Part 3 (2/2)

THIRD STUDY

The Life of Christ

The central figure in all the Bible is Jesus Christ. Note his importance in the Old Testament (John 5. 39; Luke 24. 27; Acts 10. 43). Note his prominence in all true gospel teaching (1 Cor. 2. 2). Note his relation to every man (John 1. 9.) (Rev. Ver.) We have, then, an interest in Jesus Christ deeper than in any other man who ever lived.

I. Let us notice some =General Aspects of his Life=.

1. It was a =short= life. This man, who has influenced the world more than any other, lived less than thirty-five years. His age at the beginning of his ministry we learn from Luke 3. 23; and the duration of his ministry was not more than three years and a half at the longest.

2. It was a life =pa.s.sed wholly in Palestine=. Only once do we read of his journeying near any other country, and it is not probable that he went beyond its borders (Mark 7. 24). The only times of direct contact with Gentiles are mentioned (Mark 7. 25, 26; John 12. 20-22). He never enjoyed the benefits of foreign travel, of communion with learned men in the great cities, of studies at the universities of Athens or Alexandria. All his knowledge came from within.

3. It was a life =among the common people=. He lived in a despised province (John 7. 41, 52). He came from a despised town (John 1. 46). He was a working mechanic (Mark 6. 3). He received only a common education (John 7. 15). His manner of life during his ministry (Matt. 8. 20). Yet out of these lowly surroundings grew up the one exalted character, the one perfect life, in all human history.

4. It was an =active= life. The first thirty years may have been spent in quiet preparation, but the three years of his ministry were very busy. See pictures in Mark 1. 36-38; 2. 1-4; 6. 31-34. Notice the hyperbole in John 21. 25, which is not to be taken literally. But if the whole life of Jesus were related with the minuteness of the day between the sunset of the Last Supper and that of the burial the narration would require one hundred and eighty-five books as large as the Bible.

II. Let us arrange the events of Christ's life in chronological order, grouping them into =Seven Periods=.

1. The first period is that of =The Thirty Years of Preparation=, of which we notice the following facts:

1.) It begins with his Birth (Luke 2. 7), and ends with his Temptation (Matt. 4. 1).

2.) It is related mainly by Luke (Luke 1-4) with some facts in Matthew (Matt. 1. 2; 4. 1-11), and a brief mention of its closing events in Mark (Mark 1. 9-13).

3.) It was pa.s.sed mainly in Galilee, though with isolated events in Judea, in Egypt (Matt. 2. 14, 15), and in Peraea. See John 1. 28.

4.) It was the longest of all the periods, embracing nine-tenths of his life; yet it is the one having the fewest incidents recorded; and of eighteen years in it absolutely no events are known.

2. Next is =The Year of Obscurity=. In this and the two succeeding periods the year is not a precise epoch, and may have been a little less or a little more.

1.) It begins with the first followers (John 1.

35-37), and ends with the return to Galilee (John 4.

43, 44).

2.) It is related only by John, who, of all the gospel writers, records the visit of Jesus to Judea and Jerusalem.

3.) It was pa.s.sed princ.i.p.ally in Judea, though with visits to Galilee, and on the way a visit to Samaria.

4.) It is justly called a ”year of obscurity,” for we know but little concerning either its aims, its events, or its results. It was accompanied with miracles (John 3. 2; 4. 45). It attracted attention (John 3. 26; 4. 1). Yet at its close we find that the followers of Jesus were few, and he went to Galilee to begin his ministry anew.

3. =The Year of Popularity=, in marked contrast with the preceding period.

1.) It begins with the Rejection at Nazareth (Luke 4.

14-30), and ends with the Discourse on the Bread of Life (John 6. 25-71), a day or two after the miracle of Feeding the Five Thousand.

2.) It is related by Matthew, Mark, and Luke, with some additional incidents by John.

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