The Life of Jesus Christ for the Young Part 15

"Love Leads to Love." A little boy named Charley stood at the window with his mother one morning, watching the robins as they enjoyed their morning meal of cherries from the tree near their house.

"Mother," said Charley, "How the birdies all love father."

"They do," said his mother, "but what do you suppose is the reason that the birdies love your father?"

This question seemed to set Charley to thinking. He did not answer at first, but presently he said, "Why mother all the creatures seem to love father. My dog is almost as glad to see him as to see me. p.u.s.s.y, you know, always comes to him, and seems to know exactly what he is saying. Even the old cow follows him around the meadow, and the other day I saw her licking his hand, just as a dog would. I think it must be because father loves them. You know he will often get up and give p.u.s.s.y something to eat; and he pulls carrots for the cow, and pats her; and somehow I think his voice never sounds so sweet as when he is talking to these dumb creatures."

"I think his voice is very pleasant when he is talking to his little boy," said his mother.

Charley smiled, and said, "That's so, mother. Father loves me, and I love him dearly. But he loves the birdies too I am sure. He whistles to them every morning when they are eating their cherries, and they don't seem a bit afraid of him, although he is near enough to catch them. Mother I wish everything loved me as they do father."

"Do as father does, Charley, and they will. Love all things and be kind to them. Don't kick the dog, or speak roughly to him. Don't pull p.u.s.s.y's tail, nor chase the hens, nor try to frighten the cow. Never throw stones at the birds. Never hurt nor tease anything. Speak gently and lovingly to them and they will love you, and everybody that knows you will love you too."

Now Charley's father, in acting as he did, was trying to make all the dumb creatures about him know that he was their friend; that he loved them, and had nothing but kindness in his heart towards them. In this way he encouraged them to come to him, and not be afraid of him.

And this is just the way in which Jesus was acting when he did and said so much to show his interest in children. He wants them all to understand that he is their friend; that he loves them, and wants them to come to him and love and serve him. And so every child who hears or reads about Jesus may feel encouraged to say:

"Once in his arms the Saviour took Young children just like me, And blessed them with his voice and look As kind as kind could be.

"And though to heaven the Lord hath gone, And seems so far away, He hath a smile for every one That doth his voice obey.

"I'd rather be the least of them That he will bless and own, Than wear a royal diadem, And sit upon a throne."

And so we may well say that in what Jesus did and said about the children there is great encouragement.

_And then there are_--GREAT LESSONS--_too, in this part of the life of Christ_.

There are two lessons taught us here. One is about _the work we are to do for Jesus here on earth_. When Jesus said to Peter, "Lovest thou me? Feed my lambs," he meant to teach him, and you, and me, and all his people everywhere, the best way in which we can show our love to him. The lambs of Christ here spoken of mean little children, wherever they are found. And to feed these lambs is to teach them about Jesus. When we are trying to bring the young to Jesus and teaching them to love and serve him, then we are doing the work that is most pleasing to him:--the work that he most loves to have his people do. It was thinking about this that first led me to begin the work of preaching regularly to the young. And this is the lesson that Jesus would have all his people learn when he says to each of them:--"Lovest thou me? Feed my lambs."

"The Angel in the Stone." Many years ago there was a celebrated artist who lived in Italy, whose name was Michael Angelo. He was a great painter, and a great sculptor, or a worker in marble. He loved to see beautiful figures chiseled out of marble, and he had great power and skill in chiseling out such figures. One day, as he was walking with some friends through the city of Florence, he saw a block of marble lying neglected in a yard, half covered with dust and rubbish. He stopped to examine that block of marble. That day happened to be a great holiday in Florence and the artist had his best suit of clothes on; but not caring for this he threw off his coat, and went to work to clear away the rubbish from that marble.

His friends were surprised. They said to him:--"Come on, let's go; what's the use of wasting your time on that good-for-nothing lump of stone?"

"O, there's an angel in this stone," said he, "and I must get it out."

He bought that block; had it removed to his studio, and then went to work with his mallet and his chisel, and never rested till out of that rough, unshapen ma.s.s of stone he made a beautiful marble angel.

Now, every child born into our world is like such a block of marble.

The only difference is that children are living stones--marble that will last forever. And when we bring our children to Jesus, and by his help teach them to love and serve him, we are doing for them just what Michael Angelo was doing for his block of marble--we are getting the angels out of the stones. And this is what Jesus loves to have us do.

"How to Get the Angels Out." A Christian mother, whose children had all been early taught to love and serve Jesus, was asked the secret of her success in bringing up her children. This was her answer:--"While my children were infants on my lap, as I washed them day by day, I raised my heart to G.o.d that he would wash them in that blood which cleanseth from all sin; as I clothed them in the morning, I asked my heavenly Father to clothe them with the robe of Christ's righteousness; as I provided them food I prayed that G.o.d would feed their souls with the bread of heaven, and give them to drink of the water of life. When I prepared them for the house of G.o.d I pleaded that their bodies might be made fit temples for the Holy Ghost to dwell in. When they left me daily for the week-day school, I followed their youthful footsteps with the prayer that their path through life might be like that of the just, which s.h.i.+neth more and more unto the perfect day. And night after night, as I committed them to rest, the silent breathing of my soul has been, that their heavenly Father would take them under his tender care and fold them in his loving, everlasting arms."

Let Christian mothers follow this example and they will not fail to bring the angel out from every block of living marble that G.o.d has given them.

"The Best Time for Doing This." A faithful minister of Christ had a dear only daughter. She had been a thoughtful praying child. When only twelve years old she had joined her father's church. She now lay on her dying bed. "As I sat by her bedside," says her father, "among the things she said which I shall never forget were these:--'Father you know I joined the church when I was young--very young. Some of our friends thought that I was too young. But, oh! how I wish I could tell everybody what a comfort it is to me now to think of it.' Then reaching out her hand--the fingers were already cold--and grasping mine, she said with great earnestness:--'Father, you are at work for the young. Do all you can for them while they are young. It's the best time--the best time. Oh! I see it now as I never did before. It is the best time--while they are young--the younger the better. Do all you can for them while they are very young.' And then she fell asleep in Jesus."

This is the lesson about the work we are to do for him on earth, that Jesus taught in what he said concerning the children.

But when we think of those sweet words of Jesus--"Of such is the kingdom of heaven," we are _taught a lesson about the company we shall meet there_. We learn from what our blessed Lord says on this subject that he saves all the little ones who die before they are accountable for their actions. And we know that of all the persons born into our world more than half of them die before they reach this age. And this makes it very certain that more than half the company of heaven will be made up of little children. This is a very sweet thought to those who have lost little ones; and to those who love them.

And some people think that when young children die and go to heaven, they will not grow up to be men and women, but will always remain children. The Rev. Mr. Bickersteth, of England, in speaking of a father meeting his little ones in heaven, who died years before he did, represents him as meeting them there, just of the same age and size as they were when they died. And then he expresses his own thought on this subject in a single line:

"A babe in glory, is a babe forever."

But G.o.d has not said anything on this subject in the Bible. And when he himself has not spoken on such a point as this, it is impossible for us to say certainly which way it will be. But when we get to heaven and find just how it is, we shall all agree that G.o.d's way is the best way.

And then Jesus shows us plainly _what our character must be if we hope to go to heaven and join the happy company there_.

These are the words he spake on this subject; "Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of G.o.d as a little child, he shall not enter therein." Mark x: 15. Jesus refers here to some of the best things that we find marking the character of a good child.

Such a child is gentle, and loving, and kind; and this must be our character, if we hope to enter heaven. Such a child is willing to be taught:--believes all that his parent or teacher tells him; and does everything that he is told to do; and such must our character be if we hope to enter heaven.

And so when we come to study out this part of our Saviour's life, and think of all that he did and said to show his interest in children, we see these four great things in it: viz., great love; great wisdom; great encouragement; and great lessons.

I know not how to express in a better way the feelings which should be in the heart of everyone, young or old, on thinking of this great subject, than in the words of one who has thus sweetly written:

"Lamb of G.o.d! I look to Thee, Thou shalt my example be; Thou art gentle, meek and mild; Thou wast once a little child.

"Fain I would be as Thou art, Give me thy obedient heart: Thou art pitiful, and kind; Let me have thy loving mind.

"Let me above all fulfill G.o.d my heavenly Father's will; Never his good Spirit grieve, Only to his glory live.

"Loving Jesus, gentle Lamb!

In thy gracious hands I am; Make me, Saviour, what Thou art; Live thyself within my heart.

"I shall then show forth thy praise; Serve thee all my happy days; Then the world shall always see Christ, the Holy Child in me."

THE TRANSFIGURATION

This was one of the most surprising scenes in the life of our blessed Lord. It forms a great contrast to the other events mentioned in his history. He "came to visit us in great humility." When we read how he was born in a stable, and cradled in a manger; how he had "not where to lay his head;" when we read of the lowliness, and poverty, and suffering that marked his course, day by day, we come naturally to think of him as "the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." And though, when we remember how he healed the sick, and cast out devils, and raised the dead to life again; how he walked upon the waters, and controlled the stormy winds and waves with his simple word, he seems wonderful in his power and majesty; yet there is nothing, in all his earthly life, that leads us to think so highly of him, as this scene of the Transfiguration, of which we are now to speak.

The account of this event is given us by three of the evangelists. We find it described by St. Matt, xvii: 1-13. St. Mark ix: 2-13. St.

Luke ix: 28-29.

A short time before this took place, Jesus had told his disciples how he was to go up to Jerusalem, to suffer many things, to be put to death, be buried, and be raised again on the third day. St. Matt, xvi: 21. He also told them of the self-denial, which all who became his disciples would be required to exercise. This was very different from what they were expecting and must have been very discouraging to them. They did not yet understand that their Master had come into the world to suffer and to die. Instead of this, their minds were filled with the idea that the object of his coming was to establish an earthly kingdom and to reign in glory. And, for themselves, they were expecting that they would share his glory and reign as princes with him. And so they must have been greatly troubled by his words. To encourage and comfort them, therefore, he told them that, before they died, some of them should "see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."

And then, some days after this, he took three of his disciples, the favored John and James and Peter, and went up with them "into a mountain, apart by themselves, and was transfigured before them." We are not told what mountain it was that was thus honored. Mount Tabor, near Nazareth, on the borders of the Plain of Esdraelon, has long been regarded as the favored spot. But, in our day, many persons think that it was not on the top of Tabor, but on one of the summits of Mount Hermon, where this wonderful event took place. One of the princ.i.p.al objections to supposing that Tabor was the place is, that in those days there was a large fortress on the top of this mountain, and this, they think, would interfere with the privacy that would be desired on such an occasion. But, for myself, I still incline to think that Tabor was the mountain chosen. I went to the top of this mountain, when in Palestine. And though there is a large convent there now, yet the summit of Tabor covers a wide s.p.a.ce of ground. And outside of the walls of the convent, and even out of sight of its walls, I saw a number of retired, shady places that would be particularly suitable for such a scene as this.

But, it is impossible to decide positively which was the Mount of Transfiguration. And it is not a matter of much consequence. Those who think it was Hermon are at liberty to think so; and those who think it was Tabor, have a right to their opinion, for none can prove that they are mistaken in thinking so.

And when we come to consider this great event in the life of our Saviour, there are _two_ things to speak of in connection with it; these are the _wonders_ we see in it; and the _lessons_ we may learn from it. Or, to express it more briefly--The Transfiguration--its wonders, and its lessons.

There are three wonders to be spoken of, and three lessons to be learned from this subject.