives OF the
certainty of fulhllment OF God promise:
The reply of the blessed mother OF
our Lord to the comfort, consolation
and cheer of Elizabeth shows Mary's
noble mind. which was so sensitive TO
the highest thoughts, that she was
visited by those profound thoughts
which have their home in the unseen
and become the inspiration OF un-
worldly enthusiasm" Her last fear had
departed. Elizabeth had confirmed her
faith. Her timidity gives place to cour-
age Her grateful soul breaks forth
into song that ranks favorably with
the noblest ancient and modern poetry.
This song Of glory reveals that she knew
the God whom she had trusted. She
had not studied the Scriptures in vain,
for she speaks of Jehovah as gracious,
omnipotent, holy, merciful and true.
She knew this God as one Whose
strong arm is manifest in providence,
whose omniscience searches the imagi-
nation of the hearts Of the wicked,
Whose justice unseats the oppressor but
exalts the lowly and feeds the hungry
the God Whose name is the Helper,
for He hath holpen His people Israel"
HistOry's Greatest Event.
Her faith in God was answered by
His revelation to Joseph. She was be-
trothed to the just man, who was per-
picked by the events that he could not
comprehend. She had intrusted to the
Lord the protection of her character
and life, which was endangered, as
1.-The penalty for infidelity to a be-
trothed one, was death by stoning, ac-
cording to Jewish law" 1t was at this
crisis that Gabriel visited Joseph and
whispered in his ear, while he slept, the
explanation of his perplexing problem,
which harmonized with the predictions
of Isaiah. Rejoicing over the revela-
ton, he took Mary to his home as his
unsullied bride. The first trial in the
long series of sorrowful experiences
ended in way to increase her faith
and trust in Jehovah.
She faced new trial when Joseph
lehem to comply with the decree OF
Caesar Augustus that all the world
should be enrolled" Ramsay has
pointed out that this enrolment, which
has been the subject of controversy
and question, has been confirmed by
the accidental discovery of an Egyptian
manuscript, found in a rubbish heap in
Egypt, and the inscription accidentally
discovered on a stone in the City OF
Venice, so that we know 1t was a census
taken every IA years. Possibly as she
passed the tomb Of Rachel on her way
to Bethlehem there may have come to
her suggestion of her own peril.
When they reached Bethlehem they
found the village crowded. The inn was
filed. The only shelter available was
rough chamber, cut out of the cliff,
which was used as stable. There the
Virgin Mary brought forth her first
born Son" When the greatest event in
history took place and God entered the
human race in the form of the infant
Jesus the blessed smother tenderly
wrapped Gods gift of love to the world
/ in swaddling clothes, possibly some she
| had prepared and embroidered upon
| them the seal of David and laid the
! newborn King in the manger.
/ 1t was not long before the shepherds
from the ancestral fields came and
found the Savior Christ Of the Lord, +"
and told her of the angels message
and the chorus of the heavenly host.
While she was thinking over their visit
and their sayings the wise men came
to worship the newborn King, whose
light they had seen in the east. They
had followed the leadership of science,
scholarship and the Scriptures until
/ they saw the young child with Mary,
I His mother; and they fell down and
worshiped Him" When the parents
carried Jesus TO Jerusalem to make the
offerings for Mary's publication and
that of Christ Jesus their gifts revealed
their poverty. The blessings of both