The Students Life of Jesus

the life of the people, maintained a spiritual religion. To this circle belonged John the Baptist with his parents, and also Simeon and Anna. Joseph was a righteous man (Matt. i. 19), and obedient to the will of the Lord as that was made known to him (Matt. i. 24; ii. 14, 21-22). Like Abraham, he had a heart that was open to receive heavenly messages, and he was not slow to respond to them. He appears in the Gospel narrative as having implicit trust in Mary, and the tenderest regard for her (Matt. i. 19-21). He seems to have taught Jesus his own trade of carpenter (Mark vi. 3; Matt. xiii. 55), thus fitting his child to support Himself. He lived until Jesus was twelve years old (Luke ii. 42), and perhaps considerably longer,1 but he seems to havedied before the public ministry of Jesus began (Matt. xiii. 55; Mark vi. 3). Jesus never refers in a direct manner to His earthly father, but it seems natural to suppose that the fatherhood which He had known in the home in Nazareth was to him a stepping-stone to the conception and the experience of the heavenly fatherhood ; and if so, it must have been rich in love and wisdom. Again, it may be allowable to think that Jesus' appreciation of childhood, His love for children, and His sympathy with them, argue sweet memories of His own childhood, and hence throw a gracious light upon Joseph and Mary (Mark x. 13-16; ix. 36; Matt. xviii. 10). From the glimpses which we have into the early life of Jesus, and from His work as ... --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.