Mary, the Redeemer's merit made the sword-thrusts blessings. Her song must still be that which we sing with her, "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour."

The will of our heavenly Father must be accepted by us, even when it comes with the voice, "Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also." We seem to know enough of Mary to be sure that she was not more proud and glad in her relationship and hopes than humble and submissive in her twofold disappointment. If we cannot have blessing and honour without pain and trial in the service of Jesus Christ, let us seek grace adoringly to welcome the needful tribulation, which will come to an end, for the sake of the glorious happiness which will last for ever. When the most favoured of mortals was not free from the darts of affliction, who are we, that we should insist on exemption? "In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength." Christian reader, the spear that smites your soul, having pierced the heart of Jesus, and mingling with yours His blood, is charmed and holy. Die upon His cross, to live upon His throne. "It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him; if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him."

Anna bade the Saviour welcome, after having "looked for Redemption in Jerusalem;" and Simeon, after having "waited for the Consolation of Israel." The carpenter, the shepherds, Zacharias, and Elisabeth had also looked and waited; and such had been the attitude and spirit of the Virgin. We must "look for," that we may see, and “wait for," in order to welcome. The Scriptures from which Simeon, Anna, Joseph, and Mary had derived their hopes, were now, as fulfilled predictions, applied to their hearts, it is likely, with an instant power. "The Lord, Whom ye

seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the Covenant Whom ye delight in : behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts." "Ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem." Here is the Redeemer and Consoler. See and welcome Him for Whom you have longed; "the beginning of the creation of God," and "the first-born of every creature," in this first-born of a Galilean woman; the Eternal Son, the Father of ages, in this Infant; Him Who encircles the universe with His arm, and "upholdeth all things by the word of His power," in this Babe passing from Mary's hands, through Joseph's, to the priest's, from the priest's back in the same way to Mary's, from the mother's to the old prophet's, and from Simeon's again to hers; "the brightness of God's glory, and the express image of His person," in this little countenance, where you can trace no more than, as you fancy, the sweet maternal likeness; David's Lord in this Son of David; Him Who was before Abraham in Abraham's Seed; the High Priest of the one Church of God in all ages, inferior to the ordinary priest for the day officiating in the Jewish temple; Him Who is "better than the angels," the humblest member of a carpenter's family as they receive together the benediction of a poor old man; the Lord of all, meaner, inasmuch as "without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better," than the white-haired tottering saint by whom His courts have for many years been haunted. So low God stooped to lift us to the sky! Like aged Anna, "give thanks unto the Lord," and "speak of" the Redeemer. Like ascending Simeon, "bless God" that it is made possible for us in His good time to "depart" this life "in peace," through Jesus Christ. Amen.1

1 A recent writer gives the following interesting picture of Mary on the occasion of her purification:-"She would enter the temple through

'the gate of the first-born,' and stand in waiting at the gate of Nicanor, from the time that the incense was kindled on the golden altar. Behind her, in the Court of the Women, was the crowd of worshippers, while she herself, at the top of the Levites' steps, which led up to the great court, would witness all that passed in the sanctuary. At last one of the officiating priests would come to her at the gate of Nicanor, and take from her hand the 'poor's offering' (so it is literally called in the Talmud), which she had brought." In a preceding page he represents her as dropping the value of her offering into one of the thirteen chests or trumpets placed for contributions within the simple colonnade which ran round the court of the mixed worshippers. "These thirteen chests were narrow at the mouth and wide at the bottom, shaped like trumpets, whence their name. Their specific objects were carefully marked on them. Into Trumpet III. those women who had to bring turtledoves for a burnt and a sin offering dropped their equivalent in money, which was daily taken out, and a corresponding number of turtledoves offered. This not only saved the labour of so many separate sacrifices, but spared the modesty of those who might not wish to have the occasion or the circumstances of their offering to be publicly known." He continues, "The morning sacrifice was ended, and but few would linger behind while the offering for her purification was actually made. She who brought it mingled prayer and thanksgiving with the service. And now the priest once more approached her, and, sprinkling her with the sacrificial blood, declared her cleansed. Her first-born' was next redeemed at the hand of the priest with five shekels of silver; two benedictions being at the same time pronounced, one for the happy event which had enriched the family with a first-born, the other for the law of redemption. And when with grateful heart, and solemnised in spirit, she descended those fifteen steps where the Levites were wont to sing the 'Hallel,' a sudden light of heavenly joy filled the heart of" Simeon, who "took the Divine Babe from His mother's into his own arms.' "" -"The Temple," by Dr Edersheim.

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CHAPTER VI.

WISE MEN OF THE EAST.

"And when they were come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down, and worshipped Him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto Him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh."-MATT. ii. 11.

THE horn, an ornament to its possessors, and a weapon of defiance and defence, was in old time adopted by monarchs, conquerors, and the founders of dynasties, as an emblem of excellence, sovereignty, and power; and as an article of attire, it came to be considered a sign of pride. In ancient gems and coins it is variously represented on the helmets of heroes and kings, and it is a conspicuous symbol in the Assyrian monuments. Classically, appropriately, and in agreement with the usage of the prophetic Scriptures, the father of John the Baptist said concerning the Son of Mary, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for He hath visited and redeemed His people, and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David." From the royal though decayed family of David a Potentate arises Whose kingly state differs in motive and majesty from that of earthly conquerors and governors. Not wearing, like many of them, a horn of vengeance, ambition, or tyranny, but a horn of grace and salvation, He is the Deliverer and Protector, the Friend, the Leader, and "the Glory of His people Israel." The

crown is given to Him, "that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us." Before the ascending star of this rightful King of Israel the haughty and cruel horn of the usurper Herod shall tremble, and be "defiled in the dust."

It is concluded that the Epiphany followed the Purification, because of the time that must have been required by the Magi to arrange for and accomplish their long journey over deserts and hills; from the supposition that, if they had appeared with their gifts before the Presentation, the offering in the temple might have been a lamb; and from the fact that the flight of the holy family into Egypt immediately succeeded their visit. Most of the strangers who had come to Bethlehem to register themselves were gone. The carpenter had been able to secure better accommodation; for the sacred narrative speaks of a "house," and we read no more of the manger. 66 The young Child" was "with Mary His mother," a statement implying, not that her husband was absent, but that the Babe was in her arms, or under her care. Joseph, we conclude, had desisted from the toil of the day. It was evening the stars had become visible. The holy pair were glad that, the bustle of the enrolment over, they could sit under their own vine and fig-tree, with none to make them afraid. Not yet were they safe from intruders. The men in the doorway were welcome, if they resembled the shepherds. They did not hold pastoral staves in their hands; their dress was unusual: clearly they were foreigners. To what country did they belong? Why were they here? What were they looking for? Some have supposed they were from Arabia, because frankincense and myrrh, which were among the presents they brought, are products of that country; but those substances were diffused for